No. 9 Arizona (2-0) at Wisconsin (3-0) | Kohl Center, Madison, Wis. | 7 p.m. Friday | Peacock | 107.5-FM
PROBABLE STARTERS
ARIZONA
G Jaden Bradley (6-3 junior)
G Caleb Love (6-4 fifth-year)
F KJ Lewis (6-4 soph.)
F Trey Townsend (6-6 fifth-year)
C Tobe Awaka (6-8 junior)
WISCONSIN
G John Blackwell (6-4 soph.)
G Max Klesmit (6-4 senior)
F Nolan Winter (6-11 soph.)
F John Tonje (6-5 senior)
C Steven Crowl (7-0 senior)
How they match up
The series: Arizona trails the series 3-5 but made up for some long-ago heartbreak by smashing Wisconsin 98-73 last Dec. 9 at McKale Center. The Badgers entered that game having won three straight in the series, including Elite Eight wins over the Wildcats in 2014 and 2015. They also eliminated UA from the 2000 NCAA Tournament.
Game agreement: Arizona is returning to Wisconsin to complete the two year series that began on Dec. 9 last season at McKale Center. No cash was exchanged. Each home team gave the other 100 free tickets.
Wisconsin overview: Usually one of the more stable programs in Division I, Wisconsin was hit by the transfer portal bug just like everyone else. The Badgers lost seven players to the portal, including starters A.J. Storr (Kentucky) and Chucky Hepburn (Louisville), but have been competitive so far.
The Badgers return only center Steven Crowl and wing Max Klesmit from their starting lineup last season while sophomore guard John Blackwell and sophomore forward Nolan Winter moved into the starting lineup along with sixth-year wing John Tonje, a transfer from Missouri who sat out most of last season with an injured foot.
Wisconsin forward Steven Crowl goes to the basket over James Madison forward T.J. Bickerstaff (3) and guard Michael Green III (13) during the first half of a first-round in the men's NCAA Tournament March 22, 2024, in New York.
Winter plays both post spots but has also averaged one 3-pointer per game. Blackwell has shifted over to take many of the point guard duties while senior Kamari McGee has backed him up on the ball. Off the bench, Xavier Amos is a talented stretch-four from Chicago who has been limited with injuries.
On the wing, Klesmit is averaging eight 3-point attempts per game while shooting them at a 37.5% rate. Blackwell has made 5 of 12 3s and Tonje 5 of 13.
While going 3-0 in homecourt wins over Holy Cross, Montana State and Appalachian State, the Badgers have heled opponents to 44.9% shooting while shooting 55.4% from 2-point range and 92.5% from the line. Tonje had 17 points on 8-for-14 shooting (but was just 1 of 5 from 3-point range) while collecting five assists without a turnover against Appalachian State. Winter had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Wisconsin still runs a generally slow tempo, but its aggressive defense and greater reliance on perimeter players have resulted partially in higher scores so far this season.
He said it: “This is a really good basketball team. They are highly underrated nationally because of some of the guys that they lost but I would not be shocked if they're as good or better than they were last year. They've improved dramatically over the course of last month. They gel together. Guys are getting more confidence. They played really well in their three games this season already, and they're playing with the confidence and belief at home. It's going to be hard to penetrate.
“Winter can really shoot it from the outside. He's shooting it with confidence. He's got great size. If you switch him, he’ll take you down to the post, so he’s a matchup problem. Crowl is an experienced big man, a very good passer out of the post who will hit an occasional 3. Both him and Winter can be out on the perimeter.
“Tonje is a good player inside and outside. He can post, drive it, shoot it. Strong, physical player. Had a great career at Colorado State, went to Missouri and got hurt last year so he's a six-year guy. He’s not going to be afraid of the bright lights.
“Klesmit could be one of the best shooters we play against all year. He shoots early in a possession, late in a possession. He's the guy that they run a lot of actions for to come off and get good looks. You have to be in his airspace." — UA assistant coach Jack Murphy, who scouted the Badgers.
