University of Wisconsin basketball guard John Blackwell handed out a positive score for the court-storming after Friday’s win against Michigan State at the Kohl Center.
“9.5,” judged Blackwell, who was seated at a table with teammates Nolan Winter and Nick Boyd during a postgame media session.
“Security was good with the ropes,” Boyd added. “They did a good job.”
As students rushed the floor, security personnel roped off a path between the benches to allow players and coaches to shake hands and get to their locker rooms.
“It’s cool to be able to share that moment with all the fans and allow them to have some fun along with us,” Winter said. “It’s a special moment.
“Obviously, you remember all the court storms in your career.
“That’s up there. That’s a good one.”
So, obviously, was the final result.
In dominating the No. 10 Spartans, 92-71, the Badgers collected their third Top 10 victory of the season to go along with wins at No. 2 Michigan and No. 8 Illinois.
No other team in the country can make that claim. Since the other two games were on the road, it helps explain why the fans were so hungry to storm the Kohl Center court.
Wisconsin coach Greg Gard has been through these stormings before. But not all of his players have. Freshman Aleksas Bieliauskas, for one, is from Kaunas, Lithuania.
“Never been in the states and he arrives in September or late August and five months later he had to run out of the way of a court storm,” Gard said.
“They don’t storm the court in Lithuania.
“That doesn’t happen.”
Bieliauskas, Rapp and 'comfortability'
Gard’s response was to another question about how two roster newcomers — Bieliauskas and sophomore transfer Austin Rapp — have adjusted and adapted.
Replying to how their comfortability level has grown over the last month or so, Gard picked up on the word and said, “Comfortability is a good term for it.
“Both in different ways have continued to improve. Most importantly, they’re both about the front of the jersey and winning and that’s what makes it work.
“You’ve got to have like-minded guys whether you’ve been here for five years, or you’ve been here for five months. That’s really important in terms of the culture.
“Of your locker room and the culture of your program.”
Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard calls Wisconsin forward Aleksas Bieliauskas (32) in to the game against Ohio State on Jan. 31 at the Kohl Center.
The strength of a culture can be measured by the accountability of the players. In this respect, Winter feels a responsibility to help groom Bieliauskas and Rapp.
“It’s been awesome to see both of them grow,” said Winter, a 7-foot junior. “Obviously the Big Ten is a physical conference.
“Myself, as a freshman getting thrown around a little bit, it takes a little bit of time to really find your footing. (As a frosh, Winter averaged 9.4 minutes, 2.4 points, 1.8 rebounds.)
“It’s on me a little bit to help them and kind of guide them through what’s ahead of us through the season and what the Big Ten schedule is all about.
“Credit to them. It’s been awesome to see them both put their head down and keep working and just get a lot better for this team.”
Badgers 'connectiveness' grows
Connectiveness, like comfortability, was another word of interest after the UW won back-to-back regular season games over Top 10 opponents for the first time since 1952.
“The connectiveness takes time,” Gard said in explaining how the unranked Badgers could spring upsets last week over Illinois on Tuesday and Michigan State on Friday.
“You want to make sure you evaluate in terms of the player that you’re bringing in if you’re looking at the portal because those evaluations are done in a speed dating format.
“But you’re also making sure you’re vetting the person and making sure they understand when they come here, we don’t become ‘them,’ they have to become ‘us.’
Wisconsin guard Nick Boyd, right, hugs Wisconsin guard Jack Janicki after the Badgers defeated Michigan State on Friday in Madison.
“A great example is last year. I think of the top eight or nine, seven of them had played here before. The only outlier, the only newcomer that played was (John) Tonje.
“And this year, it was kind of the reverse. Winter and Blackwell had gotten a lot of experience and (Jack) Janicki a little bit. Other than that, everybody else was new.”
To illustrate Gard’s point: The Badgers ended last season with a loss to BYU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Nine players saw action in that game.
Seven of the nine had been in the program the year before. The only exceptions were Tonje, a transfer from Missouri; and Xavier Amos, a transfer from Northern Illinois.
“It just takes time for that connectivity to happen and then you can get some consistency, and we didn’t have that early in the year,” Gard repeated.
“We were good in spurts. We were yesterday. Not good today. Good tomorrow. And part of that was the connectivity and understanding of everybody’s role.
“We had to toughen up. We didn’t handle adversity well. That’s where in some of those scores maybe you saw early in the year, we didn’t punch back well. Or sometimes at all.”
On Nov. 21, the Badgers lost by 28 points to BYU. On Dec. 10, they lost by 30 points to Nebraska. On Jan. 3, they lost by 16 points to Purdue.
'We were soft'
“Quite frankly, I’ll be honest with you,” Gard said, “early in the year, we were soft, mentally and physically. We had to mature. We had to grow up collectively and individually.
“You’re not going to be able to compete in these types of games in the upper echelon of this league if you’re not physically and mentally tough, and this group has responded.”
The Badgers return to action Tuesday night at Ohio State. The Buckeyes are desperate and still trying to make a case to be in the NCAA Tournament. Beware.
The Big Ten can be so unforgiving. Just ask Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. The Spartans have lost three of their last four games, two on the road to unranked foes.
After Friday night’s 21-point loss, Izzo was upfront and gracious. “Well, first of all,” he opened, “that was a good, old-fashioned ass-kicking to be honest with you.”
Since Bo Ryan took over the Badgers, the combination of Ryan and Gard have matched up well against the Spartans. They’ve met 48 times and the series is tied, 24-24.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo argues a call against Wisconsin during last year's Big Ten Conference Tournament semifinals in Indianapolis. The Badgers won.
Wisconsin has won four of the last five meetings, including in the semifinals of last season’s Big Ten Tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The Badgers also won the last time Michigan State was in Madison. Two years ago, they defeated the Spartans 81-66 at the Kohl Center. AJ Storr had a game-high 28 points.
“We couldn’t guard Storr with a fish net,” Izzo said afterward.
He didn’t have any better luck with Boyd. who had 29 points — 20 in the first half — as the Badgers raced off to a commanding 51-34 lead by making 10 of 17 3-pointers (59%).
“I don’t know when in the hell they missed a 3,” Izzo said. “They penetrated very well and kicked. Boyd got into the paint whenever he wanted to…”
Later, he said, “They’ve got five guys, nine guys, shooting 3’s, there’s not a lot of margin for error if you don’t cover it right in the first place. … We didn’t and they made shots.”
Izzo was highly complimentary of Gard.
“Appreciate him,” he said. “I don’t think Greg gets enough credit for what he’s done. … They outplayed us in every aspect of the game.”
Gard was highly complimentary of his players.
“They’ve grown,” he said. “I’m extremely proud of them. They’ve bonded together. There is a really good locker room. They enjoy each other’s success.
“I think that’s neat. You watch them all celebrate no matter who’s on the floor. They enjoy watching their teammates have success.”
Comfortability. Connectiveness.
Coming together.
9.5.
