The Badgers will open up the NCAA Tournament against the 12-seed High Point Panthers on Thursday, and there's plenty of respect between the two schools already. 12-5 upsets are a popular pick, so Wisconsin surely won't be taking it easy on the Panthers, but High Point is very aware of the Badgers' skill as well.
High Point head coach Flynn Clayman talked ahead of the game about how the backcourt duo of Nick Boyd and John Blackwell are such a tough matchup.
"Yeah, I mean, elite, elite guards," Clayman said. "You got a heavy right hand guy and a heavy left hand guy, which causes problems for your game plan at times. Just really good players. Showing our guys, these are shots they're going to shoot, four feet behind the line, no hesitation, no nothing. There's really not a whole lot to say about them other than they're high-level Big Ten players."
Wisconsin guards' reputations precede them as High Point heaps praise on the star duo
Boyd and Blackwell are averaging 39 points per game combined, and are regarded as on of the nation's top backcourts. Part of that lies with how each player has a different dominant hand, with Blackwell attacking with his right and Boyd with his left. Clayman again praised Boyd for his ability to get what he wants despite teams trying to away his left during the game.
"He's well used to very crafty ways to get to the hand he wants," Clayman said. "You don't average 20 points per game and three to one assist-to-turnover if you're not able to get where you want to go, do what you want to do on the court. It looks great on a scout to say we're going to take away this guy's hand. Great players like him, they don't make it that easy."
It's no secret that the Badgers are powered by their guard play, but stopping it is another question entirely. High Point does well at forcing turnovers, however, and if the Badgers shots aren't falling, this game could turn on its head fairly quickly. Still, Wisconsin will get forward Nolan Winter back after a four game absence, and he be leaned on right away.