This is the time of the season to build towards a long NCAA Tournament run, not a one-and-done.
Wisconsin’s performance Wednesday night in an 85-71 loss at Oregon suggested a team going the wrong way as March approaches. It will look for a new direction Saturday when it visits Seattle for a Big Ten Conference matchup with Washington.
The Badgers (19-9, 11-6 Big Ten) defended poorly, allowing the Ducks to can 70.8% of their field goals in the second half. They didn’t score with their normal efficiency on offense, either, connecting on only 22 of 66 field goal attempts and 14 of 45 3-pointers.
It was Wisconsin’s second straight road clunker. It lost 86-69 at Ohio State on Feb. 17, falling behind 38-26 at the half and permitting the Buckeyes to make 31 of 57 (54.4%) from the floor.
“When you keep playing like that, you won’t play long,” said Badgers coach Greg Gard.
Nick Boyd leads Wisconsin in scoring (20.2 ppg) and assists (3.9), while John Blackwell adds 18.7 ppg and Nolan Winter supplies 13.5 to go along with a team-high 8.7 rebounds per game.
While the Badgers try to improve their defense, the Huskies (14-14, 6-11) are coming off a 79-72 win Tuesday night at Rutgers behind 24 points and 16 rebounds from Hannes Steinbach. It was the star freshman’s third time collecting 16 boards but his first since early December.
It was the 17th double-double of the year for Steinbach, which is tied for third in Division I and the most among major-conference players. His next one will tie former Ohio State star Jared Sullinger for the most by a Big Ten freshman since 1996-97.
On the season, Steinbach is averaging 18 points and 11.1 rebounds per game, the latter of which is tied for fourth in Division I. No freshman in school history owns more double-doubles in a season.
The victory was big in the eyes of Washington coach Danny Sprinkle.
“I’m so proud of these guys. The fight after the tough loss, they came together,” Sprinkle said during the postgame radio show. “This had nothing to do with coaching. I wish I could take credit for it. … We had so many great performances.”
Zoom Diallo adds 14.7 points and 4.3 assists per game, while Wesley Yates III scores 13.4 ppg. Yates is coming off a 19-point, six-assist showing at Rutgers. The assists represented a new career high.
