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Wisconsin Basketball: 5 things the Badgers need for Christmas in 2018

By Austin Walther

MADISON, WISCONSIN - DECEMBER 13: Ethan Happ #22 of the Wisconsin Badgers dunks the ball in the second half against the Savannah State Tigers at the Kohl Center on December 13, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MADISON, WISCONSIN - DECEMBER 13: Ethan Happ #22 of the Wisconsin Badgers dunks the ball in the second half against the Savannah State Tigers at the Kohl Center on December 13, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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IOWA CITY, IOWA- NOVEMBER 30: Head coach Greg Gard of the Wisconsin Badgers watches the action in the first half against the Iowa Hawkeyes runs on November 30, 2018 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
IOWA CITY, IOWA- NOVEMBER 30: Head coach Greg Gard of the Wisconsin Badgers watches the action in the first half against the Iowa Hawkeyes runs on November 30, 2018 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /

5. Wisconsin needs Tai Strickland to step up

I would be a fool not to mention the freshman who will be seeing more minutes. Khalil Iverson should be back by at least the restart of Big Ten play. You’d also assume that Kobe King and Brevin Pritzl will see an increase in minutes, but Strickland has to get into just about every game from here on out. Trevor Anderson didn’t play many minutes, but he saw action in all eight games that he was suited up for.

Strickland is the only true-freshman who will be playing this season as all the other guys chose to take redshirts. That’s old school Wisconsin Badger basketball. Anyways, the freshman from Tampa took advantage of an increase an increase in minutes and went off for 14 points against Savannah State. Sure, the Tigers have only won three games all season, but it was nice to see the guy has the shot.

He was the second rated Wisconsin recruit this season, just outside the top-300 making him a three-star according to 247Sports. Strickland was listed as a point guard. He did record six assists for the Badgers in a game in which they reached the century mark. These are all good signs when you don’t pay attention to who the opponent was because the Badgers could use a reliable backup point guard.

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Some guys could’ve got lost in the moment of being a freshman and playing their first meaningful minutes in a college uniform. But instead, Strickland took full advantage and showed what he is capable of doing. Let’s hope that he had a great week of practice between games, so Greg Gard will continue to reward him. Even though Iverson will be back sooner rather than later, Strickland could steal some minutes that Anderson left behind and work himself in the rotation.

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