Louisville Basketball: 2020-21 keys to victory against Wisconsin Badgers

Feed the Young Guns Early

It’s not surprising to see Louisville boast a fairly balanced scoring distribution on this year’s roster, even with the experienced and proven departures this offseason. All five starters produce north of 11 PPG and help the Cardinals to overcome any lulls in shooting production on a game-to-game basis. While there is a significant drop in scoring to the 6th and 7th options on the roster, there is also a large discrepancy between the attempts distributed at the top of the roster.

Graduate transfer Carlik Jones has taken over the scoring mantle on this year’s squad. He’s a volume scoring threat currently taking up 13.3 attempts per game, while the 2nd and 3rd options take 4 and 6 fewer shots respectively. The sheer timeshare Jones holds on this roster gives the indication that he can overcome early shooting struggles against a talented and experienced Wisconsin roster.

The balanced nature among the rest of Louisville’s starters provides confidence that they too can overcome early shooting struggles. However, the significance of this game has only increased after Louisville’s two-week shutdown and the potential for cancellations at any time make this a near must-win. The stakes will be felt by the younger players De’Andre Davis, Jae’lyn Withers, and the now focal duo of David Johnson and Samuell Williamson to come out firing.

Getting easy and in-rhythm looks amongst these four players is going to be very important for their outlook in this game. Louisville has the tools to hang in this one on the defensive end, but they cannot come out cold and be forced into a scenario where they get away from ‘their’ game.