Wisconsin Basketball: 3 reasons the Badgers will be better than Marquette in 2018-19
Wisconsin is better defensively than Marquette
Even when defense-first teams like Wisconsin struggle offensively like they did last year, scoring just 67 points per game, their ability to prevent teams from scoring doesn’t usually slump. Such was the case for Wisconsin last season, surrendering just 66 points per game, which was 32nd best in the country.
Just how good is Wisconsin defensively? Over the past three seasons, the 66 points and No. 32 ranking was the school’s worst. In 2016 the team gave up just 63.8 points per game, the 17th best total in the country and in 2016-17 the team gave up just 62.4 points, only 12 teams finished with a better number.
For a team with such a defensive pedigree, those numbers aren’t likely to fade and are more likely to improve in 2018.
Conversely, Marquette has one of the nation’s top offenses but struggle on the defensive end. Over the same three-year period they scored 80 points per game but also surrendered 76. They have gotten progressively worse defensively with last season’s 78.5 and rank of No. 312 was the team’s worst over the past three seasons. While the team is one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country, allowing nearly as many points as you score is not a recipe that leads to success.