The Wisconsin men’s basketball team (1-0) will likely play its toughest non-conference game this season when it travels to Gainesville, Fla., Wednesday for a matchup against No. 10 Florida (1-0).
The Badgers’ 2012-’13 non-conference schedule is tougher than it has been in recent years—Wisconsin will play five teams from last season’s NCAA tournament by Dec. 8—and the Gators are currently the highest-ranked of those teams. Florida returns seven of the top-nine minute earners from a team that lost to Louisville in the Elite Eight last season.
The Gators certainly play at a faster pace than Wisconsin, averaging almost 10 more possessions per game last season. Florida also ranked No. 22 in the nation in scoring offense.
That up-tempo pace could come from three-guard lineups, which is something the Gators have done regularly in recent years. The Badgers, however, did the same in their exhibition game against UW-Oshkosh and season opener Sunday against Southeastern Louisiana.
Senior forward Mike Bruesewitz said this Wisconsin roster features a number of flex players who are comfortable defending multiple positions.
“Me and [redshirt senior forward Ryan Evans], I feel like we can guard any position on the floor whenever we want to. If we need to go take a point guard on a switch we can guard them as well,” Bruesewitz said. “We got smalls that are willing to put in the dirty work down low to not let bigs get the ball.”
Bruesewitz played 13 minutes against Southeastern Louisiana after missing four weeks with a lower right leg laceration. The St. Paul, Minn., native said he played limited minutes in order to see how his body responded to regular game action.
“My body was a little bit sore, but my leg wasn’t necessarily the sore part,” Bruesewitz said. “Shoulders and everything—hit the ground a few times last night, so that was the biggest thing, making sure I can handle [regular game action].”
While Bruesewitz is back to fully participating in practice, he said he hasn’t gotten word from team trainer Henry Perez-Guerra about his availability Wednesday. The senior would play starter’s minutes if it was up to him, but he realizes his playing time depends on Perez-Guerra’s report.
“If it doesn’t come, it doesn’t come,” Bruesewitz said.
In addition to Bruesewitz’s injury, junior guard Josh Gasser tore his ACL in late October and will miss the entire season. With one less guard available on the depth chart, freshman guard Zak Showalter decided not to redshirt in 2012-’13. The Germantown, Wis., native said he would have redshirted if Gasser had not gone down.
“Being fifth deep in a rotation is tough,” Showalter said. “I figured it would’ve been a waste of my time to try to get some minutes here and there.”
Head coach Bo Ryan, who allows his players to decide whether or not to redshirt, said Showalter came into his office and essentially put the ball in Ryan’s court.
“He said, ‘Hey, coach, I’m just here to tell you whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it,’” Ryan said. “Looking at where we are defensively and some of the hustle plays that he’s capable of making and he already did [Sunday], he’s more or less the fourth guard, and he’s contributing,” Ryan said.
Between the possibility of foul trouble or fatigue against the fast-paced Gators , Showalter acknowledged he could play significant minutes Wednesday.
“You never know what could happen,” Showalter said. “I’ll be ready to step up if coach needs me.”
Bruesewitz said he expects a heavyweight bout from Florida, with the game ultimately coming down to whoever can outlast the other. However, that does not mean that’s how he would like to see things play out.
“I wanna go down there and kick the crap out of them,” Bruesewitz said. “Beat them by 20 and come home and go to bed at night, and I can sleep alright at that point.”
