Saint Mary’s vs. Wisconsin: 2019-20 key storylines for the game

Wisconsin has questions to answer on offense

Wisconsin’s offense has plenty of questions surrounding them heading into opening night. If the game falls in their favor, then they will have proven that they have answered many of these questions; however, if they fall to the St. Mary’s Gaels, perhaps they will continue to search for answers and their identity on offense.

The main question that followers of Wisconsin basketball are asking is, “What will the Badgers do now that Ethan Happ is gone?” That is a great question. Happ dominated Big Ten basketball for four years as the leader of the Wisconsin frontcourt. They still do have reliable forwards in Juniors Nate Reuvers and Aleem Ford. Reuvers is known for his defensive ability around the rim, but he will be needed to step up more on offense.

I think that Wisconsin may answer some of the questions revolving around their offensive ability by relying more on their guards. Brad Davison and D’Mitrik Trice are both really talented and highly underrated Big Ten guards. The duo averaged 10.3 and 11.6 ppg, respectively, a season ago. These numbers will certainly increase this year.

Another reason I think the guards will be heavily relied on by Wisconsin is that those few times in which Happ went to the bench last year, they played much smaller and the guards became more threatening. Those moments gave us a glimpse of how Wisconsin will approach things against St. Mary’s.