Perimeter defense shines for Wisconsin men’s basketball but shot selection cancels it out

Those 3-pointers weren’t there for Purdue. Boilermakers guard Lance Jones had three makes on seven shots. The rest of Purdue attempted just four all game.

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That’s part of what made Badgers guard Max Klesmit’s side-stepping 3-pointer in transition with Wisconsin trailing 39-36 with 16 minutes, 57 seconds left in the game so crucial. Both at that point and throughout the game, the Badgers just needed a few of those to fall.

Klesmit’s shot didn’t. Purdue went on a 9-2 run and Wisconsin (16-6, 8-3 Big Ten) never hit a 3-pointer again. Even with all the attention and doubles it threw toward reigning national player of the year Zach Edey, Wisconsin defended the 3-point line better than it has perhaps all season. The Boilermakers are a daunting team to face off against from the perimeter, connecting on 40.4% of its 3s (fourth in the country). They’ve connected on more than 10 3s eight times this year, and have never fired less than 15 in a game this season entering Sunday.

Yet at a 3 for 11 clip, a Wisconsin team that has allowed opponents to shoot 35.7% from 3 held Purdue to season lows in both categories. The issue for the Badgers, though, was the offense didn’t have perimeter success in return.

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Wisconsin shot 3 of 19 from 3-point range, its own season-low output from the perimeter — a glaring look as the Badgers outscored the Boilermakers (21-2, 10-2) 44-34 in the paint yet couldn’t capitalize from the level above, where its 34.9% 3-point shooting hasn’t quite won it many games this year. 

“Some of them were good, some of them weren’t so good, I think in the shot selection (on 3-pointers),” Wahl said, “but when we get into post and draw two, we got to be able to make some plays.”

Wisconsin forward Steven Crowl said he isn’t surprised that the Badgers were able to outpace the Boilermakers on the interior. After all, he said, that is what they do best. Gard acknowledged that shot selection was an emphasis after Thursday’s collapse against Nebraska, where Gard felt Wisconsin was too reliant on jump shots. He alluded that the Badgers have discussed something along those lines all season long.

Yet Wisconsin, coupled with some paint touches early, was able to get some open 3s early. Three of Wisconsin’s first six looks from there fell, and perhaps like it did against Nebraska, the Badgers looked there a bit more.

Though 3-point shooting hasn’t been a huge plus for Wisconsin this year, it hasn’t allowed its 3-point shooting to take it out of games much. After a 5-for-20 3-point shooting game against Providence on Nov. 14, 2023 — the last time Wisconsin experienced back-to-back losses — the Badgers only missed 15 3-pointers in a game twice more over a 15-4 stretch.

Some early success from deep can change things for the Badgers, which they’ve shown in the last two games. So Sunday, sophomore AJ Storr forced a few shots and a few others started to look from that distance.

When the misses piled up, Purdue coach Matt Painter said he understood why the Badgers struggled to shoot out of it. He’s seen it on his own sideline, too: players can tighten up when they’re missing, whether they’re open or not.

“A couple of those are: you do a good job, you contest it, they get a miss,” Painter said. “Then you have a defensive breakdown and they’re wide open and they miss them (too). So there’s a handful of them in there that we were very fortunate when they missed it.”

Klesmit, who hit both of his first-half 3s, was among the Badgers who fell victim to the 11 second-half misses by contributing two. But Klesmit was also among the reasons Wisconsin had a chance against the Boilermakers had his or his teammates’ 3s fallen through.

He held Purdue’s Fletcher Loyer, who has connected on 42 3s this season, to zero attempts. The Badgers just didn’t have the responses to counter that. 

It’s the continuation of a theme for Wisconsin over its last two losses in a row: The Badgers have shown varying areas of elite play throughout the season, yet they’re not immune to weaknesses. And in back-to-back games, the weakness of its shot selection has shown itself in a way winning would never allow. With poor second-half jump shooting to match hot first-half jump shooting against Nebraska and the 3-point defense to its 3-point shooting Sunday, Wisconsin has canceled itself out.

“I’ll let a few heat-check shots go if the shots before then have gone down,” Gard said, “but when were heat checking and we haven’t gotten any heat, then we can’t heat check.”

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Of course, Wisconsin — as good teams do — was able to make things interesting at the end, though. Klesmit stayed involved in the game, drawing an offensive foul on an inbounds play with the Badgers trailing 74-69 with 9.2 seconds left. The Badgers, off a good inbounds play, got an open 3 for freshman forward Nolan Winter.

Winter’s shot looked good, and even if it was too late, at least looked like it could give the Badgers chance. But its clank off the rim sealed Wisconsin’s fate: It wasn’t going to win with the 3 earlier in the game, and it certainly wasn’t going to at the end.