In their first conference game of the season, the Wisconsin Badgers set the tone with a 85-73 home victory over the Northwestern Wildcats.
Wisconsin won by playing with fluidity and a steady mindset on both ends of the floor, but even after earning a lopsided victory, Wisconsin was not perfect.
The Badgers got out-rebounded by the Wildcats despite having the clear size advantage. It was especially present in the second half, which is what led to Northwestern making a late run to almost get back into the game. Wisconsin, especially their big men, took their foot off the gas in the second half.
This is a problem that has continued since the start of the season.
The Badgers are ranked 10th in the Big Ten in rebounding, averaging 37.9 rebounds per game. For having one of the tallest teams in the conference, rebounding has become one of Wisconsin’s most prevalent issues on the season thus far.
Despite his size, John Blackwell has proved himself to be a reliable rebounder for the Badgers eight games into the season. Blackwell snagged 11 rebounds against Northwestern, besting his season-high seven rebounds against BYU. He averages 6.1 rebounds per game, second best on the team behind the seven-foot-tall Nolan Winter.
Alongside rebounding troubles, turnovers have hampered the Badgers when playing against higher-level competition, particularly in their two losses against BYU and TCU.
In Wisconsin’s last showing, an ugly 74-63 loss to TCU, the Badgers looked disjointed offensively, turning the ball over a season-high 17 times.
With conference play looming, it was essential Wisconsin put their clunker in the rear-view mirror, and in decreasing their turnover number to seven while playing a fluid, cohesive and efficient brand of basketball, the Badgers did just that.
Guard Andrew Rohde was the main distributor, finishing the game with nine assists while also scoring his 1000th career point. All night, he effortlessly found his teammates in miraculous ways, putting them in position to score and leaving Northwestern’s defense dumbfounded.
Rohde didn’t waste any time, as early in the first half, he found Winter streaking down the lane. Rohde fit a pass perfectly through a window of Northwestern defenders to catch Winter in stride, who threw down a monster dunk, got the crowd roaring and the Badgers in an offensive groove.
Rohde exemplifies a player who doesn’t need to score to contribute positively on the offensive end. Without his passing wizardry, Wisconsin would not have been able to dominate throughout the first half in the way that they did.
With Rohde’s passing as the bedrock, Wisconsin’s offense played together, and their movement on the court showed immense jumps in their chemistry since the start of the season.
“The way we moved the ball was key,” head coach Greg Gard said after the game. “We were really sharp and good in transition. When we did get in the half court, I thought we didn't over-dribble very much. We got the ball moving and obviously we played really efficiently."
Wisconsin’s cohesiveness resulted in four different Badgers reaching double-digit scoring, showing that when Wisconsin plays with unselfishness, their offense flows better. If Wisconsin can continue to gel as their season goes along, they can reach the potential of a dangerous contender that many slated them to be.
