On to the next one. That's the mentality the Wisconsin Badgers have, as Greg Gard's players didn't have any issues in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. On Thursday, UW barely broke a sweat in taking down Montana, posting a memorable 85-66 win.
In that victory, there were several standouts, but the Player of the Game was no question second-year guard John Blackwell. The sophomore scored a game-high 19 points in 33 minutes, adding five rebounds and three assists.
For Blackwell, he wanted to make sure this team was focused and didn't overlook the Grizzlies. At this point last year, Wisconsin suffered a first-round exit in the Big Dance, which led to people calling for Gard to be fired. This time, the opposite was posted, with Blackwell and Co. now ready to keep the good vibes going.
John Blackwell is not satisfied despite the dominant Wisconsin win over Wisconsin
Right after the final whistle, Blackwell caught up with Dana Jacobson for an on-court postgame interview. The talented playmaker made it clear that this team was reminded of how things went down last March and they were ready to do whatever was necessary from having history repeat itself:
“Obviously it feels good,” Blackwell told Jacobson. “I know we had a first-round exit the last time we were around, but we made sure that wasn’t happening again and we made sure we’re going to make a run in this tournament. All credit to Montana, they’re a great team, well coached, played the right way. We just came out here and competed for 40 minutes.”
As you can see, these players indeed were motivated to not suffer an early exit for the second consecutive season. Now, Blackwell and Co. are headed to the second round and they'll face off against either BYU or VCU on Saturday with a trip to the Sweet Sixteen on the line. The locker room is filled with confidence and the mindset is to make this a postseason to remember. There's plenty of unfinished business for the group as a whole.