After a rather ugly 47-43 win over Pittsburgh, Wisconsin is moving on to face No. 2 seed Xavier in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
But to earn a fifth trip to the Sweet Sixteen in the last six years, the Badgers know they will have to put forth a better performance than what they did Friday night against the Panthers.
“Xavier is very similar [to Pitt], but bigger,” UW head coach Greg Gard said. “We’ll have to be as good as we were [against Pitt] defensively, but better offensively.”
No. 7 seed Wisconsin (21-12) will square off against the Musketeers (28-5) Sunday night at approximately 7:40 p.m. in St. Louis.
Xavier is led by standout sophomore guard Trevon Bluiett, who leads the team in scoring at 15.3 points per game while also averaging 6.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists. In addition to Bluiett, the Musketeers also get major production from freshman guard Edmond Sumner (11.0 points per game, 3.6 assists per game, 3.3 rebounds per game), senior forward James Farr (11.0 points per game, 8.0 rebounds per game), junior guard Myles Davis (10.9 points per game, 4.2 assists per game, 3.7 rebounds per game) and junior forward Jalen Reynolds (9.5 points per game, 6.4 rebounds per game).
Along with sophomore guard J.P. Macura and senior guard Remy Abell, they make up the seven-man rotation that get a healthy majority of the minutes for head coach Chris Mack.
It is a roster that doesn’t lack in size or depth, and one that reminds Gard of some of the top teams in the Big Ten.
“Bluiett is as good a player as we've seen all year, similar to the scores we've seen in our league. They're big. They're physical. They're deep. They can roll a lot of bodies in there. They can play, like I said before, at different paces,” Gard said. “But I think it's very similar to what we've seen in our league in terms of Michigan State, Purdue, Maryland — teams that are big, that are physical, that are very talented.”
The Musketeers are a fairly balanced squad, ranking 16th and 27th in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted offensive and defensive ratings, respectively. In terms of pace, they are also a major deviation from Pittsburgh, as they rank 36th in KenPom’s adjusted tempo rating.
Of course, the Badgers play at a much more deliberate pace, but Gard doesn’t expect that be an issue for them.
“I think anytime you get to this point in time in the year, each team can control tempo either way,” he said. “Xavier has played in lower-possession games. They've played in higher-possession games. And we played in lower-possession games, like last night, and we've played in higher-possession games. Our second game against Indiana was a higher-possession game. Our first game against Michigan State was a higher-possession game. So I think we've been able to adjust.”
The Badgers advanced to the second round despite lackluster showings from juniors Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig, who combined to go 4-of-25 from the field. Instead, they relied on contributions from redshirt freshman Ethan Happ and junior forward Vitto Brown to grind out a victory against the Panthers.
“If you would’ve told me we were gonna be 4-of-25 with those two guys [Hayes and Koenig], I would’ve said we’re on a flight home this morning,” Gard said. “I think it showed how we’ve grown defensively. We found other ways to be able to win. I don’t think 60, 90 days ago we would’ve found those ways.”
Against a team like Xavier, Wisconsin may need more from its veteran leaders to avoid seeing its season come to a close.
But even if that doesn’t happen, and regardless of the outcome of Sunday night’s game, the fact that the Badgers were able to grind out a victory on a night where Hayes and Koenig were far from their best shows just how far this team has progressed throughout the course of the year and inspires confidence moving forward.
“That’s a credit to the maturity that the guys have had, the experience that they’ve had, the knowledge that they’ve gained over time,” Hayes said of the contributions from the UW supporting cast. “We didn’t have the knowledge, experience and confidence at the beginning of the season that we do now. That plays a major part into the way we’re playing now, and I think this is a great time, if any, to start playing like that.”
