Four areas of improvement Wisconsin Badgers should focus on against NIU

The Wisconsin Badgers season-opening 96-64 win over Campbell looked better on paper than it did in person. Wisconsin couldn't put the Fighting Camels away until after the midway point of the second half.

And while the Badgers' 31-4 game-ending run certainly offered some positives, they still have plenty of work to do and simple mistakes to be cleaned up.

Their first opportunity to play with more polish comes Friday against Northern Illinois.

Live-ball turnovers

The Badgers may have committed only nine turnovers against Campbell, but the turnovers came in bunches and were frequently live-ball errors.

#Badgers have turned the ball over three times in six minutes. Campbell has scored eight points off those turnovers.
— Cam Wilhorn (@CamWilhorn) November 4, 2025

Live-ball turnovers are especially damaging, as they often lead to runouts and easy points for the opposing team. Six of Wisconsin's nine turnovers were considered live-ball. While Campbell wasn't able to make the Badgers pay on most of them, it's a defect that could prove costly against a high-level opponent.

Point of attack defense

Campbell's guards had little difficulty getting downhill Monday. Greg Gard pointed to off-ball defenders not being in the proper gaps and Wisconsin's frontcourt players not doing enough to impede the ball-handler's path to the basket as part of the reason for the Badgers' defensive shortcomings.

#Badgers lead 63-55 after a big three-pointer from Nolan Winter.

Wisconsin has been sloppy with its ball security and defense
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) November 4, 2025

Offering more resistance on the perimeter, though, could go a long way.

"We can’t get beat off the bounce like that, and that’s correctable just on simple... follow our rules in the ball screen and don't get refused and don't jump around," Gard said following Monday's win. "We got a little antsy a lot of times and got burnt because of it, which is good. It’s a good teaching moment for us."

Gard and his staff had only a few days to show some of the Badgers' perimeter defenders mistakes and correct them. However, a better defensive outing against NIU would be a sign of good things to come.

Defensive switches, post mismatches

Wisconsin's versatile frontcourt has given the team an opportunity to switch more on the defensive end. That luxury felt more like a burden against Campbell.

Oftentimes, a Badgers guard would be switched onto the Fighting Camels' power forward, who'd immediately attempt to post up the smaller defender.

They had enough success to force Gard to make a change coming out of halftime.

"Down the stretch we adjusted some things," Gard said. "Instead of switching with one through four, we went to just stick, stay with our man."

Wisconsin's lack of established on-court chemistry often left them in unfavorable positions. They'll have to tighten up their switches and figure out how they want to manage the inevitable mismatches.

On Monday, they had the smaller guard play in front of the opposing big. But other than a nice steal by Nick Boyd on a pass over the post player that led to a coast-to-coast layup, Wisconsin didn't have enough help on the back side to prevent easy baskets.

They'll either have to put more bodies in the paint to dissuade entry passes or have their guards defend the post-up from behind and have other players apply pressure from the perimeter.

Bench scoring

Between the two exhibitions and Monday's regular-season opener, Wisconsin's second unit is averaging 10.6 bench points per game.

Before Jack Robison's garbage-time bucket against Campbell, the reserves had managed merely seven points.

It's a significant drop off from the Badgers average of 16.5 bench points per game from a season ago. Last year, Wisconsin had a pair of anchors on it's bench in Kamari McGee and Carter Gilmore. They were reliable contributors on both ends, and could offer a scoring punch on occasion.

As of right now, Wisconsin doesn't have anybody it could lean on if the starters sputter on offense.

Jack Janicki could grow into that role, but he's been tentative and inefficient with the ball in his hands. Braeden Carrington flashed a bit of scoring upside against Campbell, scoring a pair of buckets by attacking the rim off the dribble.

#Badgers coach Greg Gard on senior guard Braeden Carrington's offensive rebounding, energy off the bench.

"I got to try to get him involved more. And I don't know where minutes are going to come from, but I'll get him in earlier." pic.twitter.com/r7PeFK3Mwv
— Michael McCleary (@MikeJMcCleary) October 31, 2025

Aleksas Bieliauskas has knocked down some jumpers, but Will Garlock has been hesitant, at times, to take shots.

Of course, Gard will take a combined 69 points from Blackwell, Boyd and Winter, but having a reliable bench scorer will be critical when Wisconsin's stars have an inevitable off night.

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