Ranked No. 3 in the AP Poll. Unanimous preseason Big Ten favorite. Two players picked for All-American teams. It’s not crazy to say this is the most anticipated basketball team in Wisconsin history.
Badger fans will get their first chance to see this shiny new basketball team play together in the Kohl Center tonight, as Wisconsin takes on Wisconsin-Parkside in an exhibition game.
While the Badgers bring back nearly their entire Final Four team, there should still be some mystery as to which players see their roles and minutes change. This exhibition figures to provide the most concrete answers to date.
There are also several young players, as well as some older, who could be in line for more playing time this year and their minutes in this game should be telling. Players to watch include sophomore forward Vitto Brown, redshirt sophomore guard Zak Showalter and sophomore guard Jordan Hill.
All three looked strong in the Red/White Scrimmage last week and could figure to take up at least some of graduated guard Ben Brust’s minutes. Thanks to his low-contact role in the offense and near-comical aversion to fouls, Brust led the team with 34.7 minutes per game. With those minutes gone, more than one player is likely to see his role from last year greatly expanded.
Hill and Showalter feel like possibilities simply due to being guards like Brust, but Brown and redshirt senior forward Duje Dukan could also have time come their way.
Wisconsin played with three guards for much of last year, but their newfound frontcourt depth could push them closer to the big side of the positional spectrum.
While one would think a game between a preseason Top 5 team and a D-II team would be a bloodbath, it might not be that severe. Last year’s preseason game against UW-Platteville had the Badgers up only seven at halftime.
Head coach Bo Ryan gave 12 different players five minutes on the court or more, so these games are more of an opportunity to experiment with lineups and see how inexperienced players perform against a live opponent.
Parkside went 23-7 last year, their most wins since 1976, and earned a No. 1 seed in the Division-II Tournament. As a team, it ranked second nationally in field goal percentage and averaged 6.0 more assists per game than their opponent.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be available on Big Ten Network Plus.
