The last time the Badgers (6-5 Big Ten, 19-5 overall) took on Minnesota (5-6, 16-8), they came away with a loss that seemed to cement their status as a team in free-fall.
For the third straight game, the normally stout Wisconsin defense allowed a field goal percentage greater than 50 percent. Defensive foul trouble and an inability to cover ball screens were the primary two problems.
It’ll be important for the Badgers that nobody hits the repeat button, particularly junior center Frank Kaminsky, whose two early fouls opened the door for Minnesota’s interior offense.
“You can’t change how the refs are going to call them, so you’ve got to keep playing the same way,” Kaminsky said. “They killed us on ball screens, that was kind of our weakness for a couple games. I think we’ve really cleaned that up game by game.”
This Gopher attack was particularly deadly thanks to junior forward Maurice Walker, who came away with 18 points and nine rebounds, both career highs. With Kaminsky sidelined by fouls, the Badgers had little size remaining to stop the 6-foot-10-inch Canadian.
“He was just bigger than everyone guarding him. He had no real height going against him,” Kaminsky said. “You saw some plays where they defended it well, he was just taller and got it over people.”
A stretch where Walker made six straight baskets for the Gophers, all from point blank range, is particularly memorable.
Another problem that could recur is diminutive junior guard DeAndre Mathieu, whose late baskets helped ice the game.
“They imposed their will on us, and whenever you have good guard play, you can always control tempo and control the game and that’s what they were able to do with Mathieu,” associate coach Greg Gard said.
Since that game, the Badgers have heated up, winning three of their last five games, working to bring back what got them to 16-0.
“We just wanted to get back to the film, get back to the practice court, and regain our edge. Work hard, get back to what got us the wins at the beginning of the year,” redshirt junior guard Josh Gasser said. “We definitely weren’t panicked, but at the same time we knew that we need to clean some stuff up and I think we did.”
To continue this improvement, the Badgers will have to continue the offensive cohesion they showed in last Sunday’s Michigan State game and adapt to new wrinkles from the Gophers.
The biggest difference from last game will be the presence of Minnesota’s leading scorer, junior guard Andre Hollins. Hollins sprained his left ankle in the beginning of the previous Badgers game, and had to miss most of the contest. Since his return from a two-game hiatus, Hollins has averaged 30 minutes and nine points per game.
However, Hollins’ return shouldn’t matter so long as the Badgers are able to keep their defensive integrity on the perimeter, as evidenced by Michigan State sophomore guard Gary Harris’ 3-of-20 performance.
“We’ve definitely taken some steps in the right direction, and sometimes that takes some adversity and some negative things happening in order for us to continue to take another step forward,” Gard said. “You’re not going to be consistently successful in this league if you can’t defend, so I think that’s an area where we’ve had to mature and come the farthest.”
