The No. 5 seed Wisconsin Badgers defeated the No. 12 seed Washington Huskies 85-82 on Thursday, escaping a huge collapse down the stretch to advance to the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals on Friday against the No. 4 seed Illinois Fighting Illini.
It was a game where the Badgers looked in control for the most part, even leading by 18 with 13 minutes left in the game. But Washington had a strong comeback effort and nearly pulled off the upset, taking things all the way to the final buzzer.
Here are
three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s close win over Washington on Thursday.
Fast starts
The Badgers beat the Huskies handily in their first matchup, thanks to a stellar start to the game. Despite being on the road, the Badgers cruised to a 17-4 start and ultimately led 36-21 at halftime. In the second half, that lead ballooned up to 26 with 8:16 to go, and they ultimately won 90-73.
On Thursday, it was a similar story for the Badgers, who got out to an 11-2 lead over the first 5:23. John Blackwell got things going with a three, but it was points off turnovers that proved to be key early for the Badgers. Wisconsin got six early points off turnovers, a three from Nick Boyd and an and-1 from Will Garlock, to extend their lead to 9-2. Another Boyd bucket got that lead up to nine.
Two minutes later, it was 17-5 Badgers following threes from Boyd and Braeden Carrington. When the Badgers get off to hot starts like Thursday’s, they’re able to withstand scoring lulls and show how dominant they can be.
As the Badgers went on a lull, Washington did cut the lead back to four with under five minutes left in the period. But a strong finish to the half put them up 10 at the break, as they finished things on an 8-2 run.
In the second half, Wisconsin’s offense came to play, scoring 15 points in the first 4:22 as they extended their lead to 13. While Washington was hitting shots and the Badgers had a few defensive miscues, Wisconsin continued to maintain its advantage, even leading by 18 at one point.
That fast start proved to be crucial because the Badgers nearly had an epic collapse to end the game, with Washington cutting that lead all the way down to one before Wisconsin pulled away with the 85-82 win. Consistency will be key going forward, but it’s good to see the Badgers started fast, rather than having to pull themselves out of a hole.
Passing
A lot of Wisconsin’s offensive success usually comes down to how well they’re moving the ball. With the quick start, you saw the Badgers draw up some open shots with good ball movement as players got to their spots. Even if the shots weren’t falling, there were good looks being created.
But, during the team’s lulls, we saw much less ball movement. In the first half, the Badgers went nearly five minutes without a field goal, missing six consecutive shots. In that stretch, it felt like Wisconsin was forcing dribble penetration into the paint, playing more out of control in search of a shot rather than moving the ball as well as they had been. The shot selection also felt a little too three-reliant, and the Badgers went cold.
How did the Badgers snap out of that? An attack and kick between John Blackwell and Nick Boyd, leading to a three for the latter. Wisconsin then started to settle in with better passing to end the half, creating better shots and getting their coveted looks from three.
In the second half, they were on a roll because of their passing, which led to quality shots, and the buckets really started to rain early. The Badgers made eight of their first 10 shots in the half, and that led to a healthy double-digit lead nearing the midway point of the period.
Once again, though, we saw Wisconsin take its foot off the gas a bit and try to milk the clock more. There, Washington slowly began to chip at the lead, getting defensive stops and killing Wisconsin on the offensive glass for second-chance points.
Ultimately, the Badgers advanced, but you want to see more consistency from Wisconsin here with moving the ball to keep generating those quality shots that they’ve shown they’re capable of getting.
Rebounding
The only major discrepancy in this game was the rebounding, which really came in the second half for the Huskies.
Washington had 20 (yes, 20!) offensive rebounds in the game, securing 12 in the second half, with Hannes Steinbach and Courtland Muldrow having four each in the period.
The Huskies aren’t an efficient team. They settle for far too many contested midranges and don’t have great shot quality, which trickles down to coaching. This game shouldn’t have gotten as close as it did, but Washington got 18 second-chance points, with 14 of those coming in the second half.
A part of that is the size. Wisconsin has struggled at times with physicality there, and they’re missing Nolan Winter. But the Badgers have to be better on the glass, especially with Illinois up on Friday.
The other part? Foul trouble. Already playing with a shorter bench, the Badgers cannot get in too much foul trouble against better teams. Andrew Rohde, Austin Rapp, Will Garlock, and Hayden Jones each had two in the first half. John Blackwell finished with four fouls.
Staying out of foul trouble gets a more fluid big rotation, which helps solve the rebounding issue.
