A few weeks ago, the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team learned firsthand the damage that dual seven-footers can do to a team.
On Dec. 3, Wisconsin’s defense had no answers for Michigan’s king-sized Danny Wolf and Vladislav Golden duo. Accounting for 44 of the Wolverines’ 67 points, the combo reminded a packed Kohl Center the danger posed by multiple scoring big men. Michigan won that night, and with two seven-footers of their own, the loss must have felt extra bitter for Wisconsin.
But in their last two games, Wisconsin has unlocked a code they may have been trying to crack all season long by beating Butler behind the stellar offensive play of their seven-foot twin towers, sophomore Nolan Winter and senior Steven Crowl.
The Badgers (9-3, 0-1 Big Ten) have found offensive success in a multitude of ways this season. Winter has become a scoring threat in his sophomore season. They’ve received scoring outpours from transfer guard John Tonje, including 41-point and 33-point performances in wins against Arizona and Pitt and a 30-point game from guard John Blackwell. At times, the offense has run through scoring binges from guard Max Klesmit.
But against Butler on Dec. 14 and Detroit Mercy on Sunday, in receiving big performances from both Winter and Crowl in the same game, the Wisconsin offense realized a new potential strategy: it can dominate a game by running its offense through its bigs. With 20 points from Winter and 18 from Crowl, the Badgers coasted to victory against Butler. And on Saturday, the duo once again lead Wisconsin in scoring, with Winter scoring 18 and Crowl providing 15.
For much of this season, Crowl has struggled. Seeing a slight dip in his minutes, the forward is averaging 8.3 points per game — down from 11.2 last season — alongside a drop in rebounding. Crowl was an offensive non-factor in back-to-back losses to Michigan and Marquette, scoring two points in each game and taking until the second half against Marquette to even attempt a field goal. After the loss to Illinois, head coach Greg Gard publicly questioned how he did not corral a rebound.
In the meantime, Winter has carried much of the load by essentially replacing the production Wisconsin has received from Crowl the last two years. The sophomore has transitioned into a starting role admirably, using his physicality to average 10.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
But Winter’s success doesn’t mean the Badgers haven’t missed Crowl. Throughout the season, and for much of the time Crowl has been at Wisconsin, Gard has echoed his pleas for the forward to become more aggressive.
“We’ve talked a hundred times about how he’s so unselfish, and at times too unselfish,” Gard said after Crowl broke loose for 17 points against Appalachian State earlier in the season. “I want him with an aggressive, score-first mindset.”
Following Crowl’s rough stretch in the losses to Michigan, Marquette and Illinois, Gard was even more straightforward.
“He hasn’t been aggressive enough all year really, quite frankly,” Gard said.
But after a week of having his aggression questioned, Crowl got to work early Saturday, scoring Wisconsin’s first bucket. By halftime, Crowl had taken seven shots and scored 13 points, the same amount he’d scored in his last three games combined.
With Butler’s defense forced to focus on Crowl, Winter thrived, scoring nine points in the first half and 11 more in the second, en route to a career-high 20.
“It’s big for us to get Steve going early and often,” Winter said Wednesday. “We’re going to try to continue to do that.
“When Steven gets going, it draws the whole attention from the other team to really stop him in the post one-on-one,” he said. “That kind of opens it up for everyone else.”
Now 13 games in, the Badgers’ offense has been the obvious strength of the team, even as they know they haven’t gotten Crowl at his best. Crowl knows he needs to be aggressive. If he builds off his last two performances, a Wisconsin team that is already averaging 81.9 points per game will become more dangerous.
And if opponent defenses are forced to deal with both of Wisconsin’s bigs, Winter may be the most obvious benefactor.
After the Butler game, Crowl talked about how it has been to mentor Winter, saying he feels a duty to leave Wisconsin better than he found it. But while it’s important to acknowledge the future, Crowl still has at least 19 games left as a Badger. If he can build off his last two games, he and his younger counterpart could create something special.
