Wisconsin Basketball: 2018-19 keys for the Badgers to upset Michigan

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MADISON, WISCONSIN – DECEMBER 22: Khalil Iverson #21, Nate Reuvers #35, Ethan Happ #22 and D’Mitrik Trice #0 of the Wisconsin Badgers walk onto the court to start the second half against the Grambling State Tigers at Kohl Center on December 22, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

1. Wisconsin has to make free throws

There’s been a steady decline in Wisconsin’s free throw shooting since Greg Gard has taken over as head coach. You would never see a Bo Ryan coached Badger team shoot under 70 percent from the line. The last two seasons in which Gard has been coach, Wisconsin has gone under 70 percent and the same is looking for this year.

It does all start with the All-American Ethan Happ. I’d be a fool to not mention how dreadful he is from the line. I know he has heard it his entire career at Wisconsin. The big man can do everything so incredibly well except shoot the basketball. He has no shot from the outside and this is his worst free throw shooting to date, going under 50 percent for the season so far.

But it doesn’t all fall on Happ. Khalil Iverson has started every game he played in and is shooting right around 60 percent. Nate Reuvers is still in development and he’s slightly above that. D’Mitrik Trice has a sweet stroke from deep, but is barely over 70 percent. Brad Davison draws comparisons to Josh Gasser and Ben Brust all the time. Both Badger greats shot over 80 percent lifetime from the line.

Believe it or not, Brevin Pritzl is actually shooting 94 percent from the line this season. But the guy has only attempted 18 foul shots. Michigan’s big man Isaiah Livers and last man in the heavy rotation Eli Brooks are the only two to attempt that many or fewer. I know Pritzl’s game is from the outside, but he should try getting to the line more often.

In all three losses since turning the calendar to 2019, the opponents of the Badgers are making free throws down the stretch while Wisconsin struggles to put the ball through the hoop. The box scores don’t always tell the whole story. It may look closer to even than it really is because opposing teams know when it’s important to make those shots.

Michigan is shooting just 67 percent from the line this season, but they’re up over 75 percent in conference play. That’s enough for 4th in the Big Ten. Wisconsin is dead last when playing conference opponents at under 54 percent. It’s never too late to find the stroke from the line and possibly steal a win by hitting the free shots.

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