Filling the production void left on offense by the departure of Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker will be one of the biggest challenges facing a young Wisconsin squad this season.
A significant amount of that responsibility falls on the shoulders of redshirt freshman forward Ethan Happ, who many are expecting to have a breakout year for the Badgers.
His performance Wednesday night certainly won’t cause anyone to temper their lofty expectations for the redshirt freshman.
Happ recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, and six different players reached double-digit scoring as No. 17 Wisconsin rolled to a 101-45 exhibition win over Division-III UW-River Falls at the Kohl Center.
Happ in particular impressed for the Badgers, scoring his 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field in 19 minutes of game action. He did much of his damage in the post, something head coach Bo Ryan hopes to see plenty of throughout the season.
“He’s awful comfortable [in the paint]. He’s a natural around the basket. He works hard for position and you reward people that work hard,” Ryan said. “He’s a presence in there. He’s going to be a factor and he kind of showed that tonight.”
The Wisconsin offense as a whole was humming throughout the night. As a team, the Badgers shot 54.5 percent from the field, including a 45 percent mark from 3-point range, and posted 1.33 points per possession on the night.
UW also dominated down low, holding a 57-25 edge over the Falcons in the rebounding battle and outscoring them 40-8 in the paint.
Junior forward Nigel Hayes, who’s expected to lead the way for the Badgers with Kaminsky and Dekker gone, finished the night with 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Freshman forwards Charlie Thomas and Alex Illikainen combined to shoot 9-of-14 and each scored 12 points, and junior guard Bronson Koenig and redshirt sophomore guard Riley Dearring both added 10 points apiece as well.
By comparison, junior forward Garret Pearson (11 points) and sophomore guard CJ Lewis (10) were the only players to finish in double digits for the Falcons.
UW-River Falls actually hung with the Badgers in the early going and only trailed 15-14 with 12:25 to play in the first half. However, the Badgers finished the half on a 31-13 run to take a commanding 46-27 lead into the locker room.
In the game’s first 20 minutes, Wisconsin went 6-of-6 from 3-point range, with five different players (Dearring, Illikainen, Koenig, Hayes and junior forward Vitto Brown) connecting from beyond the arc.
But it was far from a perfect performance for the Badgers, who racked up a total of 11 fouls and eight turnovers in the first half, uncharacteristically high numbers for a Bo Ryan-coached team.
Nevertheless, Wisconsin continued to dominate in the second half, outscoring the Falcons 55-19 over the final 20 minutes of the contest. Aside from a missed breakaway dunk from redshirt junior guard Zak Showalter, it was smooth sailing for the Badgers, who received major contributions from their crop of newcomers and their bench.
Fifteen players saw action for Wisconsin, with 54 points coming from bench players and 44 coming courtesy of its freshmen.
“We have a lot of talent, a lot of young talent,” Happ said. “But you also saw how many mistakes we made, and we really gotta clean that up once we start going on further in the season. But it was a good first test, and I think we can do a lot better as a group.”
Notably absent was freshman forward Andy Van Vliet, who had an eligibility waiver denied by the NCAA Wednesday afternoon. UW plans to appeal the decision, though if the appeal is denied, Van Vliet will be forced to sit out the rest of the season and will only have three years of eligibility remaining.
