Quick Reactions to Badgers' Close Win Over UT-RGV

In a game where the Badgers were 22-point favorites, they found themselves down four at half, and only ended up winning by three, 87-84. It was certainly a wake-up call after the huge win over Arizona, and showed that there's still a lot of work to be done for this team.

Another slow start plagued Wisconsin as it has in nearly all of their games this season. UT-RGV shot a blistering 62.5% in the first half and the Badger defense just had no answers. The Badgers eventually found themselves down 52-48 at half, and needed another big second half this year to escape the Vaqueros. It's a troubling trend that Greg Gard and company will need to figure out as the competition ramps up in the coming weeks.

Steven Crowl and Nolan Winter saw work early on, but Gard went with a small lineup for essentially the entire second half.

John Blackwell had his breakout performance and dropped a career-high 30 points in the contest. The sophomore took over in the second half and was the main reason Wisconsin was able to keep things close. Offense was not a problem for the Badgers overall though, as they put up 87 points to keep their season average at 88.

Defensive breakdowns and poor rotations reared their ugly again as Wisconsin couldn't stop a team who hadn't beaten a Power conference team in over 20 years. If the Badgers are to make a run this year, the defense will have to improve, and quickly.

John Tonje, the hero of the Arizona game, had a quieter night. He scored 19, but didn't attack the rim as often as usual, and didn't score a single point from the field from inside the arc. John Blackwell showed he can handle the load if needed, but Tonje will still be a major player for this team on offense.

Wisconsin (5-0) will take on UCF as part of the Greenbriar Classic in West Virginia for their next matchup.