BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — The ball touched the post and
Tyler Wahl and it moved crisply from Wahl on the left-lane line to
D'Mitrik Trice on the left wing to Trever Anderson at the top of the circle to
Brevin Pritzl on the right wing. Without hesitation, or a defender in his face, Pritzl splashed a 3-pointer.
"Today was one of those days where we were all locked in," Pritzl said after Wisconsin's 82-68 win over Nebraska here Tuesday night at the Kohl Center. "We weren't letting the ball get stuck. We were getting it inside and getting it back out and swinging it around to find the open man.
"That's what you saw. Everyone was involved because the ball was just popping."
And the result was just eye-popping. The Badgers set a school record by making 18-of-34 shots (.520, a season high) from beyond the 3-point arc. Pritzl and Brad Davison had four triples each. Eight different players had at least one. The previous single-game mark was 17 against Coppin State in 2010.
The previous Big Ten high was 14.
"It's definitely contagious," said Trice, who had his first career double-double and nearly a triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. "I'd say when one person knocks it down, you feed off of that. The coaches were on us to move the ball and we got our guys in the right spaces.
"We fed the post and kicked it out and we made that one more pass."
The Badgers had 23 assists on 29 made field goals. Trice matched his career high with seven.
"You look at NBA teams, that's where I look (assists)," Pritzl said. "When teams are shooting well, it's a lot of assists per shots. That's something we should pride ourselves on — popping the ball around and getting the best shot. For the most part tonight, it was that crispness of passing.
"We weren't hesitant. We knew where we wanted to get the ball."
Historically, the Badgers have been a good passing team.
"That was stressed after the Michigan State game," Davison said of last Friday night's 67-55 loss to the Spartans in East Lansing. "There were a lot of times when we got the ball inside or we got into the lane and we kicked it out and the passes weren't on target.
"So, it was definitely something we talked about this week in practice because that's another thing that makes the shooting percentages go way down: bad passes. We really wanted to try and play inside-out … take what the defense gives us … and tonight we got some really good quality looks."
Big Ten opponents had been shooting just 26 percent from the arc against Nebraska, tying the Cornhuskers with Michigan State and Rutgers for the top 3-point field goal percentage defense in the league. The most that they had given up in conference play was 10 (Northwestern and Ohio State).
Because the Huskers are so undersized around the rim, they've tried to "bait" shooters into taking perimeter shots. "The post is a dangerous spot for fouls and layups," Pritzl said. "They try to sag off and force you to take a lot of 3s because if you miss, it's a long rebound for them and transition."
Wisconsin's first three baskets against Nebraska came on 3s from Davison, Trice and Aleem Ford who was 0-for-8 from the 3-point line over the last four games. Wahl was also 0-for-8 from that distance over the last 12 games (since Dec. 7) before knocking down a triple in the first half.
"He can shoot, that's the thing," said Davison, who could have been saying that about Ford or Wahl (in this case it was the latter, the true freshman). "We always harp on confidence and positivity and we encourage our guys to shoot. We trust everyone with their shot. We always say, 'Let it fly.'"
Trice can vouch for that. In the Big Ten, he missed his first 15 shots from the 3-point arc before making one at Michigan State. "It's the same thing as Brad was talking about," Trice said. "You continue to shoot it with confidence and it will fall. You're hurting the team if you don't take open looks."
Since the start of the college basketball season, there has been an on-going discussion over the impact of the extended 3-point line for Division I teams. It was moved from 20 feet, 9 inches (where it had been since 2008) to the international distance of 22 feet, 1 ¾ inches (short of the NBA's 23-9).
"I would say across the nation, the 3-point line has definitely made an impact on the percentage across the board," said Trice who was accurate with his assessment. Teams are shooting around 33 percent (down by about 2%) which is on pace to break the lowest percentage ever (.339).
"Last year, we were shooting regular 3s at the new 3-point line and now we're taking a step back and shooting them from even farther back. It has taken a little more out of our legs."
Wisconsin coach Greg Gard has run hot and cold on the topic.
"The line has made a little bigger impact than I thought it would," he said. "I check the box scores every day and you see some real valleys. You see some drastic numbers that maybe you didn't see in a normal year. We've had our own share of that, too."
In late November, the Badgers played in the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, and they went 7-of-27 (.259) from the 3-point line against Richmond and 2-of-26 (.077) against New Mexico. The following game, they were 5-of-23 (.217) at North Carolina State.
"What you do see is teams are streaky, whether they're making a lot of them or they're missing a lot of them," said UW assistant Dean Oliver. "That's what has changed. When some teams have gone cold, they've really gone cold. By the end of the season, it will probably all even itself out."
Another UW assistant, Alando Tucker, was on the same wavelength.
"Whenever you change any kind of rule, it takes an adjustment for teams and people to get comfortable with it," Tucker said. "Normally, you never stay up on the line. But now it's forcing you to be a little farther back when you catch it. Guys can be affected, if they're overthinking it.
"I don't see it as being unnatural (at the new distance)."
Before Tuesday's game, Big Ten Network analyst Robbie Hummel addressed the subject. During his four-year Purdue career (he was first team All-Big Ten three times), he shot 39 percent from the arc.
"I don't have the numbers to back this up, but it seems like for the road teams, it has been brutal," Hummel suggested. "I've heard a couple of coaches say that they think it has made a difference. But I don't think percentages are down a ton; maybe just a little.
"I knew it would affect the average shooter — that foot back — it kind of changed the way they shoot the basketball. I thought the good shooters were already shooting it (from that distance). Kids want to shoot deep 3s. It's the whole Steph Curry effect. The new cool thing to do. They will adjust."
The 3-point shot was lengthened to create more freedom of movement, among other things.
"It creates a lot more space on the court, which opens up a lot more driving angles," Davison said. "When you have really quick guards like Nebraska, it's hard to be in a gap and contest a 3-point shooter because you have to go a little farther distance to gap help and recover."
Last Saturday, Vanderbilt went 0-for-25 from the 3-point line in a home loss to Tennessee. It snapped a streak of 1,080 straight games making at least one 3-pointer. UNLV and Princeton are now the only two D-1 teams to have made at least one in every game since the shot was introduced in 1986.
Trice and Davison were standing together upon hearing Vandy missed all 25 attempts.
"Oh, my gosh," Trice gasped.
"That's tough," Davison sighed.
"Just wasn't their night," Trice reasoned. "Everybody has had those games."
Davison has his own theory on such things.
"Offense and shooting are something you can't always control," he said. "But at the end of the day, the average always averages out. Today is a day where they really went in for us. But we've had a few games where they didn't (read: Brooklyn) … we were making up for it you could say."