Key players
WISCONSIN – John Tonje
Tonje is one of the last anomalies of the COVID era, a sixth-year senior who has been playing college basketball since 2019. He spent four seasons with Colorado State, then redshirted last season at Missouri and popped up at Wisconsin this season. His experience shows: Tonje leads the Badgers in scoring (17.7) while shooting 55.2% from the field and drawing 6.7 fouls per 40 minutes – and taking advantage by hitting 16 of 17 free throws so far.
ARIZONA — Tobe Awaka
Arizona forward Tobe Awaka eyes the basket as players from Eastern New Mexico look on in the first half on Oct. 21.
The Tennessee transfer is one of the reasons the Wildcats have been able to bring along projected starter Motiejus Krivas slowly without issue so far. Awaka had 18 points and 15 rebounds against Old Dominion and is already a veteran of the Kohl Center, where he had six points and six rebounds in just 12 minutes last season against Crowl, Winter and Wahl.
SIDELINES
Another Peacock broadcast
Arizona’s move into the Big 12 has forced Wildcat home viewers to pay for the extra ESPN+ streaming service, which has carried their two exhibitions and first two regular-season games.
This time, the Wildcats will go back on the Big Ten’s streaming partner, Peacock, where they first appeared last season while facing Purdue in Indianapolis. (Trivia note: The first time Arizona appeared on a streaming service was during the Wildcats' dreadful 2017-18 Battle 4 Atlantis appearance, when the Wildcats’ three losses were all shown on ESPN3.)
While ESPN+ retails for $11.99 a month, Peacock starts at $7.99 a month.
New way to stay old
For decades, Wisconsin has built its often underrated success around players who stick together for the long haul, developing the sort of cohesion that can outplay more talented teams.
The Badgers even returned all five starters from 2022-23 to 2023-24, allowing them to rise as high as No. 6 in the Associated Press Top 25.
But the NIL-fueled transfer portal finally caught up with the Badgers this season. They lost leading scorer AJ Storr to a reported deal worth over $1 million at Kansas, while three-year starting point guard Chucky Hepburn took off for Louisville (and its well-funded NIL collective). Two other players hit the portal, too.
“The days of planning over two, three, four, five years on what your roster is going to look like has completely changed,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard told Blue Ribbon Yearbook before the season. “You can’t plan that way. I mean, you can try, but it’s detrimental to look too far down the road.”
So Gard fought back, adding wing John Tonje from Missouri, point guard Camryn Hunter from Central Arkansas and power forward Xavier Amos from Northern Illinois. While Hunter has been out with an unspecified injury, Tonje has become the Badgers’ leading scorer and Amos is a key post reserve.
The Badgers still have a strong veteran core, too. They return two starters and promoted two other reserves from last season, guard John Blackwell and forward Nolan Winter, while Tonje took the other spot – and is leading Wisconsin in scoring.
“They are a very experienced team," Murphy said.
Into the fire
In experience terms, Arizona’s KJ Lewis went straight to the top as a freshmen last season. He walked into Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium and helped the Wildcats knock off Duke in just the second game of his college career.
“It definitely lived up to the hype,” Lewis said. “Not many freshman can come in the second game of the year and play in Cameron Indoor. It was definitely louder than what I expected. The gym was way smaller than what I thought, too. But it was great for my experience, my confidence.”
Now, Lewis says he’s trying to help freshman forward Carter Bryant prepare for a similar experience. While Bryant played in the McDonalds All-American Game at Houston’s Toyota Center last spring, the Kohl Center is expected to be far a less welcoming – and much rowdier – place for him to play in what will be just his third college game.
“We’ve already talked about it multiple times,” Lewis said. “He's like a little brother to me. I think he listens to some of the stuff I have to say, but he's definitely prepared and ready for this big time game coming up.”
Numbers game
6: Years in a row through last season that Wisconsin reached the Associated Press Top 25 poll despite being ranked only once in the AP preseason poll over that time (2020-21). Wisconsin (3-0) received votes in this week’s poll but was not ranked in the preseason poll.
19: Times in the past 23 seasons that Wisconsin has finished among the top four teams in the Big Ten, the only team to have done so.
83.7: Wisconsin’s scoring average in three games so far this season. The Badgers still rank 335th in Kenpom adjusted tempo, which factors in an opponent’s pace.
— Bruce Pascoe
