Lucas’ 3-Pointers: Wisconsin vs. Loyola
December 15, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Mike Lucas
Three things to know before Tuesday's non-conference tilt
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — The Badgers host Loyola on Tuesday evening in a non-conference matchup at the Kohl Center. Here are three things to know:
1. Lights, Cameron, Action
Although Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the charming 98-year-old team chaplain and honorary assistant coach, stole the media spotlight during Loyola's inspiring march to the 2018 Final Four, a 19-year-old freshman center Cameron Krutwig piqued everyone's curiosity with his deft passing out of the post and nifty footwork in the paint. Krutwig had to lose 30 pounds off his 6-foot-9 frame just to play at the collegiate level and carries his weight (250-plus) much better these days. One thing hasn't changed, Krutwig is still the fulcrum of the attack ("We know that they have a really good big and there are shooters all around him, so we have to be ready for a lot of different actions and cuts and obviously guard the 3-point line," said D'Mitrik Trice). While distributing the ball (286 career assists; 133 last season), Krutwig continues to make his teammates better, including Lucas Williamson, who started 32 games during the Ramblers memorable run which ended with a loss to Michigan in the national semifinals. Sister Jean, who turned 101 in late August, hasn't been traveling during the pandemic, but still works as a fundraiser for the school out of her campus apartment. There's plenty to sell with this rock-steady basketball program. Over the last three-plus seasons, Loyola is 76-31 (.710).
UW coach Greg Gard: "It's a lot like looking in the mirror in terms of how they play. They value the ball. They play through Krutwig and he kind of facilitates things kind of like we used to with (Ethan) Happ. He has a little bigger body, but he's very similar in terms of decision-making … They don't beat themselves; they guard really well and that's why it's such a great matchup for us because it's really going to test us in a lot of areas; first and foremost, with Krutwig."
2. "Find Us The Best Teams That You Can Find Us"
Gard went to bed Saturday night with visions of Wildcats, not sugarplums, dancing in his head. Villanova Wildcats. There had been an initial conversation on the Badgers traveling to New York City to play Nova (on Dec. 19) at Madison Square Garden. But that matchup didn't materialize ("Sunday morning when I woke up, I got messages and calls and it all changed"). Instead, Wisconsin filled a void in its schedule — when Northern Iowa pulled out of Wednesday's game — with Loyola. In addition, the Louisville matchup, which had been scrapped last week, has been rescheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Kohl Center. Gard's industrious Director of Basketball Operations, the tireless Marc VanderWettering, has been toiling overtime and navigating the potholes in the ever-changing landscape to find fill-in games on short notice ("With all the moving parts and late 11th-hour decisions and shifting that had to be done, it's a credit to specifically Mark, and also everyone else behind the scenes trying to make this work," Gard said). Last week, Gard posed this question to his players, "Here's our scenario, guys, what do you want?" for a non-conference schedule. The answer didn't surprise him, either.
Gard: "They're like, 'Find us the best teams that you can find us.' That's what they wanted to do so we went after the best that we could get in the amount of time we had … That's why they came here. That's why they want to play at this level. We could line up seven in a row that were heavyweight fights and they'd do it ... This group doesn't have any fear. They want to play the best and challenge themselves because they want to be the best. We've talked all along if you want to be at the top, you've got to be willing to put your game on the line … and go after it."
3. Picking Up The Pace
Wisconsin will never be confused for Georgia State which leads the country in possessions per game (88.2) or Gonzaga (81.1) or even Northwestern (79.3). The Badgers have tried to push the ball with a little more frequency and rank in a tie nationally with Ohio State at No. 262 (69.8). Last season, the UW averaged 65.8 possessions. For context, Purdue is No. 269 (69.5) whereas Tuesday's opponent, Loyola, is No. 282 (68.8). Bringing up the rear is Virginia at No. 318 (64.0).
UW senior guard Brad Davison: "I'd say we have more freedom this year to get out and run, get out in transition. We want to get easy looks. One thing we try to limit defensively is transition buckets. It's harder to score against a set defense. So offensively you flip that over. We want to get as many transition buckets as we can, still being smart and getting the best shot. The best shot may be five to six seconds into the shot clock. Or it could be eating up 20 to 25 seconds."
