Lucas’ 3-Pointers: Wisconsin vs. Rhode Island
December 09, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Mike Lucas
Three things to know before the Wednesday's non-conference clash
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — The Badgers host Rhode Island on Wednesday afternoon in a non-conference clash at the Kohl Center. Here are three things to know:
1. Dial 1-800-Find-a-Foe
The Badgers have waited 42 years for a rematch with Louisville. The first and only time they've played was 1978, a Cardinals win on their home floor. That wait has now been extended with the postponement of Wednesday's scheduled Big Ten-ACC Challenge game at the Kohl Center. Louisville has paused all team-related activities because of COVID. That sent UW coach Greg Gard scrambling for an opponent and the Badgers found a partner in Rhode Island whose coach David Cox told The Providence Journal, "We've been calling around to anybody and everybody trying to pick up a game. We wanted the right game. We wanted to challenge ourselves… I love competition. I love testing myself and I like testing this team just to see where we're at." Gard is of the same mindset, "We're trying to play as many games against the best competition that we can find. But probably more so than ever just trying to get a schedule together trumps what that schedule at the end of the day is going to look like because it's not going to look like we intended it to look." The Rams are a worthy replacement foe ("Rhode Island is good; you watch them on film, it doesn't take long to figure out," Gard said) that last played on Dec. 2, a 76-63 victory over Seton Hall, one of the co-titlists in the Big East last season. As for Louisville? Everything is on hold.
Gard: "Every time I check my phone, I see somebody else is delayed, canceled or moved."
2. From Lamar Odom to Fatts Russell
In their first-ever meeting, the Badgers rallied from a 46-36 deficit over the final 11 minutes behind the sharp-shooting of guard Sean Mason, who scored nine of his game-high 17 points in the final five minutes of a come-from-behind 65-59 win over Rhode Island at the Providence Civic Center. That 1998 game featured a classic duel between UW's defensive specialist Mike Kelley and the Rams highly-touted Lamar Odom. Despite giving up so much size and length, the 6-3 Kelley frustrated the 6-10 Odom who had 10 points and more turnovers (5) than made baskets (3). In 1999, the Clippers chose Odom with the 4th overall pick in the NBA draft. That same year, the Badgers routed Rhode Island, 66-43, at the Kohl Center, the last time they've met. After the Rams coach Jerry DeGregario went on a postgame rant ("It was an ugly game. One of the ugliest games I've ever seen. They played ugly. We played ugly"), UW coach Dick Bennett responded, "If his definition holds up, then we've probably been involved in more ugly games than anybody in history. I don't know if we ever play a pretty game." Nobody has a prettier game than Rhode Island's senior guard Daron "Fatts" Russell, a 5-10, 165-pound dynamo who's forever channeling his inner Allen Iverson. Russell, who picked up his nickname because he was a chubby baby, can score from any spot on the court and has a knack for getting to the free throw line. Through five games, he's 30-for-34 from the stripe, including 20 straight, while the Rams are leading the nation in shooting free throws (110-152, .724), twice scoring 30 or more points from the line.
3. Feeding the post
On Sunday, the Badgers had a "Get Better Day" or a "Solely Focus on Us Day" according to Gard who wanted to address some areas of concern after the Marquette loss. He listed ball screen defense, transition defense, the ability to play through pressure, the ability to finish inside better and more efficiently and the need to feed the post more and read cutters better ("I thought we missed a lot of people in the post; when we did throw it in, our points per possession were really high especially in the first half," he said). The Badgers put themselves in a hole with a flurry of fouls in each half; something which has been very uncharacteristic of their play over many years ("Everything we did wrong was things that we did to ourselves; we beat ourselves in a sense," said senior Aleem Ford). It's why Gard felt the necessity to revisit the core basics, the program's foundation.
Gard: "It was nothing new or that they hadn't talked about or we hadn't discussed before. They could watch it on film from the clips we had from the game. There were a lot of things that we did well. But it was good to get some things on film and it puts live experience with instruction. And that's the best way for us to take a big jump forward."
