Tuesday, December 15, 2020, 7:00 pm
Kohl Center, Madison WI
On Tuesday night, the Loyola Ramblers will face Wisconsin for the first time in 22 years. The game might provide a showcase for a potential at-large tournament bid.
The last time Loyola played at Wisconsin was full of firsts. It was the first game for Loyola's new Head Coach Larry Farmer. It was the first men's basketball season opener for Wisconsin at the Kohl Center, which was opened for basketball in January of that year. It set a record that still stands 22 years later for the lowest score by an opposing team at the Kohl Center, and was the lowest score by a Loyola team since a loss to Indiana State in 1946. It was
the first game covered by the rudimentary web address that eventually became Ramblermania. And it was a record-setting quiet bus ride back to Rogers Park after that 66-29 drubbing that still stains the record books.
It's been a crazy ride for both teams since then. Wisconsin used to be the one of the softest touches in the Big Ten, with only six seasons above .500 from 1963 to 1993. The Badgers went from 1947 to 2002 without a Big 10 title, either in the regular season or tournament. But the 1998-99 season (Dick Bennett's 4th season at UW) began a stretch of 19 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including three trips to the Final Four and five Big Ten regular season or conference championships.
Loyola's first conference championship since 1987 came the same year Wisconsin failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 19 seasons (and went on to its first Final Four since 1963). The Ramblers won another conference championship in 2019, and they're hoping this season could be a turning point like Wisconsin experienced in the late '90s.
Last year, Wisconsin landed in a three-way tie for the Big 10 regular season championship with Maryland and Michigan State. Wisconsin ranked third in the Big 10 preseason poll behind Illinois and Iowa, and received six first-place votes. Six-eleven senior Nate Reuvers was voted to the first team, and the Badgers return four of their five starters from last season and will be starting five seniors this year. According to KenPom.com, Wisconsin ranks 13th this season in average height, and 45th in experience. Overall, KenPom ranks Wisconsin as the 7th best team in college hoops at this writing.
The 4-1 Badgers have two blowout wins (over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and a bad Green Bay team under a first-year coach), but Eastern Illinois and Rhode Island both came on in the 2nd half to make it a reasonably close game. The only team that defeated Wisconsin this year, Marquette, kept the game close throughout and surged at the end to win at the regulation buzzer.
The Badgers start five seniors-- three frontcourt players and two guards-- but seven players compose their core playing squad (each averaging between 27.6 and 21.2 minutes per game). The three starting forwards are 6'11" Nate Reuvers, 6'10 Micah Potter, and 6'8" Aleem Ford. The starters in the backcourt are 6'0" D'Mitrick Trice (yes, the younger brother of Michigan State's Travis Trice) and 6'4" Brad Davison. Although Reuvers was voted to the Big 10 first team, Potter has been the real star early this season, leading the team in points and rebounds with 12.8 and 6.6 respectively. Reuvers averages 12.2 points and 4.6 boards, but leads the team in blocks with 13 through five games. Ford averages 8.8 points and is tied with the two guards for most made threes.
The backcourt duo of Trice and Davison both shoot over 40% from behind the arc and take care of the ball well, with 26 assists and only eight turnovers between the two. Trice averages 11.0 points and 3.8 assists per game, and Davison averages 9.6 points and shoots 95% from the free throw line. Coming off the bench for 20 or more minutes per game are 6'4" freshman guard Jonathan Davis (7.4 points, 4.8 rebounds) and 6'7" sophomore Tyler Wahl (6.4 points, 4.8 rebounds). The five starters all shoot 35% or better from three; Davis and Wahl mostly take their shots inside the arc driving to the hoop. Ben Carlson (6'9" freshman forward) and Trevor Anderson (6'2" senior guard) also get significant time spelling the starters.
The Ramblers are coming off a decisive 77-66 road win over cross-town rival UIC, which offered a taste of some of the challenges Loyola will face against Wisconsin. Both the Flames and the Badgers have a height and length advantage, both teams had home court advantage, and both defend the three well. One of the key differences is the Badgers have a more methodical pace, and they run a lot of their half court offense through their big men.
Against the Flames, Loyola relied on pounding the ball inside to Krutwig, but as Wisconsin's interior defense only allows 38.7% FG% on two pointers (16th best in college hoops thus far this year), that might be a tall task. The Ramblers may have to move Krutwig around the high post to find angles of attack on Wisconsin's defense. The rangy players from 6'4 to 6'7" who can shoot from distance or drive to the basket seem to give the Badgers the most trouble.
The only team to beat the Badgers this year, Marquette, might provide a formula for a Loyola win: Stay competitive shooting inside the arc (Marquette shot 46% on twos), stretch the defense by establishing threes (Marquette shot 36% from distance), and drive or cut to the basket to get to the line (Marquette hit on 20 of 28 freebies). The Golden Eagles
won 67-65 on a put-back from a missed free throw. The Ramblers don't have to be that dramatic to get a positive result, but they need to be a lot better than the last time at the Kohl Center.
Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... 15_20_.pdfWisconsin game notes: https://uwbadgers.com/news/2020/12/14/m ... oyola.aspxTV/Streaming video: Big 10 Network
https://www.foxsportsgo.com/Radio/Streaming audio feed: https://www.iheart.com/live/1310-wiba-2661/Live stats: https://uwbadgers.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summaryVegas odds: Wisconsin by 12
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