After Rough Outing Against BYU, Austin Rapp Gives Wisconsin What They Need

SAN DIEGO — It was not a pleasant film session for Austin Rapp following Wisconsin’s 98-700 loss to then No. 9 BYU in Salt Lake City last Friday. The team was scheduled to meet the following morning at 10 a.m. Struggling to sleep, Rapp was up at 8 a.m., “dreading” what was coming his way in the next two hours.

As expected, Greg Gard didn’t beat around the bush with Rapp. He may not have told the sophomore forward what he wanted to hear, but rather what he needed to hear.

“They got after me, which is what I needed,” Rapp told Badger Blitz. “Coach demands a lot of me, and I demand a lot of myself.”

What prompted Gard to call out Rapp wasn’t his 0-for-7 shooting effort against the Cougars. It was his zero-rebound stat line in 27 minutes as Wisconsin got beat on the glass 44-39.

“I was soft against BYU,” Rapp continued.” I’m 6-10, I can’t be having zero rebounds.”

What also stood out to Rapp and the UW coaching staff was his demeanor right from the jump. Admittedly not ready to play, Rapp got beat a few times defensively early and that impacted his entire game, including a missed point-blank layup in the first half.

“I wasn’t in the game. You could see I wasn’t ready to go,” Rapp said.

“That game wasn’t me or who I am,” Rapp added, “We’re going to have days where we don’t feel right, don’t play the right way. Friday was one of those days, BYU got on top of us, they scouted me well, and I couldn’t get things going.”

According to Gard, Rapp attacked the next several practices just as he hoped. That certainly translated to live game action as Rapp wasted almost no time getting on the offensive glass and scrapping for loose balls during Thursday’s 104-83 win over Providence (3-3) in the Rady Children’s Invitational.

By the opening eight minutes, Rapp had five rebounds, including two offensive boards, and a block. Rapp had one sequence in particular where he dove on the floor for a loose ball, kicked it out, got back up, and recovered the offensive rebound for a putback score.

“Today, I just came out with an aggressive mindset to make sure I assert myself on the offensive glass and get a few easy ones,” he said. “Once I get a few easy ones, that opens my game on the outside.”

Rapp picked a good time to record his best day in a Wisconsin uniform. A native of Australia, Rapp had numerous family members in attendance to see him go for 20 points (7-15), eight rebounds, and three blocks in 31 minutes. Breaking out of a shooting slump, Rapp had been eight for his last 29 field goal attempts entering Thursday. Against the Friars, Rapp connected on five 3-pointers, one shy of his career high.

Rapp didn’t get into the scoring column until nearly seven minutes into the game after missing his first field goal attempt. What got Rapp going was his work on the glass and the defensive end.

“I’ve always got high confidence I’m gonna make my shots, but at the end of the day, if I can impact other ways than shooting 3’s — go get offensive rebounds, make layups, and make the right reads offensively passing — If I can do that and get myself into the game that way, the 3’s are going to come natural.”

A Portland transfer, reigning West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year, and a career 39 percent shooter from downtown, Rapp’s confidence never wavered. That was evident during a personal 9-0 run where Rapp closed the first half with three consecutive triples.

“They (coaches) tell me to shoot the ball all day, every day,” Rapp explained. “Whenever I’m open, let it fly. Myself? I don’t see a bad shot. I know they don’t need to tell me to keep shooting.”

More of a stretch, finesse forward, Rapp is averaging just 3.6 rebounds per game for Wisconsin. Last season with Portland, Rapp posted 6.5 boards per game, but in the West Coast Conference. In two games against Gonzaga, Rapp managed just two rebounds.

The Badgers (5-1) will face bigger and more physical teams than Providence, beginning Friday at the Rady Children’s Invitational title game with TCU (4-2). Starting to realize he can throw his weight around a bit, Rapp believes he can give the Badgers what they need up front.

“I’m still adjusting,” Rapp said of the physicality at the power-four level. “I had a little bit of a glimpse of it, but now I’m gonna have to see it every game. Once I get that fiery edge in myself — I’m 6-10, 240 — once I realize I can hit guys, move them off-balance, I can be as physical as what they’re doing to me. It changed my whole game, and I did that tonight.”