The Kohl Center opened its doors on Sunday for the annual Red-White scrimmage, marking the start of another highly anticipated season for Wisconsin men's basketball. After 40 minutes of intra-squad play, team White emerged victorious by a final score of 65-51, led by senior forward Keaton Nankivil's game-high 22 points.
""He's more confident around the rim. There were a couple post moves that he finished on that we didn't see a lot of in the past,"" head coach Bo Ryan said. ""If he can do it here, there's no reason why he can't do it during the regular season.""
While there are few individuals with more experience coaching in the game than Ryan, who has led the Badgers to 12 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, success in the scrimmage and success during the regular season are two very different things.
""Its just a scrimmage. Not that it's something to look over, but at the same time when we get into the season, it's always a different story,"" Nankivil said.
Nankivil wasn't the only big man in the spotlight on Sunday, as senior forward Jon Leuer, who was named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list, tallied a team-high 15 points for the Red squad while also adding four rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
Sophomore forwards Mike Bruesewitz and Ryan Evans were noteworthy as well, recording four points and 11 rebounds, 12 points and five rebounds respectively.
With the frontcourt improving, the majority of confusion still surrounds the Wisconsin backcourt.
""Question marks are always going to boil down to, right now, how do you replace the two guards that played so many minutes,"" Ryan said in reference to losing last year's backcourt of Trevon Hughes and Jason Bohannon.
Not only did these two Badgers receive the most minutes on last year's squad, but they led Wisconsin in three point shooting percentage and steals. Aside from their statistical leadership, these two seniors' on-the-court leadership will be difficult to replace.
Senior guard Brett Valentyn, who went 5-6 from beyond the arc, sophomore guard Rob Wilson who scored seven, and the leading-assist man from last year's squad, sophomore guard Jordan Taylor, who totaled nine points and 10 assists, may be ready to fill the void left by Bohannon and Hughes.
The Badgers currently sit at 24th in the USA Today Coaches Poll and are projected to finish fifth in the Big Ten. With five teams in the preseason Top 25 and a nation-leading ten players from the Big Ten on the John R. Wooden Award preseason Top 50 list, the Big Ten is stacked this year. The Badgers will need Nankivil and Leuer to play up to their preseason hype and for the backcourt to find a stable core of contributors if Wisconsin wants to make it a lucky 13 NCAA tournament appearances in a row.
