A veteran Wisconsin team will look to bounce back from a rare NCAA Tournament absence when the Badgers open their season at home against Arkansas State on Monday night in Madison, Wisc.
Wisconsin returns all five starters from a team that missed the NCAA tourney for the first time since 2018 and just the second time since 1998. The Badgers went 20-15 last season, the 18th time in the last 21 years they reached 20 wins.
Wisconsin, which went 9-11 in the Big Ten, lost to North Texas 56-54 in the semifinals of the NIT after leading 41-29 at the half.
Arkansas State was 13-20 last season, including 4-14 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Red Wolves will travel to Wisconsin with a pair of blowout wins in exhibition games — 112-61 over Trevecca Nazarene and 112-77 over Central Arkansas.
The host Badgers cruised to an 87-44 win over Division III Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Thursday in their lone exhibition game.
“I’m still learning and figuring out combinations on the floor, who’s on the floor, how much,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said last Monday. “So it’s another chance for us as a staff to evaluate.”
Forward Tyler Wahl returns for a fifth season. Other starters back include forward Steven Crowl and guards Chucky Hepburn, Connor Essegian and Max Klesmit. Hepburn and Crowl averaged 12 points apiece last season, with Essegian and Wahl 11 each. Crowl average a team-high 6.9 rebounds, and Wahl 6.3
Top frontcourt reserve Carter Gilmore and guard Kamari McGee also are back. Sophomore guard AJ Storr transferred from St. John’s, where he appeared in all 33 games, averaging 8.8 points in 21 minutes. The Badgers took fifth in the Big Ten preseason poll.
Arkansas State, picked ninth in the 14-team Sun Belt in its preseason poll, had five players in double figures in each exhibition win.
Taryn Todd came off the bench for 22 points and Derrian Ford added 21, including five 3-pointers, against Trevecca Nazarene. Freddy Hicks had a game-high 23 points and Izaiyah Nelson had 11 rebounds in the win over Central Arkansas.
Bryan Hodgson, an assistant at Alabama the last four seasons, takes over as head coach at Arkansas State.
“We are going to play a fast, analytically efficient style of basketball, a lot like the NBA plays,” Hodgson said at his introductory news conference. “But while playing fast, we’re also going to be disciplined.”
–Field Level Media