What to know about Wisconsin men’s basketball season opener against South Dakota

The College of Wisconsin males’s basketball crew is about to open the 2022-23 season on Monday towards South Dakota. 

UW is coming off a 25-8 season, 15-5 in Huge Ten Convention play that earned it a share of the Huge Ten regular-season championship. No. 11 seed Iowa State ended its season within the second spherical of the NCAA Match.

The Badgers misplaced main scorers Johnny Davis and Brad Davison, however return three starters in Chucky Hepburn, Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl.

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South Dakota went 19-12, 11-7 in Summit League play to complete in fifth place. The Coyotes’ season ended with an 83-60 loss to South Dakota State within the semifinals of the convention event. Coach Todd Lee was fired three days after the season ended and was changed by Utah State assistant coach Eric Peterson. 

What: Wisconsin (0-0) vs. South Dakota (0-0)

TV: Huge Ten Community, with Chris Vosters and Shon Morris

Radio: 1310 AM and 101.5 FM, with Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas

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Final assembly: The Badgers defeated South Dakota 76-61 on Dec. 4, 2010, in the one assembly between the 2 groups. 

Quick truth: UW has gained 23 of the previous 24 dwelling openers, together with an 81-58 win over St. Francis Brooklyn final season. 

Coach: Greg Gard, 144-78, in his eighth season at UW

Steven Crowl — 7-0, 245 lbs, junior, heart, 8.8 factors per recreation final season

Jordan Davis — 6-4, 200 lbs, junior, guard, 1.3 factors per recreation final season

Chucky Hepburn — 6-2, 205 lbs, sophomore, guard, 7.9 factors per recreation final season

Max Klesmit — 6-3, 200 lbs, junior, guard, 14.9 factors per recreation final season at Wofford

Tyler Wahl — 6-9, 225 lbs, senior, ahead, 11.4 factors per recreation final season

Key rotational gamers: 

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Connor Essegian — 6-4, 185 lbs, freshman, guard, 10 factors in exhibition win

Carter Gilmore — 6-7, 225 lbs, junior, ahead, 0.9 factors per recreation final season

Kamari McGee — 6-0, 180 lbs, sophomore, guard, 11.6 factors per recreation final season at UW-Inexperienced Bay

Jahcobi Neath — 6-4, 190 lbs, senior, guard, 1.6 factors per recreation final season

Participant to look at: Hepburn began each recreation as a freshman whereas main in assists (77) and ranked second in steals (36).

Quick truth: The Coyotes have a younger roster with 12 of their 16 gamers freshmen or sophomores 

Coach: Eric Peterson, 0-0 in his first season

Mason Archambault — 6-0, senior, guard, 14.5 factors per recreation final season

Damani Hayes — 6-4, senior, guard, 3.6 factors per recreation final season

Tasos Kamateros — 6-8, junior, ahead, 11.5 factors per recreation final season

Kruz Perrott-Hunt — 6-3, junior, guard, 15.0 factors per recreation final season

A.J. Plitzuweit — 6-2, redshirt sophomore, guard, 19.0 factors per recreation in 2020-21

Key rotational gamers: 

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Paul Bruns — 6-4, sophomore, guard, 14.8 factors per recreation at North Dakota

Mihai Carcoana — 6-11, sophomore, ahead, 2.2 factors per recreation at Toledo

Participant to look at: This shall be Plitzuweit’s first recreation again after he medically redshirted final season.  He was the second-leading scorer and had a team-high 3.9 assists per recreation his freshman season.

South Dakota’s 3-point shot

The Coyotes had the third-best 3-point share within the Summit final season, making 37.4% of their pictures, trailing solely Oral Roberts and South Dakota State. 

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South Dakota returns its three finest long-range shooters in Archambault, Perrott-Hunt and Kamateros, who all shot 37.5% or increased. There isn’t a participant returning for the Badgers that had that prime of a 3-point share. 

“They will actually put the ball within the basket from the perimeter,” Klesmit stated. “They’ve three actually good guards coming in, which can be super-skilled and might rating at a super-high stage. With the ability to management and keep these guys shall be necessary.”

South Dakota returned three starters from final season, however aside from that a lot of the gamers on the roster don’t have a ton of expertise. 

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The Badgers are in an analogous boat: Wahl, Hepburn and Crowl are the one gamers who performed important minutes in each recreation. 

Each groups should lean on gamers who’re both freshman, transferred to the crew or didn’t see quite a lot of taking part in time final season. 

UW has the benefit of getting a seasoned coach in Gard, whereas Peterson is in his first 12 months main a crew.

Hepburn stated the most important power of UW’s crew is its pace. There are quite a lot of versatile items who know find out how to transfer quick. 

UW has a guard-heavy roster, with solely 5 of its 12 scholarship gamers forwards and facilities. The Badgers’ lack of top may spell hassle as soon as Huge Ten play begins however could also be an asset towards South Dakota. 

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The Coyotes even have a smaller, guard-heavy roster, with their tallest participant at 6-11. They solely have 5 forwards, however solely Kamateros has expertise taking part in for South Dakota.