The Badgers men's hoops team tips off preseason play tonight, hosting UW-Parkside at 7 p.m. at the Kohl Center.
The matchup between the Rangers and the Badgers will be UW's first exhibition game of the season and the first-ever matchup between the two schools. Despite never playing each other in the past, the two programs are connected by their respective coaches.
Parkside Head Coach Luke Reigel was a former player for Badger Head Coach Bo Ryan at UW-Platteville and was also an assistant under Ryan in the 1998-'99 campaign when Platteville won the Division III championship.
As much as the game will be a test to see how much Badger players have learned and developed this season, it will also be an opportunity for the team to play someone other than themselves. In addition, it will be a chance to see how well the team is gelling.
\Well, you know, you're looking to find out how we're playing off one another offensively, off our screens, our cuts, our ball movement,"" Ryan said. ""[We need to find out], if we see zone, what to recognize against the zone, what type of zone, if the team's trapping, if they're full-court pressing, if whatever. Just to make game adjustments while the game's going on.""
The Badgers participated in their first live-game action of the season when they held an open scrimmage last Sunday afternoon. As a part of the Men's Basketball Family Fun Day, the red squad defeated the white squad 80-64.
The red team was comprised of seniors center Andreas Helmigk and forward Mike Wilkinson, sophomores guard Kammron Taylor, forwards Alando Tucker and forward Jason Chappell, and freshmen guards Tanner Bronson and DeAaron Williams.
The white team included senior guards Clayton Hanson and Sharif Chambliss, senior forward Zach Morley, junior forward Ray Nixon, and freshmen center Greg Stiemsma and guard Michael Flowers.
After a close first half, the red team entered halftime with a 40-33 edge, and only further bolstered their lead as they opened up the second half with a 16-10 run over the opening five minutes. The team in red was able to build a lead to as much as 23 points late in the game.
For the contest, Tucker led all players with 25 points and a couple highlight-reel dunks. After missing most of last season with a leg injury, fans saw a glimpse of Tucker that resembled the phenom he was prior to his injury-plagued second season.
With a barrage of inside moves, Tucker showed explosiveness off the dribble and to the rim as he connected on several put-backs and a plethora of lay-ups.
On the red team, Taylor added 18, Wilkinson 12, Helmigk 10, Williams and Chappell six and Bronson three.
Hanson paced the white team with 15 points, while Nixon chipped in 13, Chambliss 11, Stiemsma 10, Morley eight and Flowers seven.
""The nice part is they got a chance to get out and play on the floor with people in the stands,"" Ryan said. ""You can obviously tell that that's something some of our guys needed because they needed to just get comfortable-getting up and down the floor.""
Freshman center Brian Butch was the only member of the team not to participate in the scrimmage. He is battling a right lower foot injury and is noted as day-to-day.
The scrimmage gave fans a first look at some of the new players' development so far this season, especially the freshmen. Stiemsma made his presence known early and often in Sunday's scrimmage as he contributed both offensively and defensively. Stiemsma started the game and pitched in 10 points, but perhaps more impressive was his defensive presence. The rookie big man blocked several shots and altered quite a few others in showing a bit of authority when the red team entered the paint.
In a taste of what is to come this season, the Badger men's hoops team did not disappoint and looked ready for the start of the appetizer to the regular season.
""This was like going through our drills and we just need to see some other faces, which we'll see on Wednesday,"" Ryan said.
Under Ryan, Wisconsin is 6-0 in exhibition games, winning by an average of 24.3 points. Last year, the Badgers averaged 102.5 points in their two preseason games.
