1/17 Update: The Badgers notched their second key road victory yesterday with a solid win over Northwestern. A big run to begin the second half proved to be some of the best basketball the Badgers have played all season, providing the impetus for victory.
Although Evan Eschmeyer did get his points, the Badgers contained him and truly made him earn each and every one with a variety of effective double teams, which limited his ability to find the open man, resulting in 6 turnovers.
Here are the game grades:
Andy Kowske: D+
One had a pretty good feeling a game like this was coming for Kowske, matching a foul proned player against a guy as effective down low as Eschmeyer is. Kowske was in constant foul trouble and wasn't much of a factor, playing only 15 minutes. His time on Eschmeyer was very valuable however since Wisconsin does not have any single player able to match up with the big center for 35 minutes a game. While playing Eschmeyer, he was able to push him out a few feet beyond where Eschmeyer is comfortable a couple times, though at the cost of some fouls. In his short time on the court, Andy was able to knock down two short to medium range jumpers which is also and added plus.
Charlie Wills: B
Wills gave some very very valuable minutes off the bench. While Charlie had some early trouble with Eschmeyer's strength, Wills adjusted and played him very effectively in his 22 minutes. Offensively, Wills did a better job of not forcing his shot, but was still able to finish when given the open looks.
Sean Mason: D
This was one of Mason's poorer games of the season as he periodically forced the ball to the heart of the wildcat defense, resulting in 5 Mason turnovers. While he did have some really nice offensive cuts without the ball, generally his shot was not dropping as Mase hit on only 4 of 13 shots (1 of 7 from long range).
Ty Calderwood: C
Calderwood was also guilty of forcing play a bit too much Saturday afternoon, resulting in 4 turnovers of his own. However, Calderwood was able to get involved both offensively and defensively much better than Mason did, contributing 4 steals (mainly on the Eschmeyer double teams), 5 assists, and 5 rebounds.
Mike Kelley: B
Defensively, Kelley did an exceptional job on Wink, the one Wildcat that the Badgers did not want to leave open on the double team. For the game, Wink hit just 3 of 10 shots. Offensively, Kelley was a solid influence, hitting all of his limited shots and taking care of the ball (1 turnover).
Hennssy Auriantal: B
Aurintal was much stronger with the ball than in previous games, which was a key since Mason and Calderwood were having some trouble taking care of it themselves. Auriantal also pounded the boards for 5 boards in his 16 minutes. To round out his contributions, Hennssy also had a steal and 3 assists.
Jon Bryant: A
Bryant was without a doubt the most valuable player for this game, giving the team an offensive spark when Mason was struggling. Bryant was a sniper as the Cats could simply not keep track of him as he ran off of screen after screen on the way to a team high 12 points.
Mark Vershaw: C+
Vershaw was an offensive factor inside, though not so much in his shooting as his passing. He made some nifty inside moves but was not able to finish most of them on his way to a 2 of 7 from the field performance. However, with his strong moves, he was able to garner the attention of the Northwestern defense which freed up the cutting lanes and the weakside of the court, allowing Vershaw to get 4 big assists. Mark was matched up with Eschmeyer a bit and held his own, though Evan is a very tough matchup for Vershaw strength wise at this point in Mark's career.
Maurice Linton: B-
Linton's minutes were again limited as he didn't really have a natural matchup on the court. Still, in his 9 minutes, he provide one big dunk finish as well as an assist and a steal.
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