Youth movement shows promise for Badgers
MADISON – Wisconsin hasn’t hovered near the .500 mark overall this late in the season since 2008-’09.
Seven Big Ten teams have better league records than the Badgers (10-10, 3-4 Big Ten).
Yet as key players battle through injuries and up-and-comers continue to develop, the Badgers remain motivated to keep UW’s streak of 19 consecutive NCAA Tournament berths alive.
“We’re 3-4 in the Big Ten and we play 18 games,” said freshman guard Brad Davison, who is playing with an injured left shoulder that has hampered him since he first dislocated it in November.
“That is a lot of season left. And we have a lot of opportunities to play on our home court against great teams. And you never know what can happen in the Big Ten tournament.”
After road games against Iowa (10-11, 1-7) at 6 p.m. Tuesday and Michigan State (17-3, 5-2) on Friday, the Badgers play six of their final nine regular-season games at the Kohl Center.
The return at some point of sophomore guard D’Mitrik Trice, who has missed the last 10 games with a foot injury, and the seasoning of younger players such as Nate Reuvers, Davison and Brevin Pritzl will help tell the story leading up to March.
Reuvers, a freshman forward who sat out the first five games, has excelled in Big Ten play.
In eight non-league games, Reuvers shot 16.7% from three-point range (2 of 12) and 28.9% overall (13 of 45). He averaged 4.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game. In seven Big Ten games, Reuvers is shooting 46.2% from three-point range (6 of 13) and 50% overall (21 of 42).
“I wasn’t making shots,” Reuvers said. “I just had to get comfortable and settled in.”
Reuvers is listed at 6-foot-10 and 215 pounds. He says he is up to 220 and hopes to weigh 230 by the start of next season and 240 by the start of his junior season. His lack of bulk and physical strength led to the staff’s decision to hold him out early but after Van Vliet struggled on defense and on the glass Reuvers was thrust into the rotation.
Reuvers’ tenacity while battling stronger, older opponents has impressed. He learns quickly from his mistakes, which has contributed to his ability to flourish on defense.
“He understands why we do it the way we do it,” UW assistant Joe Krabbenhoft said. “He listens. He is learning. He is buying in. He is trying to do exactly what we’re asking him to do.
“And then you add in that he is 6-11 and can get off the floor and has inner strength, inner toughness.”
Reuvers’ shooting percentage has improved in league play because he has gradually learned how to play with a solid base, protect the ball and play through contact.
Davison, another of UW’s freshmen, is No. 2 on the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game and is shooting 37.9% from three-point range and 81.8% from the free-throw line despite playing with one good arm.
The left shoulder injury affects Davison when he shoots jumpers, when he tries to drive on the left side of the court, when he handles the ball and when he is on defense. Davison grudgingly acknowledges he will need to have the shoulder fixed after the season.
“We’ll cross that bridge when it comes,” he said.
Pritzl, a redshirt sophomore guard, is part of the five-player 2015 class that hasn’t developed as coach Greg Gard envisioned, but he has shown improvement asince the opener. Pritzl contributed 16 points and six rebounds against the Illini and in the last eight games is averaging 12.3 points and 4.9 rebounds.
Junior guard-forward Khalil Iverson has been up and down this season but was terrific against Illinois with 13 points, three assists, three blocks and two steals.
Because he played in only 10 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury, heralded freshman Kobe King has become a forgotten player. Yet King averaged 9.0 points and 2.5 rebounds and shot 58.3% in his two Big Ten games and had developed into a key reserve before undergoing surgery.
The freshman class has provided only a glimpse of the future.