On Tuesday night, the Wisconsin men's basketball team will host UW-Whitewater for its second and final exhibition game of the season.
UW-Whitewater is a Division III program in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Last year, the Warhawks were WIAC Champions with a 24-5 record.
Although Tuesday's matchup is just an exhibition, Wisconsin associate head coach Greg Gard says that in-state games like these have been great for basketball as a whole in the state of Wisconsin.
I know the schools that we've played in the past have been very appreciative of the opportunity to come in here, and we appreciate people coming in here and playing extremely hard and trying to make us better,"" Gard said. ""Even going back to the days of Platteville, there was a Platteville-Whitewater rivalry that was a huge rivalry within that league. So we have a lot of respect for that program and how they play.""
This season, the Warhawks have high expectations after receiving a No. 5 ranking among all Division III schools in the Sporting News college basketball preview. The Warhawks return four starters, led by senior guard Matt Goodwin. Last season, Goodwin was named a Division III First Team All-American after averaging 17.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. Goodwin also received First-Team Preseason All-American honors for the upcoming year.
Junior guard Jason Bohannon will be one of the Badgers responsible for trying to contain Goodwin's offensive game.
Bohannon says the Badgers look forward to the challenge and he knows it will take a team effort to try to control Goodwin.
""We'll just stick to our principles,"" Bohannon said. ""We'll have a couple of guys that match up with him. Anyone on the floor is going to match up with him at one time or another. It's not just one person, but we have to be able to stop him and contain him.""
The Badgers are coming off an 81-57 exhibition victory over Augustana. Wisconsin shot 49 percent from the field and 75 percent from the free-throw line.
Sophomore forward Jon Leuer says these exhibition games have been extremely valuable for building momentum heading into the regular season.
""Each game is a learning experience,"" Leuer said. ""Whether you're playing on the floor or sitting on the bench, little things can definitely help you down the road. Against Augustana, we moved the ball really well, we found the open guys, and that's just how this team is. We're unselfish - you don't know where the points are going to come from.
Hopefully we can take a lot from that game and move it on to this game. Then once the regular season starts, we can
get rolling from there.""
Part of the Badgers' transition to regular-season play will be forming a consistent rotation of players. Gard says this process is well underway and will continue to progress leading up to Wisconsin's first game of the regular season.
""In order to get on the floor for Coach [Bo] Ryan, you have to produce day in and day out in practice,"" Gard said. ""Some guys are a little further ahead than others physically, and some guys are a little further ahead in terms of their knowledge of the game and just their decisions when everything else breaks down. We've definitely taken some steps, now it's a matter of seeing where we're at when we step on the floor on Tuesday night.""
Tipoff for Tuesday's exhibition is set for 7 p.m. at the Kohl Center.
