Marquette presents challenge to Badgers' bounce-back attempt
December 11, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Mike Lucas
Looking to respond from rare home loss, Wisconsin prepares to face longstanding rival
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin assistant coach Lamont Paris had been on the job for only three months when he got his first taste of the rivalry with Marquette.
"It's one of those things that is hard to gauge how intense it is until you're right there in the mix with it," said Paris, who joined Bo Ryan's staff after Howard Moore left for UIC in 2010.
"It was more intense than I imagined — more so with the fans than the players. There's almost a healthy dislike amongst the fan bases."
After spending six years as an Akron assistant, Paris could relate to the intensity between the Golden Eagles and Badgers because the Zips had a comparable rivalry with Kent State.
The two Ohio campuses are 14 miles apart.
"The atmosphere was always electric and really intense," said Paris. "Both teams were really good during the time I was there; we were usually one and two in the (Mid-American) conference."
Paris' baptism to the Marquette-Wisconsin series was a positive one: the Badgers converted 15 offensive rebounds into 21-second chances points and a 69-64 victory in Milwaukee.
Since then, they have split four games, home and away; each has won on the other's floor.
While the Golden Eagles will bring a six-game winning streak into Saturday's matchup at the Kohl Center, the Badgers will be seeking to regroup after Wednesday's loss to Milwaukee.
"We're still trying to find an identity," said Wisconsin associate head coach Greg Gard. "We're still trying to find out what makes us tick … players are still trying to figure out roles."
The Badgers shot only 29 percent in the second half against the Panthers. Besides going 1-of-6 from beyond the 3-point arc, they were only 12-of-19 from the free throw line.
"We just need to become more consistent," Gard said. "We've been so up and down … right within games … within four minute stretches.
"We'll be playing at a pretty good pace and a pretty good level and then we go silent for awhile. Then we come back for a little bit and then we're silent again.
"We can't have those peaks and valleys. We went 13 straight possessions without a field goal (in the second half). You can withstand a three- or four-possession drought. But you can't go 13.
"The defense didn't lose us the game," Gard continued. "It was our ineptitude offensively, especially in the second half where we became very stagnant and very jump-shot oriented."
Defensively, the Badgers will be challenged by a hot-shooting Marquette team which has shot 51 percent from the field and 41 percent from beyond the 3-point arc during its winning streak.
Henry Ellenson, a highly-touted 6-foot-11 freshman, has averaged 18 points and nine rebounds during this span. Luke Fischer, a 6-11 junior and Indiana transfer, has averaged 16 and eight.
The UW coaching staff is well-versed on both low-post players. Fischer was a prep teammate of Zak Showalter at Germantown. Ellenson, who's from Rice Lake, was actively recruited by the Badgers.
Ellenson has some Wisconsin ties, too. His dad, John, played for the Badgers.
After transferring from Marquette, John Ellenson, a feisty sub, appeared in 60 games at UW from 1989-91. As a senior, he averaged 6.7 points on a Steve Yoder-coached team that made it to the NIT.
Early in his UW career, Ellenson played with Danny Jones, the third-leading scorer (1,854 points) in school history. Two other teammates, Willie Simms and Tim Locum, were 1,000-point scorers.
Patrick Tompkins, a bruising first-team All-Big Ten player, was also an integral component on those teams which had some memorable skirmishes with Iowa and Acie Earl — Ellenson in particular.
Two of John and Holly Ellenson's three boys will be in Marquette uniforms Saturday.
The oldest, Wally Ellenson, a 6-6 reserve forward, started his career at Minnesota before transferring to Marquette. In track, he's a four-time All-American in the high jump.
The middle son, Ellwood Ellenson, is playing basketball at Valley City State University in North Dakota.
Marquette opened the season with a 98-57 exhibition win over Valley City. In that game, Ellwood had five points, Wally had eight and Henry had 16 points and 17 rebounds. The latter is familiar with the Kohl Center. Twice, he led Rice Lake to the state final in Madison.
"Henry has added a presence defensively that they haven't had," Gard said. "He does a good job of protecting the rim. He's not the quickest jumper, he doesn't fly around.
"But he's very precise and timely when he tries to block shots."
Ellenson has 11 blocked shots. Fischer is the team leader with 17.
"They both understand each other's strengths and weaknesses," Gard said of the duo. "Both are figuring out they're going to draw a lot of attention, especially from eight to 10 feet in (to the basket).
"And they're doing a pretty good job of finding the other three guys on the floor. That's the area where I've seen a lot of improvement as I've watched progressively through the year.
"They've become more unselfish, they share the ball really well. Henry can make a lot of things happen from the post, from inside out. His feel for the game and vision are really good."
In Marquette's most recent win, 80-62 over San Jose State, sophomore Sandy Cohen had a career-high 24 points with 6-of-10 shooting from 3-point range.
When opposing defenses have attempted to condense, or squeeze down, on Ellenson and Fischer, it has created scoring opportunities for the Golden Eagles' perimeter scorers.
Marquette's aggressive transition attack is led by a pair of freshman guards, Traci Carter and Haanif Cheatham. Off the bench, Duane Wilson and Jajuan Johnson also have the green light to push the ball.
During the winning streak, the Golden Eagles have gotten off to fast starts with opening runs of 14-0 (Grambling), 22-0 (Maine) and 31-7 (San Jose) over their last three games.
Last Saturday, the Badgers had a 19-2 run in the first half against Temple.
"It's a game of runs," said UW's Bronson Koenig. "We try to limit their runs as much as possible but we also try to string together some runs ourselves. And that just comes with team chemistry."
He also talked about moving the ball and getting to the free throw line. The Badgers were deficient in both areas against Milwaukee. They got to the line but they didn't convert (23-of-32).
Yet, it's not always the runs that define a team, according to junior guard Zak Showalter, one of 15 state products, Cheeseheads, on the rosters of Wisconsin (7) and Marquette (8).
"The one thing I've always heard as a player," said Showalter, a coach's kid, "is that it's how you respond to runs that prove what your team is made of."
The Badgers will get a chance Saturday to respond … to Wednesday's setback.
"We're trying to find the pulse of the team," Gard said. "Who can lead through adversity? Who can mentally withstand the ups and downs and eliminate them?"
