Oregon Basketball: Three keys for the Ducks to take down Wisconsin

1. Limit Ethan Happ

Wisconsin’s offense runs primarily through center Ethan Happ. He is involved in the highest rate of the team’s possessions and is its top shot-taker. The Badgers like to feed him in the post and watch him spin, pivot, scoop, hook, and perform a variety of other movies in order to finish at the rim. When he gets double-teamed, he is an excellent passer as long as his target is outside of the paint. He likes to find either D’Mitrik Trice or Brad Davison behind the arc. Both are Wisconsin’s top 3-point shooters.

The problem with Happ is that he’s woefully inefficient. He hasn’t converted over half of his field goal opportunities in his past six games. Combine the inefficiency with the fact that he’s an abysmal free throw shooter and can be prone to turnovers when he passes to another big inside the paint or puts the ball on the deck and you get a lot of wasted possessions.

Oregon is going to give two defenders, particularly Okoro and Wooten, the opportunity to guard Happ in order to give him multiple looks. Oregon could double team him and force Happ to kick the ball beyond the perimeter. Oregon’s length, which makes it the 15th-tallest team nationally, will help it close out on opposing shooters and accrue steals by disrupting passing lanes.