Wisconsin Badgers young frontcourt must grow after being thrown into fire against Purdue

Wisconsin's frontcourt has had a question mark hanging over it through the duration of non-conference play: How would its lack of experience and bulk hold up against the towering frontcourts of its Big Ten opponents?

On Saturday against Purdue, the Badgers faced their first test, matching up against a Boilermakers frontline of Trey Kaufman-Renn (6-foot-9, 240 pounds) and Oscar Cluff (6-foot-11, 255 pounds).

Wisconsin lost by 16 points, facing a deficit of as much as 25 during the second half.

Purdue finished with 14 offensive rebounds and 17 second chance points. Cluff tallied a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double and had a major impact in the second half.

Kaufman-Renn was held in check, marking one of the handful of positive moments shown by the Badgers young frontcourt.

Overall, the contest showed room for improvement, which will be necessary to compete with the frontcourts of Michigan State, Illinois, Michigan and others coming up.

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Signs of life, but more growth needed

Wisconsin's big men had an up-and-down 40 minutes against the Boilermakers. They played Purdue tough on the interior, fighting for loose balls, blocking out and attacking the painted area.

The tide started to turn early in the second half, when Purdue pulled down four offensive rebounds in the first two and a half minutes.

Later in the half, Oscar Cluff scored 10 of Purdue's 12 points across a three-minute stretch.

Those bursts didn't come as a surprise, though, according to junior center Nolan Winter. It's a level of physicality Wisconsin has to adapt to.

"Going into it, we knew Purdue and those two bigs, especially, were going to bring a lot of physicality," Winter said. "It's going to be a physical league that we're in. So, every night going forward, we know how physical we need to be."

Having experienced the full Big Ten slate for two seasons, Winter may have known what to expect.

But for sophomore Austin Rapp and freshmen Aleksas Bieliauskas and Will Garlock, it was their first taste of the type of centers that play atop the Big Ten.

The trio of young forwards committed eight fouls, turned the ball over four times and went 4-for-13 from the field.

Nick Boyd and Austin Rapp were asked about the exchange they had in the second half where Boyd appeared to get after Rapp following a couple of offensive rebounds for Purdue and a loose ball win.

"I want to win so bad."

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While the size and physicality of Kaufman-Renn and Cluff is a strong introduction to the brutes of the Big Ten, Wisconsin's young forwards got to experience the additional challenge of going against an elite point guard like Braden Smith that balances them out.

"Purdue is different than most just because of the complexity that Braden Smith brings to the table, regardless of who their bigs are," Greg Gard said postgame. "[Smith] just puts a lot of pressure on those guys, and you can tell our inexperience in those, consistently being in the right spot in the right time."

Saturday's experience should give the Badgers staff plenty of teaching tape and a better feel for how to navigate defending an offense centered around a standout PG. They'll face Purdue again and also Michigan State, who is led by Jeremy Fears.

But beyond their physical experiences, going up against a pair of unrelentingly physical forwards gives Rapp, Bieliauskas and Garlock a glimpse into the mentality they'll need to carry with them the rest of the season.

It centers on being quick to forget mistakes while prioritizing consistency.

"You can't let a play, a negative play on one end, counter or affect you on the other end," Gard said. "We miss a layup or get one blocked on the offensive end in the second half. We go to the other end, and we get pinned underneath the rim by Cluff in transition. So just those thingswe got to make positive plays happen and then multiply them."

With Big Ten play now underway, Wisconsin's forwards will have limited time to learn how to combat opposing Big Ten frontcourts.

The Badgers will face Morez Johnson and Aday Mara with Michigan on Jan. 10 in Ann Arbor.

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