Wisconsin Badgers Pick Up Exhibition Win vs. UW-Platteville
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Badgers basketball wrapped up their exhibition schedule with a 69-53 win over UW-Platteville on Wednesday night. In the Garding against Cancer game, Greg Gard and the Badgers took down his brother, Jeff, and the Pioneers for what was an up-and-down game.
Badgers Win, But Not Without Some Rollercoaster Moments
The game opened with a surprising 7-0 run as Wisconsin couldn’t buy a bucket. That was the trend through most of the first half, with the Badgers settling for threes while UW-Platteville opened shooting 50% from deep. Austin Rapp silenced that run with back-to-back deep shots.
There was sloppiness from Wisconsin as the Pioneers looked comfortable on the other end. Poor shot selection, bad passes and even a charge against the Badgers allowed the Pioneers to stay in it.
However, a 10-0 sparked by John Blackwell, Nolan Winter and Braeden Carrington gave the Badgers the lead. An Andrew Rhode buzzer-beater gave Wisconsin the lead, 31-22, at halftime.
At first, the second half looked to be a continuation of the Badgers’ dominance. Winter and Rapp were working well in the pick-and-roll, while Nick Boyd got his first points of the game with some solid attacks to the basket, finishing with 11 points, shooting over 50% from the field in the second half.
But UW-Platteville didn’t go away and sparked a 10-0 run of their own to make it interesting halfway through the second half. The team finished shooting 47% from the field and 24% from deep.
Things looked their worst for Wisconsin halfway through the second half. UW-Platteville was gaining steam off turnovers and poor defense from the Badgers. However, the Badgers found a rhythm and held the Pioneers to zero points for nearly five minutes while getting buckets of their own.
Wisconsin’s Frontcourt Made All the Difference
Winter was everywhere with 17 points and 15 rebounds, getting active in and out of the paint. Rapp was right there with him with 14 points and seven rebounds. While the frontcourt was very strong, Blackwell seemed like the only difference-maker throughout the game’s entirety for the guards, with nine points and seven rebounds despite shooting 3-for-11.
Overall, the game was dominated by Wisconsin’s poor defense in spurts. The Badgers picked up solid offense as the contest went along, with paint touches being a key strength against a smaller opponent. The Pioneers combatted on the other end with quickness on and off the ball.
Wisconsin will take on Campbell in its first regular-season game on Monday at the Kohl Center.
