For the first time since March 5, basketball returned to the Kohl Center. The Badgers welcomed fans back home for their annual Red/White scrimmage to kick off a season with expectations higher than any in living memory.
The White team, headlined by sophomore forward Nigel Hayes and redshirt senior guard Josh Gasser, pulled out a comeback 57-56 win to take down Red, which was led by senior forward Frank Kaminsky and senior guard Traevon Jackson.
Red held a six-point lead with five minutes remaining, but watched as sophomore guard Bronson Koenig drained three 3-pointers for White to erase the deficit and go up a point with approximately three seconds remaining. From there, it got a little confusing.
Jackson drove the ball down court, but appeared to step out of bounds for a game-icing turnover. Head coach Bo Ryan then gave Red the ball anyway to see how they looked in a game-ending situation. Senior forward Duje Dukan ran uncovered to deep behind the wing and nailed a supposed game-winner, but time was ruled to have been expired and White took home the win.
“That was definitely a coach Ryan move,” sophomore forward Vitto Brown said after the game. “He just wanted see if we could play some defense in the clutch moments. We didn’t,” Brown chuckled as Pharell’s “Happy” played in the background.
The featured star of the game was Kaminsky, who finished with 23 points on 15 field goal attempts, both game-highs. Junior forward Sam Dekker was penciled in to star on White, but had to sit out due to an ankle sprain suffered in practice earlier in the week. Dekker was visible in pregame walking and dribbling around the court.
One performance that definitely surprised was the 14-point outburst from freshman guard T.J. Schlundt. In his first action on the Kohl Center floor, the walk-on was a perfect 4-of-4 from deep and finished with 14 points. While cool to watch, Ryan thought the opportunities came from mostly defensive mishaps.
“He was open, that’s what I thought of T.J.” Ryan said. “I can’t believe they left him open. He’s going to hit those shots.”
Even though the game itself was intense, the whole event carried its usual lighthearted atmosphere. Brown sang his baritone National Anthem, a running clock was used to keep the game short and the halftime show featured dunks and three-point contests.
8,002 fans attended the fun, completely filling the lower bowl of the arena. With the Badgers in the Top 5 of the coaches poll and picked to win the Big Ten by virtually every media outlet, fan interest is at an all-time high and it showed in the crowd today.
“There’s never been a line like there was this time before we opened the doors. We’ve never had a crowd like this,” Ryan said almost incredulously. “Maybe they heard Vitto was singing the national anthem, so it increased attendance ... To get this kind of crowd in October, it’s a lot of fun.”
