NCAA Basketball: 2023 Fort Myers Tip-Off preview, predictions

Wisconsin

Entering the event at just 2-2, Wisconsin has struggled to look the part early despite returning the entirety of their starting five. Although their two losses (versus Tennessee, at Providence) are not bad losses by any means, the Badgers have gotten beat on the defensive side of the floor — a feat that is rather surprising given that this team was one of the better defending teams in the country last year. In both of their losses, they have struggled with the “fundamentals” by getting beat on straight-line drives, getting beat baseline and improperly defending the pick-and-roll.

Although the defense is a work in progress, leading the Badgers in scoring is St. John’s transfer AJ Storr, who is averaging 15.5 PPG on 38% shooting from the field. Freshman John Blackwell has proved to be a major bright spot for the Badgers, who recently scored 18 points — all coming in the second half — in a close win over Robert Morris on Nov. 17. Although Wisconsin is a work in progress, the talent on the table is evident and the Badgers will present a challenging matchup for both Virginia and West Virginia/SMU.

Virginia

Tony Bennett, who is entering his 15th season leading the Cavaliers, has led Virginia to a quality 4-0 start with wins over Tarleton State, Florida, North Carolina A&T and Texas Southern. The Cavaliers have seen major improvement from sophomore Ryan Dunn who is leading the team in both points (10.8) and rebounds (7.8). Additionally, they have gotten quality play behind their lead guard Reece Beekman, Isaac McKeenly, freshman Blake Buchanan and Oklahoma transfer Jacob Groves.

Virginia is currently holding their opponents to an average of 51 points per game with an adjusted defensive efficiency of 91.0, according to KenPom. Their defense will (unsurprisingly) be a key factor in this two-game event, but it’s their offensive efficiency (which is quite solid this year) that will be the tilting point if they want to leave this event 2-0.