Wisconsin Basketball: 3 Keys to Victory vs. Jacksonville State

It was a tough afternoon for Wisconsin basketball last Saturday, They fell to #1 Arizona 98-73. Now that the three game brutal stretch is over, the Badgers return home and have two non-conference games left until Big Ten season resumes in January.

Up next for Wisconsin basketball is the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. They enter this game 4-6. Tip time is 6 PM Thursday on BTN. Here are the keys to another Badger victory.

Wisconsin Basketball Needs to Get the Post Game Back

This is a game where Steven Crowl and Tyler Wahl need to get back to dominating the paint as they did during their six game winning streak. The physicality from Arizona bothered these two and Wisconsin basketball bigs the entire game. It also resulted in a few point blank misses at the rim, something that has been an issue for Crowl and Wahl over the last few seasons.

This season, especially after the Providence game, the post game has been much better. With an inferior opponent coming into the Kohl Center, I would expect Greg Gard to have set plays for Steven Crowl right away to get back into a rhythm. This seems like the opponent to do this against.

Wisconsin Basketball Needs to Avoid a Holiday Hangover

The biggest issues this time of year is final exams and the Christmas break. There isn’t a ton of college basketball going on over the next few weeks. Most teams will only play about two games in a 10-15 day stretch.

These are also games that can get away from you if you don’t stay focused. I don’t expect huge home crowds these next two games, so it will be important for Wisconsin basketball to keep up the same energy and momentum.

I’m not saying the Badgers would lose this game, but you don’t want to get into a situation you don’t want to be in and make this a game in the second half. The Badgers should win this game easily. They need to keep the foot on the gas.

Begin to Establish the Rotation

I might be in the minority on this, but I don’t see the Badgers going 10-11 deep once Big Ten season resumes. Greg Gard does tend to tighten his rotation come January.

I believe these next two games are important for Connor Essegian. While he only played eight minutes against Arizona, it does seem like Gard is slowly getting him back in the rotation. It’s important they get him going as he is still the best three point shooter on this Wisconsin basketball team.

We will also see how many minutes Kamari McGee gets these next two games as well. He played well in Fort Myers. I think his role the rest of the season is to provide defensive minutes where needed. If I had to guess a nine man rotation, I think Gard would prefer to have Carter Gilmore, Nolan Winter, John Blackwell, and Connor Essegian coming off the bench in a consistent rotation.

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