All Badgers

Biggest takeaways from the Wisconsin Badgers' 88-61 win over Central Michigan

Wisconsin Badgers get 11 players into the scoring column to pull away from Central Michigan in the second half.
Benjamin Worgull|
Hayden Jones (13) huddles with his teammates during Wisconsin's 88-61 win over Central Michigan.
Hayden Jones (13) huddles with his teammates during Wisconsin's 88-61 win over Central Michigan. | UW Athletics

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Wisconsin Badgers

MADISON, Wis. - One last tune-up before the holiday break against a team with only two division-1 wins on the season might not seem very noteworthy for the University of Wisconsin.

With how things have been going of late, however, every moment on the court is important, especially for a team that could be in the process of redefining roles.

While the final result wasn't surprising, an 88-61 victory over Central Michigan in which Wisconsin pulled away emphatically in the second half, how the Badgers (8-4) got to the finish line was different and encouraging.

Yes, UW had a big night from Nolan Winter (18 points, eight rebounds) and overwhelmed the Chippewas (4-9) as the night progressed, but the Badgers saw a second freshman put in the starting lineup with junior John Blackwell inactive, another freshman who was seemingly headed for a redshirt make an appearance, and the reserves have one of the best performances in several seasons.

"We have so many new guys, not everything is going to go well at the beginning," senior guard Braeden Carrington said, referring to UW's four new portal additions and three freshmen. "Obviously you want to play your best ball in March, so we're getting the kinks out now. There's other teams playing great basketball. They figured it out early.

"What I see in practice every day, I'm not too worried with what we got. I know we're going to figure it out. We're going to play our best basketball in March when needed."

Here are my takeaways.

Jones grows in first start

Head coach Greg Gard has talked repeatedly about giving freshman Hayden Jones more minutes to evaluate him, but it mostly has just been lip service. Starting to earn some more minutes over the last month, Jones got himself a big promotion on Monday.

Jones made his first collegiate start in place of Blackwell and performed well, scoring a career-high six points with four rebounds.

"I was ready," Jones said. "Obviously had a little bit of nerve going into it. Once I got in there, it was just another game of basketball."

Jones didn't have much time to process the start, saying he was given roughly 40 minutes notice. Perhaps that's why the first time he touched the ball, coming on Wisconsin's second possession, he dribbled into traffic baseline and got caught in a double team, forcing a pass to the paint that led to a turnover.

He settled down, though. Aleksas Bieliausksas giftwrapped a wide-open dunk for him at 17:42, made some plays off the dribble to draw fouls, and delivered a layup by driving baseline in the second half that helped kickstart Wisconsin's 20-1 run.

"I think he has a really good feel for the game," said Gard of Jones, who also played good defense on Tamario Adley. "I got to get him to stop dribbling to the right wing and picking the ball up first possession of every game, but he has a really good feel and size ... His feel within what we do is really good. He rebounds well for his size. He was going to play a lot tonight, regardless of where JB was at."

Jones was averaging 7.2 minutes on the season entering Monday, getting a lot of run earlier in the season, but saw his time cut significantly following a poor performance against BYU.

Jones played well during mop-up time in the 30-point loss at Nebraska, with his coach saying the freshman did what the staff wanted him to do and handled screens. With Carrington out with hip soreness against Villanova, Jones played 8:12 against the Wildcats - the most since November 17. He had two early turnovers, but his off-balanced layup off the glass showed his playmaking traits.

Jones is still young at just 18 years old, but his international experience shows with the way he's able to move the ball and use pass fakes to open up options offensively.

Kinziger makes a surprise appearance

With five guards ahead of him in the rotation, it seemed like a forgone conclusion that Zach Kinziger would redshirt this season and be a more impactful player later in his career. That plan officially changed with 13:37 remaining in the first half, as Kinziger checked into a college game for the first time.

He scored six points, going 2-for-4 on threes, and collecting two assists.

"The opportunity was there," Carrington said of the freshman. "In practice he's competing hard. He was on the scout team and proving he can hold his own against us. If you see what he's doing in there, dang, he should be a starter. He's putting 20 points up on scout ... He definitely deserved it. I am glad he got the chance."

