Wisconsin basketball recorded its first Big Ten win on Monday evening against Penn State. So what exactly went right for the Badgers?
The Badgers opened Big Ten play with an unsightly home loss to The Ohio State on Saturday. Wisconsin Basketball was run off the Kohl Center court against the Buckeyes losing 83-58.
But to its credit, Bucky responded well to the defeat and rebounded (#basketballpuns) for a white knuckle 64-63 win at Penn State. Wisconsin basketball moved to 4-5 on the season.
It was quite the contrast from Saturday’s egg. So what went right for Badger hoops on the road against the Nittany Lions?
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1. Much improved shot selection against Penn State
In the road win, the Badgers were 23/52 from the floor (44.2 percent) and just 5/11 from three (45.5 percent). So that means Wisconsin shot 18/41 from two (43.9 percent).
But I like Wisconsin focusing on getting the ball inside and taking shots closer to the rim. The Badger offense sputters when it just dribbles pensively around the perimeter and hoist long jumpers as the shot clock expires.
For the season, Wisconsin is 64/189 (33.9 percent) from beyond the arc. They are shooting 51.7 percent inside the arc.
Again, I know I’m repeating myself but apparently it’s easier to make baskets closer to the actual basket. Keep pounding the rock inside. Wisconsin’s offense functions so much better with (in every sense of the term) higher percentage looks.
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2. Dropping dimes to get buckets and not playing iso ball
For the season Wisconsin has 109 assists on 220 made baskets. So that computes to 49.5 percent of helpers on made field goals.
Against Penn State, Wisconsin had 13 assists on 23 made field goals. That equals 56.5 percent of made baskets off assists.
As always, that’s a great sign of ball movement and good Wisconsin team basketball. Making that extra pass for a clean look. We have never been a program reliant on 5-star recruits individual brilliance. So making crisp passes to get good shots is so crucial for this offense.
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3. Offensive contributions from someone other than Ethan Happ
Ethan Happ is the star and every opposing scouting report focuses on him. Therefore, it’s critical someone other than Happ poses an offensive threat.
Against Penn State Wisconsin found some new options. Khalil Iverson played a fantastic game scoring 16 points on 7/8 from the floor. Every shot was from inside the arc which is his scoring range.
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Elsewhere, recently un-redshirted Nathan Reuvers shot 5/10 scoring 11 points. Reuvers is important as well because he is another inside scoring threat with range to step out and knock down outside shots.
Many hands, light work and all. So that’s a great development for Wisconsin to have guys other than Happ handling some of the scoring.