Wisconsin’s second game of the season looked a lot more like the kind of team Greg Gard wants to coach.
The offense was still uneven, still searching, still leaving points out there. But the defense showed up for nearly 40 minutes Friday night, and that was enough to carry the Badgers to a 73-64 win over Delaware at home. Wisconsin is 2-0, and the early identity is starting to take shape: this group can defend, even if the scoring rhythm is not there yet.
Jack Janicki was one of the clearest examples of that shift. The third-year guard’s defense stood out throughout the night, and he said the group is trending in the right direction.
“Our gap presence and our team defensive principles have gotten better the month we’ve been going here,” Janicki said. “I like where we are at with that. It’s going to be about getting five guys on the court who are all bought into that.”
That buy-in mattered against Delaware, which shot 35.6 percent. Wisconsin is now 16-1 in its last 17 games when holding an opponent below 36 percent shooting, a strong indicator of where the Badgers’ margin for error lives right now. Last season, Wisconsin lost 87.5 percent of its games when it shot below 40 percent, so the defensive emphasis is clearly meant to keep those nights from turning into losses.
The roster construction reflects that goal. Wisconsin added Victory Onuetu for rim protection and brought in more physical perimeter pieces to address last year’s defensive shortcomings. On Friday, those additions paid off in the form of hustle, activity, and a few key momentum swings.
Braeden Carrington was all over the floor in the second half, making hustle plays that led directly or indirectly to turnovers. Two of those came during Wisconsin’s decisive 12-2 run, the stretch that turned a one-point game into a comfortable lead.
Owen Foxwell was just as important on both ends. He finished with 16 points, six assists, no turnovers, and five drawn fouls, while Janicki kept competing, diving, and chasing loose balls late. Wisconsin outscored Delaware by 11 with Janicki on the floor in the second half.
“We see it every single day with how Jack approaches the game and approached this program,” Foxwell said. “Every single day he’s busting his (butt) on the defensive end. That’s how he impacts games, and it’s a big reason why we blew the game out.”
Onuetu also delivered a big response after foul trouble limited him to less than 11 minutes in the opener. This time he played nearly 20 minutes and posted 11 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks, and no fouls.
“When you play really, really hard, it’s amazing how lucky you get or good things happen,” Gard said.
That kind of effort helped cover for a rough offensive night. Wisconsin opened with a disjointed first half, and the scoring never really found a smooth gear. The Badgers shot 6-for-18 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes, but they missed seven of their first nine two-point tries and did not get to the free-throw line much.
Even more concerning was the lack of consistent shot creation on the perimeter. Onuetu’s seven points and eight rebounds were the most reliable production in the half, which says plenty about how effective he was when he stayed out of foul trouble.
The best shooting display of the first half actually came from a fan who made a free throw, a three-pointer, and a 30-footer to win a Culver’s promotion.
“We have sputtered,” Gard said. “We practice better offensively than what we have played.”
Wisconsin is still piecing together its frontcourt after injuries and offseason surgeries have slowed the returns of Will Garlock, Austin Rapp, and Nolan Winter. Winter is averaging 8.5 points per game on 7-for-19 shooting, while Rapp and Garlock were scoreless Friday. Garlock made his season debut.
There were also stretches where the Badgers overdribbled, failed to play through contact, or looked out of sync on pick-and-roll timing and high-low action between guards and bigs.
The second half was cleaner. Wisconsin averaged 1.267 points per possession after the break and kept the turnovers down, but the offense still lacked real flow.
“We worked hard on our perimeter players on getting open and working with their tandem on the loaded side of getting better catches,” Gard said. “Now our bigs got to raise their level of play.
It really revolves around the side we’re going to. We’re getting in good position for the ball screen and the roll, but we’re either way up too high, too early, not in position where we can play on that high low before we go to the other side of the floor.”
The bench has given Wisconsin some useful moments, but not yet the kind of consistent punch the Badgers will need over time. Rapp scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds in the opener, then went scoreless Friday while adding three rebounds and three assists.
Janicki stepped up with seven points, three assists, and two steals. But Trey Autry, Jackson Ball, and Zach Kinziger have not yet provided much of an impact, and Ball and Kinziger combined for just one point despite logging more than 28 minutes.
Wisconsin has talked about its guard depth, and Janicki believes the energy level across that group will determine how far the rotation can grow.
“It all boils down to energy throughout the entire lineup of those guards,” Janicki said. “The last two years we have had really prolific wing players and then guys who supply that energy off the bench. This year we have even more guys who we can roll in and getting everyone on board for how we approach the game in terms of our energy and some of the non-negotiable things.
“All the wing positions on this team have a lot of offensive skill, a lot of playmaking talent. When everyone is locked in together, that rotation can continue to expand, and a lot of guys can get comfortable.”
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