Wisconsin Basketball: Observations From Win vs. UW-Stevens Point

The Wisconsin basketball team downed UW-Stevens Point in their exhibition game on Wednesday night.

Although it was an exhibition game against a Division 3 opponent, there is still plenty to take away from this game.

Let’s take a look at some observations and stats from the game.

Observations from Wisconsin Basketball vs. UW-Stevens Point

This Wisconsin Basketball Team Has Some Depth

You can take this with a grain of salt, especially when the Badgers win by 43 points, but all 17 active players saw the floor in their win over the Pointers. Freshman Gus Yalden was the only player on the roster not to make an appearance, but he is currently away from the team due to personal reasons.

But even early in the game, Greg Gard was not shy about rotating players in early and often. Connor Essegian and Nolan Winter were the first off the bench just four minutes into the game. Freshman John Blackwell wasn’t far behind him.

Carter Gilmore, Markus Ilver, and Isaac Lindsey also got some meaningful minutes in the game.

AJ Storr Is Going to Be a Big Part of the Wisconsin Basketball Offense

Storr led the Badgers in scoring tonight with 14 points on 5/7 shooting and 2/3 from three. 12 of his 14 were in the first half. Because the game was easily in hand, he played just six minutes in the second half.

It was pretty clear early that he is going to be a big part of the offense this year. The Badgers haven’t had a player that can create and score like this since Johnny Davis.

The positive of having a guy like Storr in the offense is the pressure it will take off of Chucky Hepburn. In his postgame press conference, Greg Gard talked about that, mentioning having a guy like Storr will take some of the scoring responsibility off of Hepburn so he can facilitate and create like he did tonight.

Freshman Are Going to Get Playing Time

I touched on it a bit with the depth of the team, but it really looks like freshmen are going to get some meaningful minutes this season. Nolan Winter joined Essegian as one of the first players off the bench and Blackwell was the third player off the bench.

Blackwell finished the game playing over 18 minutes, adding in eight points on 3/5 shooting. He made his presence known on defense too. He is one of those guys that seems to have endless energy and is everywhere. When the Badgers pressed, Blackwell was on the front of the press, trapping ballhandlers in the corner. He added six rebounds, two assists, and a steal to his stat line tonight.

But the biggest stat that popped out to me with Blackwell was that the Badgers were +29 when he was on the floor, the highest on the team.

Nolan Winter played over 16 minutes. He scored nine points on 2/5 shooting. He went 4/4 from the free-throw line too. Winter showed the ability to shoot from deep too.

A thing of beauty. Defense ➡️ Offense

Stream on @BigTenPlus pic.twitter.com/Vg6Cf8k0EQ

— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) November 2, 2023

If he can be a threat from deep, pulling defenders out of the paint, it’s going to open a lot for this Wisconsin basketball offense when the second unit is in.

Chucky Hepburn Will Contribute in More Ways Than Scoring

Going into last season, Chucky Hepburn was viewed as one of the go-to players for scoring. I think that pressure hindered him a bit with the pressure of being the guy on offense, especially when Tyler Wahl was hurt.

Now, with Connor Essegiana and the additions of AJ Storr and the freshman, I think some of that weight is going to be taken off his shoulders.

He finished the first half with zero points but had five assists, three steals, and no turnovers. He was making his mark on the game without scoring.

In the second half, he went a perfect 3/3 from the field. He finished the game with seven points, six assists, four steals, and no turnovers for the game.

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