After the deflating loss to Oregon on the road, where Wisconsin took 45 three point attempts, many fans were calling for the Badgers to dial things back a bit.
Wisconsin hit just 31% of those attempts in the double-digit loss, and it felt like the Badgers had settled a bit too much for the jump shot. Not so fast, said head coach Greg Gard during his media session. In fact, Gard wanted even more from deep.
"Analytics drive a lot of it." said Gard. "We want close to 50% or more of our field goal attempts from three, and I thought early in the year there might be a game where we were going to take 50. We've taken 45, and I wasn't dissatisfied with that. I thought, quite frankly, we could have taken more."
Badgers won't stop launching threes no matter what you think
It's quite the stunning statement for longtime Badger fans, who grew up watching a team that rarely eclipsed 70 points per game. For years, Wisconsin ran a slow-paced halfcourt offense and smart, turnover-free basketball. It wasn't the most glamorous, but it won games. It's a whole other world now.
The Badgers are sixth in the country in made three-pointers this year, and ninth in attempts. It's a far cry from where the team was just three or four years ago, but it's working. The Badgers are built to take, and make, a lot of three-pointers, and for Gard, it's all part of his master plan.
"I never get consumed in the quantity." Gard continued. "We build intentionally, it's not that we're just getting a bunch of guys together and they go shoot a lot of threes. We were very intentional with who we put on the floor and the spacing, and we speak to the science behind it too."
The all-time record for three-pointers made in a season by a Badger is 103, and held by Bronson Koenig. John Blackwell has 74 this year, with likely at least five more games depending on how the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments go. If Wisconsin gets hot, there's certainly a chance he threatens that record.