Beyond the Box Score: Wisconsin 76, Oral Roberts 67

Photo by Mary Langenfeld, USA Today

Overall, it wasn’t the best offensive game for the Badgers as they only shot 47% from the field, but when all five starters are able to get into double digits, you’re in fine shape.

The Badgers wrapped up the five game homestand at 5-0 and move to 6-0 on the year. A tough match-up waits in Cancun as the St. Louis Billikens come calling.

Let’s dive into the box score.

• Duje Dukan only played five minutes. This stands out a little more with only eight Badgers seeing minutes. As I mentioned earlier, all five starters scored in double digits which is partly due to the fact that four of them played over 30 minutes while Sam Dekker played 28. We’ll see what Bo does once George Marshall comes back, but he’s setting into his eight man rotation he uses most years.
• The team only had eight turnovers. That’s a good stat as a team, but Traevon Jackson had four of those turnovers. With Bronson Koenig not turning the ball over at all in his 17 minutes, we could see him manning the point a little more, especially since Bo hasn’t been afraid to run an offense with three guards who are comfortable running the point. I know there was talk preseason that Koenig is the best pure point guard on the team, and while he hasn’t been otherworldly, he hasn’t shown that those accolades were wrong either.
• The team shot 15-18 from the line. This is a number that should be high with the amount of guards in the offense. Also, the percentage last night is higher than it has been the last few games. Interestingly, Dekker didn’t shoot a free throw in the game. Shooting from the charity stripe has been his only weakness so far this season.
• Jackson had seven assists. I mentioned his shortcoming earlier, so I can’t forget to add this. The team had 14 assists, which is a great number especially compared to turnovers, and Jackson had half of them. This is why he’s still able to play point, but he’s still going to have to work on the turnovers.

While the Badgers didn’t blow out the Golden Eagles, there was some signs of being a third game in five nights. When five players play close to 30 minutes after already playing two games this week, there is going to be some fatigue issues. It’s good experience though, as come tournament time, they’ll be busy.