The Badgers dropped their first exhibition game since 1992 in a 84-83 loss to Oklahoma on Friday night. It's only an exhibition, so what better time than to overreact to everything? Here we go!
1. The Badger defense is even worse than last year
Wisconsin had a lot of questions to answer about their defense coming into this exhibition, and they did very little to calm any worries. The Badgers allowed Oklahoma to shoot 52% from the field and 55% from three on their way to an 84 point eruption. Wisconsin forced their fair share of turnovers, but defensive rotations and on-ball defense left a lot to be desired. When you replace over half your roster there's bound to be some growing pains, but Wisconsin still has a long way to go defensively.
2. Three-point shooting has a long way to go
The Badgers shot just 23% (10-44) from deep in the Red-White scrimmage, and things didn't look much better Friday night. Wisconsin was just 32% (10-31) against Oklahoma. Wisconsin will once again rely heavily on the three-point shot this season, but so far, the shots have not been falling. It's not too troublesome yet, but if the Badgers are eclipse their 35% clip from last season they'll need to find more ways to get up quality shots.
3. Greg Gard nailed the transfer portal once again
Despite the loss, the new trio of starting transfers showed a lot of promise. It's very clear that Nick Boyd is the engine of this Badger offense, and while his shot wasn't falling tonight, his aggressiveness and heart still got him 19 points, six rebounds and three assists. Austin Rapp was also very solid, adding another 17 points, and he matched Boyd's rebound and assist numbers. Andrew Rohde didn't stuff the stat sheet, but his four assists and three steals show he's ready to all the little things for this team. It's early, but it looks like Gard has found some diamonds in the rough in the portal again.