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Wisconsin Basketball: Badgers miss UW-Milwaukee matchup opportunity

By Christian Borman

Jan 11, 2020; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Greg Gard looks on from the bench during the second half against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Bryce Jordan Center. Wisconsin defeated Penn State 58-49. Mandatory Credit: Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 11, 2020; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Greg Gard looks on from the bench during the second half against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Bryce Jordan Center. Wisconsin defeated Penn State 58-49. Mandatory Credit: Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Wisconsin basketball team is usually battling Marquette for bragging rights as the top basketball program in the state. A third team may be joining that conversation. The Badgers are expected to be down this season after losing seven players to graduation and transfers. Five of those seven players played a lot of meaningful minutes.

Marquette is also losing some key pieces after going 13-14 overall, missing out on the NCAA Tournament in 2020. Guard D.J. Carton entered the NBA Draft while forwards Dawson Garcia and Theo John both transferred from the program.

UW-Milwaukee, who has long been an afterthought when it comes to supremacy in the state of Wisconsin, is a team that could challenge the Marquette and Wisconsin basketball teams for the title as the top team in Wisconsin in 2021.

People are going to be keeping an eye on Milwaukee this year after Patrick Baldwin Jr. committed to play for the Panthers. Baldwin is the son of current Panther head coach, Patrick Baldwin. According to 247Sports, Baldwin was a 5-star forward and was the 7th-ranked recruit in the entire country.

Baldwin had 23 scholarship offers from some of the biggest programs in the NCAA, including Wisconsin, who made it into his top 10. He chose to stay home and play with his dad at UW-Milwaukee rather than go to a blue-blook program like Duke, who was heavily favored.

Baldwin is going to be must-see TV and provide the Panthers with some national recognition. He is likely going to be a one-and-done prospect before heading to the NBA in 2022, which is why it is disappointing that the Badgers didn’t schedule UW-Milwaukee into their non-conference schedule that was just released.

The series history between the Milwaukee and Wisconsin basketball teams has been very one-sided. The Badgers have a 27-2 record all-time against the Panthers. The Badgers have outscored the Panthers by an average of 16.7 points.

A matchup with the Panthers, while Baldwin is on the team, would make for a great matchup and probably wouldn’t be anything like the previous 29 meetings.

Unfortunately, we won’t be able to see a Badger-Panthers matchup unless they both make the NCAA Tournament and somehow get matched up.

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