Kinziger fits what Wisconsin wants to do offensively. He graduated De Pere High School ranking second on the school's all-time scoring list and was a finalist for the 2024-25 Wisconsin Mr. Basketball after averaging 24.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

Gard complimented Kinziger last week, saying the freshman has really made a jump in the last month. He expanded upon that by saying Kinziger's ability to read angles, match the speed of the game, playing off two feet, and being a bulldog defensively earned him an opportunity. Part of that growth comes from going against senior guard Nick Boyd daily in practice.

Decided he wanted to play him since he appeared to have his feet underneath him, Gard believes the true freshman gives Wisconsin's backcourt "another dimension."

"The kid is a tough sucker," Gard said. "Love how he plays. He's a true Badger through and through and brings some toughness and energy. He's a fierce competitor. We can never have enough of that."

"That competitive toughness that he brings, we've had so many guys who have helped over the years when they are young," Gard later added. "It's really important that you have those guys in those programs, specifically guys who are home grown. He bleeds Badger red through and through."

Bench production improves and delivers

Gard sent a clear message after Friday's loss to Villanova that Winter's play set the standard of what is to be expected from players if they want to see extended minutes (or any for that matter) on the floor. It's a reason why Gard rarely substituted in the second half in Milwaukee and played four of his "iron five" starters over 36 minutes in a 45-minute game (include 43+ for Winter).

UW shortened bench of four players played over 37 minutes, but the group contributed just two points and four rebounds (two in each category coming from Jones) in a 10-point overtime loss.

The production was significantly better three days later, as Wisconsin's 44 bench points marked the most in a game since at least the 2006-07 season.

"Depth is important in any basketball team," sophomore Austin Rapp said. "To have guys come off the bench and contribute ... just building confidence off tonight's game and knowing that we can do it, we're basketball players at the end of the day. We're here for a reason. The coaches brought us in for a reason. They believe in us, so believe in ourselves and bring that punch off the bench."

Rapp is the biggest scoring weapon on Wisconsin's bench but has been the most inconsistent. He started the first seven games before the staff became frustrated with his lack of aggressiveness attacking the glass and the rim. It's still an issue, considering he was 0-for-2 from three, didn't attempt a two, and had no rebounds in 15 minutes against Villanova.

He scored 15 points in the second half Monday, getting an early layup to go after halftime that ended up leading to a dunk and three three-pointers before the half's midway point.

A forward who has shown a willingness to shoot from the perimeter first, the staff continue to push Rapp to ignite his game with rebounds and scoring at the rim off ball screens rather than threes.

"He's got to hunt more," Gard said. "We got to do a better job of putting him in position to find him."

After getting one minute against Villanova, largely due to the Badgers trying to dig out of a rut they put themselves in, freshman center Will Garlock responded with four points and a career-high five rebounds in career-best 14 minutes.

"They see what it takes and how you have to play," Gard said of Garlock and, also referencing freshmen forward Aleksas Bieliauskas. "We have to continue to help those guys develop and push those guys along. I'm not really patient with them. I am pretty persistent with my demands of them."

The same goes for redshirt sophomore Jack Janicki. Since scoring five points against Northwestern, Janicki had been without a field goal the last three games and scoreless in the last two.

Janicki got on the floor last season because of his energy, hustles, and intangibles that he brought. That spark had been missing over several games, possibly, according to Gard, as a result of an aggressive load of finals that the guard had been dealing with.

He started to get his offense back, scoring four points, but really impacted the game with a career-high nine assists and only one turnover.

"He got back to playing how he can play," Gard said, "and we need him to play and the energy he can bring from his role."

Wisconsin bench finished with 15 assists to only two turnovers, part of a impressive night where the Badgers had a season-high 25 assists off 29 field goals. It marked the first time in at least the past 20 years that UW totaled 25 or more assists on fewer than 30 field goal makes and the first time since at least 2004-05 where the Badgers had over 25 assists and fewer than 10 turnovers in a game.

Those achievements were largely due to the reserves, who showed up after being absent on Friday.

"This group needs to do it by committee," Gard said. "It was good to see a lot of guys step up."

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Benjamin Worgull
BENJAMIN WORGULL

Benjamin Worgull has covered Wisconsin men's basketball since 2004, having previously written for Rivals, USA Today, 247sports, Fox Sports, the Associated Press, the Janesville Gazette, and the Wisconsin State Journal.

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