It looked like Wisconsin basketball was on pace for a so-so season in the but a hot finish helped them secure an unlikely regular-season Big Ten title.
The Big Ten was one of the most competitive conferences in college basketball this season so surviving the league would take a lot out of any team. Wisconsin basketball entered the year as a talented group, but expectations were not as high as they were for schools like Michigan State and Maryland.
The non-conference season was a challenge for Wisconsin, which started the year by losing at home in overtime to Saint Mary’s. New Mexico, NC State and Richmond also took down the Badgers in non-conference play as Wisconsin showed off very inconsistent form.
An early trend that emerged in Big Ten play for Wisconsin was their brilliance at the Kohl Center compared to struggles on the road. From mid-January through Feb. 5, the Badgers won all three of their home games while going 0-4 on the road, leaving Wisconsin 13-10 overall and just 6-6 in Big Ten play.
The Badgers wouldn’t lose again, winning eight straight games to end the regular season. That surge allowed Wisconsin to earn what was as recently as a month ago an extremely unlikely share of the Big Ten title.
Tiebreakers allowed Wisconsin to earn the top seed in the conference tournament, where they were awaiting their first game before the Big Ten called the event off. The following cancellation of the NCAA Tournament officially ended Wisconsin’s season, leaving unanswered questions about how far the Badgers could have gone in March.
Top Players
Nate Reuvers
It wouldn’t be a typical Wisconsin team without a strong inside presence and Nate Reuvers filled that role on this year’s badgers. Reuvers led a balanced offensive attack, scoring 13.1 points per game while doing good work on the glass as well. The Badgers got tremendous value from Reuvers on the defensive end as well with the 6-foot-11 forward blocking 1.9 shots per game.
Micah Potter
A former Ohio State product, Micah Potter had to sit out the first ten games of the season before gaining eligibility. Potter energized the Badgers once he started playing, finishing second on the team in scoring and leading Wisconsin in rebounding while also knocking down a ridiculous 45.1 percent of his three-point attempts. The Badgers went 16-5 once Potter was able to play, a sign of how incredibly valuable he will be for the program next season.
Brad Davison
Brad Davison was a solid complementary piece for the Badgers this season. While Wisconsin never asked Davison to carry the load on offense he still managed to be effective by doing the little things like going for rebounds, sharing the ball, and spacing the floor with effective shooting. A true glue guy, Davison was an important part of the Badgers’ most efficient lineups.
D’Mitrik Trice
The younger brother of former Michigan State star Travis Trice, D’Mitrik Trice has continued to develop into a leader for Wisconsin. Trice averaged a shade under 10 points per game while leading the team in assists as he facilitated the Wisconsin offense. The Badgers also benefited from Trice’s sharpshooting as he knocked down 37.6 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.
Memorable Moments
Wisconsin wins an in-state showdown with Marquette
The Badgers had some difficulty winning big games without Micah Potter, but they managed to secure a big one back in November against Marquette. Markus Howard, one of the nation’s leading scorers, was stifled by a smothering Wisconsin defense that held him to 18 points on a miserable 6-21 shooting performance. Senior Brevin Pritzl dominated, scoring 15 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench.
Wisconsin rallies late to top Ohio State in Columbus
This matchup early in the conference season was big for Wisconsin, which was squaring off with an Ohio State squad that was ranked fifth in the country. The Badgers trailed for most of the second half before Reuvers’ jumper with 1:54 to go gave Wisconsin a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The win was a big confidence booster for the Badgers since they were able to take down a top-5 program on their floor.
Wisconsin gets blown out at Minnesota
There was a solid month where Wisconsin couldn’t lose at home but also couldn’t win on the road. This was highlighted on Feb. 5, when the Badgers went to Minnesota and were thoroughly dominated by a Golden Gophers team that entered the contest 11-10. Wisconsin trailed by 13 at the break and never was in a game they ended up losing by 18.
Wisconsin caps a remarkable stretch run with a Big Ten title
That loss at Minnesota would be the last the Badgers suffered this season. Wisconsin finished the year with eight straight wins, including a 60-56 win at Indiana to end the regular season with a share of the Big Ten’s regular-season title. That result was almost unfathomable a month prior, but the Badgers earned their share with a remarkable surge.
How did Wisconsin do this season?
In terms of pure performance, the 2019-2020 season has to be considered a success for the Badgers. Few expected Wisconsin to be a top contender in the Big Ten, but the Badgers still will get to raise a banner for a conference championship in the fall.
The thing that made this Wisconsin team so successful was a trait that most Badgers’ teams use to great success: a well-balanced unit. The Badgers didn’t really have a dominant player, but they instead relied on a deep rotation capable of working well together.
Seven different players scored at least eight points a game for Wisconsin, with six averaging at least four rebounds per game. That kind of balanced production played a huge role in Wisconsin’s strong finish to the regular season.
The cancellation of postseason play was certainly an incredibly disappointing turn of events for everyone, but it was especially frustrating for Wisconsin. Most experts pegged the Badgers as a no. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but a strong run in the Big Ten Tournament likely would have bumped them up a seed line.
The question of how far Wisconsin would have gone is quite an open-ended one. There is a steady floor for this team due to its experience, but the lack of truly elite talent probably caps Wisconsin’s tournament upside at a Sweet 16 appearance.
An early look at the 2020-2021 Wisconsin roster
If there is a buzz word for Wisconsin’s 2020-2021 roster it is experience. The Badgers played this season with only one senior, Pritzl, and he was merely a rotation player for Wisconsin.
All five of Wisconsin’s starters will be seniors this season, which will mean a lot in the always-rugged Big Ten. The big difference between this year and next year will be the fact that Micah Potter is eligible for the whole season, which is extremely important for the Badgers.
Potter is the Badgers’ most explosive offensive player as a stretch four who can knock down threes at a prodigious rate. Wisconsin went 16-5 with Potter in the lineup, so projecting that over the course of a full season could lead to another strong season for Greg Gard’s club.
There is also a strong recruiting class coming to Madison next season as Gard has landed a pair of four-star players and a trio of three-star recruits. The headliners are power forward Ben Carlson and point guard Lorne Bowman, both of whom won’t be asked to shoulder heavy minutes right away.
This group’s collective experience should make Wisconsin an early favorite in the Big Ten and a deep run in the NCAA Tournament shouldn’t be out of the question. The Badgers have all the ingredients necessary for a strong season, but a star turn from someone like Potter can take them to another level.
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