Lucas: ‘Red Belt’ mentality drives Badgers to upset win
January 20, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Mike Lucas
Defensive fight seals much-needed victory against No. 2 Michigan
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — The message was consistent in the Wisconsin huddle during every timeout down the stretch here Saturday at the Kohl Center.
"Be strong with the ball," Kobe King said.
"Continue to box out on defense," D'Mitrik Trice added.
"Lock-in defensively and no dumb turnovers," King emphasized.
"Just stay aggressive on the defensive end," Trice stressed.
Breaking the huddle, they carried those thoughts back on to the floor in five-man units. Staying connected, they believed, was going to be the key to closing out No. 2 Michigan.
"The coaches really focused on it this week in practice," Trice said. "They were telling us that we needed to get back to playing that Wisconsin type of basketball on defense."
That attitude surfaced during crunch time against the unbeaten Wolverines (17-0) who were 31-1 over the last 32 games with the only loss coming to Villanova in the NCAA championship game.
"We knew if we got stops and closed out the game at that end of the floor," said King, who played a season-high 31 minutes, "we'd be able to come out on top."
Experience is the best teacher. And the Badgers had been in this position before, only to come up short in recent weeks. Ethan Happ spelled it out in no uncertain terms.
"If we executed better down the stretch in the three losses we've had," he said of defeats at the hands of Minnesota, Purdue and Maryland, "we'd be sitting at 6-0 rather than 3-3."
Saturday, they left nothing to chance — closing out Michigan with a 7-0 run over the last 59 seconds in a rousing 64-54 victory that triggered a court-storming at the Kohl Center.
"It was great to see all the smiling faces," Trice said.
Not only did Wisconsin's scrappy defense force the Wolverines into a season-high 16 turnovers — they were averaging 9.5, third nationally — but the Badgers shut down their leading scorers.
Freshman power forward Ignas Brazdeikis was averaging 15.6 points and had scored in double-figures in 15 of 17 games. Brazdeikis was held scoreless. He was 0-of-5 from the field.
Meanwhile, senior Charles Matthews, who had helped carry Michigan into the 2018 Final Four (as the Most Outstanding Player in the West Regional), managed just five points (2-of-5).
Michigan head coach John Beilein was asked what went wrong with the offense.
"Wisconsin's defense," he responded. "How's that for an answer?"
IT'S A MADHOUSE IN MADISON! Wisconsin takes down No. 2 Michigan! #OnWisconsin // #Badgers
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) January 19, 2019
The Badgers had most of them — answers — when they needed them the most.
"They missed some shots that we needed them to miss," said Happ, who finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists. "And we made the plays that we needed to make."
The Badgers won some critical 50-50s — hustle plays. After poking the ball away from Zavier Simpson on the defensive end, Happ dove on the floor and called a timeout to save the possession.
A little over seven minutes remained in the second half and the Badgers were clinging to a 45-44 lead when Happ's all-out determination ignited the crowd and spurred on his teammates.
"You saw how everybody responded after he got that loose ball," said King who hit a 3-pointer on a Happ assist following that scramble. "He set the tone and we all followed him after that.
"We needed those 50-50s to beat a great team like that. We knew that was something that we had to do — win the hustle plays — and we did a good job of that in the second half."
Noted Trice, "Hustle plays … it's really what Wisconsin basketball is all about."
Although his shot wasn't falling (2-of-10), Trice contributed in other ways. On an in-bounds play, he made a perfect lob to Happ on a quick hitter that resulted in an easy basket.
Two possessions later, Trice assisted on a Happ dunk. "It was on a pick-and-roll," he said, "and I was just being patient and letting the defense make a mistake. And I ended up finding him (Happ)."
Waking up after a win > Waking up after a big win >> Yesterday was one to remember #OnWisconsin // #Badgers
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) January 20, 2019
Saturday, the Badgers found some much needed bench scoring: King had six points and Aleem Ford had nine after managing just eight points over the last five games combined.
"It's definitely a confidence booster," said Ford who even had an old fashioned 3-point play (a basket and foul shot). "It felt good to be able to finish around the rim."
It was only his third free throw attempt of the season.
"We've both been coming off the bench," said Ford, speaking for King, "and we've been talking to each other about it. We're both trying to find ourselves and find our roles."
"We're back on track." @EthanHapp22 spoke to @TheAndyKatz after dropping 26pts in @BadgerMBB's upset of No. 2 Michigan!
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadness) January 19, 2019
Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers never found that "galvanizing" moment. But the Badgers may have — not only with the Michigan upset — but with a new rallying point and unifier.
The Red Belt Mentality.
Gard invited a nationally-recognized motivational speaker, Dave Anderson, to speak to the team on Friday. Gard has been a big fan of Anderson who has authored 14 books on leadership skills.
"Oh, man, I took away a lot," Trice said. "I have a whole thing of notes. One of the biggest things for me is focusing on what I can control. That really stuck with me.
"With everything I go through, and what this team goes through, I was focusing on what I can do better to make this team better.
"Another thing we talked about was being the boxer instead of the bag.
"We came out punching first as a team."
Anderson told the story about visiting with a karate world champion who suggested that red belts — one level behind black belts — are the most dangerous fighters in his studio.
To paraphrase, people will work for years to attain a black belt and when they do, they mentally exhale, feeling like they have conquered the challenge and have finally arrived at the top of the ladder.
But the red belt is still hungry; he's got a why; he's got something worth fighting for, he's got the chip on his shoulder. There's no complacency because he's still trying to prove himself.
The Red Belt Mentality.
"It was something I thought about a lot and I'm sure the other guys did, too," Ford said. "You still have to work to get to where you want to go. It was the mindset the whole team had today."
Sophomore Nate Reuvers was among the subscribers to what Anderson was pitching.
"It's just a mentality that you have to have," said Reuvers, who had nine points, three rebounds and three blocks (all on Zavier Simpson). "You're working towards something — working your hardest."
Anderson's words truly resonated with Brad Davison.
"He hit the nail on the head in a lot of areas," said Davison, who had eight points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. "We're extremely thankful that he was a part of this.
"With the Red Belt Mentality, you know that you're a good team, but you're not a great team yet. Every day, you've got to come in focused. Moving forward we're a Red Belt team."
After the Michigan win, Gard actually broke out a red belt in the UW locker room. And he exhorted his players to bring that mentality every day, every practice, every game.
"It was fun to hear from a different perspective — an outside source (Anderson) — the same message that Coach Gard has been trying to spread," said assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft.
"You're always fighting for reasons bigger than yourself. It wasn't a perfect game. But they didn't make excuses. They owned mistakes. They learned, they got better, they executed.
"There were a lot of Red Belts out there today."
