In a result that was not terribly surprising, Wisconsin rolled to an easy win over BG at the Kohl Center last night. There were some positive elements to the game for BG, but in the end the Badgers have too much shooting for BG to overcome.
The Falcons hung tough for 10 minutes, with the score 20-20. From that point on, Wisconsin won the game 68-44. Wisconsin did all their real damage in the middle of the game...from that 10 minutes point until the 17:00 mark of the 2nd half, they outscored BG 30-10 and from there the game was pretty even again until the end, although it is difficult to tell how much effort the Badgers were expending at that point. BG did run the lead down to 14 at one point but no closer.
The analysis is relatively simple. Wisconsin shot 55% from the field and 60% (12-20!) from beyond the arc, while BG shot 44% from the field and 11% (1-9) from beyond the arc. I doubt if there will be too many D1 games where a team gets out-3'd by 11 and wins the game.
As we noted in our preview this year, shooting is a challenge for BG. This is currently made worse by the injury to Chauncey Orr, who is at least an average shooter, but BG has no real perimeter shooting threats. Anthony Henderson was 3-8 shooting, for example (and 1 of 4 from the line), and Jehvon Clarke missed all 3 of his 3s, though he did make 7 of 14 overall. (Note: 3 assists over 4 turnovers).
On the other measures, BG did pretty well. The Falcons took excellent care of the ball with only 6 turnovers (9%) and did a nice job on the boards. The other area where BG was really handled was something that I think will continue to be an issue for this team--fouls. BG committed 23 and Wisconsin 14. Wisconsin made 20 free throws in 26 attempts, while BG was 7 of 14...so the foul deficit was made worse by BG not being able to make the shots it did get.
BG's points per possessions was .96. BG actually didn't shoot horribly and the low turnover total helps as well. Sadly, Wisconsin scored at 1.31 points per possession, the highest against BG since the Oakland "post-season" game at the end of the 11-12 season.
So Clarke had 15, but the top scorer for BG is a guy who seems to really be developing and that is Spencer Parker. Starting in place of Orr, he played 31 minutes and had 17 points, all of them in the second half. He had 7 of 14 shooting and 3 of 5 from the line, and added 4 rebounds. Parker is a slashing threat, so he doesn't necessarily generate outside points, but this team can use offensive production wherever they can get it.
Just to speculate, but when Orr is back, I wonder what will happen. Possibly, you might move Orr to start at SG, so your lineup is Clarke, Orr, Parker, Holmes and Black. Playing the 3, I think Parker can present some matchup problems in the MAC.
One digression. I saw in the BG games notes that no player on this team has ever scored 20 points in a collegiate game.
Cam Black had 10 points on 5 of 9 shooting, with all points coming in the first half against a very tall Badger team. Holmes had 8 and 8.
Craig Sealey returned to the game, logging 27 minutes. Josh Gomez played 4 minutes.
BG heads south to St. Louis in what promises to be an equally challenging games. More on the Billikens tomorrow, but they won the A-10 last year and figure to be another difficult road challenge for the Falcons
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