Wisconsin Basketball: Keys to the Game vs. Milwaukee
After a week-long break, the Wisconsin Badgers look to end 2025 on a high note with a matchup against UW-Milwaukee tonight at 6 p.m. CT. Greg Gard and the Badgers are riding a solid 27-point victory over Central Michigan on Dec. 22, with one more game before they get into the thick of Big Ten play.
The last month and a half has been a rollercoaster for Wisconsin, posting a 3-3 record in its last six games. Easy wins have come over smaller programs, but the team has also suffered brutal losses to TCU, Nebraska and most recently Villanova.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee will play the second game of a back-to-back, most recently dominating Purdue Fort Wayne, 77-55. Despite a 7-6 record, the Panthers are first in the Horizon League. Here are two keys to the Badgers walking away with a comfortable victory to close out the year.
Limit Threes, Guard Scoring
Despite Seth Hubbard being sidelined for the season with a shoulder injury, Milwaukee still has a group of guards who outplay the frontcourt. Amar Augillard, Josh Dixon and Stevie Elam are the biggest threats from the perimeter, while Danilo Jovanovich will be the only true concern inside the arc.
The Panthers do a solid job of taking care of the basketball, ranking 49th of 365 teams in turnovers per game (10.3). While the guards may not be as skilled as Wisconsin’s, they are smart players.
Plus, with their leading scorer out, the Badgers can force more mistakes to shut down the offense. A good way to do that is to make them uncomfortable initiating past half-court.
What’s more is that Milwaukee prefers to shoot threes more than most, ranking 101st in attempts per game (25.8). The team certainly isn’t like Wisconsin, which lives and dies by the deep ball (seventh in threes attempted, 31.9).
However, with just around six fewer threes attempted per game, it still means to run the Panthers off the line and force the Badger frontcourt to get chippy. The bigs may have shown weakness in defending the paint this season, but against smaller programs, these challenges will only make them better.
Keep the Bench Involved
In Wisconsin’s previous game against Central Michigan, the Chippewas were only down 12 points at the half due to the Badgers’ lack of help from the second unit. Nolan Winter led the first 20 minutes with 13 points, but the bench managed just 15 points.
The second half was a different story. Wisconsin won the final 20 minutes by 15 points and the game by 27, largely due to Austin Rapp’s 15 off the bench. The Australian forward would finish with an impressive 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists. The non-starters combined for 29 points in the half.
Sure, having your stars play up to par is nice, but a true contender has weapons outside of the starters. We have yet to see major performances from anyone on the bench outside of Rapp.
Against Milwaukee, this should be a chance for backup guards such as Braeden Carrington and Jack Janicki to get aggressive offensively. Freshman Zach Kinziger got solid burn against Central Michigan, and could get more time tonight as well.
