Rhode Island Basketball: 3 reasons why Rams fell to Wisconsin Badgers
Rhode Island Basketball suffered a 73-62 defeat to the Wisconsin Badgers on Wednesday.
Wednesday’s Atlantic-10 and Big Ten clash between Rhode Island Basketball and Wisconsin was one-sided all game, as the Badgers led for a majority of the contest. After Jeremy Sheppard opened the game with a two-point basket to put the Rams up 2-0, the Badgers went on a 10-0 run that helped them take a 10-2 lead, with 15:50 remaining in the first half.
After Micah Potter’s made dunk with 6:14 left in half #1, the Badgers saw themselves with what proved to be their second-largest lead of the half, as they secured a 25-10 advantage. The Badgers were able to hold on to their double-digit for the rest of the first half, and even increase it to 17 when Brad Davison knocked down two free throws, with a second to play (to put the Badgers up 33-16).
Rhode Island’s first-half stats were nothing short of abysmal, as they shot just 26% from the field, failed to make a three, and turned the ball over 11 times (which the Badgers took advantage of, by scoring 15 points off those turnovers).
When the second half began Wisconsin continued their solid play, as they refused to let Rhode Island gain some momentum, and quickly get themselves back into the ball game. The Badgers led by as much as 22 in half #2, but at the 6:56 mark the Rams began to click, and finally find their groove on both ends of the floor.
In a matter of one minute and 39 seconds, the Rams went from trailing 60-42 with the game preparing to get out of hand, to trailing 60-51 with the game suddenly in reach. Unfortunately for the Rams, The Badgers never surrendered their lead, as they found a way to regroup, and walk away with a 73-62 victory.
While Rhode Island stayed the course and eventually made Wednesday night’s contest competitive, they demonstrated that they have some work to do, if they want to repeat the success that they had in 2019-20 (especially in conference play, when they finished 3rd with a 13-5 record). In this article, I will be discussing the three main reasons, why the Rams weren’t able to upset the 13th ranked Badgers on Wednesday.