Biggest takeaways from Wisconsin Badgers' 84-83 exhibition loss to Oklahoma

Rapp shows versatility

Austin Rapp has no similar physical characteristics to former Wisconsin All-American John Tonje. Stylistically, however, the two could be cut from the same cloth, and that's a big positive for the University of Wisconsin with the season on the horizon.

One of Gard's many offseason tasks was to find players who could fill the production of Tonje, the graduate transfer who averaged 19.6 points per game and was responsible at times for carrying the Wisconsin offense on his back.

Rapp was added in part because his 6-foot-10 size could help fill the void left by center Steven Crowl in the starting lineup. Not only does last season's West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year pair nicely with 7-footer Nolan Winter, but Rapp stretched the floor in ways Tonje did.

Rapp converted on post entry passes, put the ball on the floor on drives to the basket, gained separation for perimeter shots and generated contact. He led the nation in three-pointers for players at least 6-foot-9 last year but attempted just 30.6 percent of his shots inside the 3-point line.

His balance was better for the Badgers (3-for-4 from two and 3-for-7 from three) and his stat line was complete with six rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

"He's got to be more than a three-point shooter," Gard said of Rapp. "Teams are going to try to take that away from him, and how can he add other parts to his game. He drove the ball a little bit tonight, he was able to slip on some of those switches and play at the rim, and his partner was able to find him. That was a good evolution to his game to play physically around the rim."

As is the case, Rapp's ability to conifdently put the ball on the floor and the ability to roll to the rim will open up his perimeter game. He saw that in the second half when defenders started to give him more space and he knocked down three-pointers that kept Wisconsin within arm's reach.

Good building blocks on offense

Gard was asked if his starting rotation was the best he's had since his first two seasons, when he fielded a group of tested Final Four veterans of Vitto Brown, Nigel Hayes, Bronson Koenig, and Zak Showalter and an up-and-coming Ethan Happ.

The potential is there, according to the head coach, but the Badgers will need to be more efficient with their possessions. Wisconsin scored 83 points in 71 possessions (1.169 ppp) and committed only seven turnovers.

Part of the problem was over-dribbling, stagnate movement or struggles at the rim, where they were only 7-for-19 on layups and scored just 12 of their 36 points in the paint in the second half.

"We were doing our coverages a little better (in the second half)," Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said of his team's post defense. "We had some really bad switched in the first half. They were late and they exposed it ... In the first half, every time we had a really bad mistake, we saw it and they capitalized."

Winter had 10 points on 5-for-13 shooting but the seven footer had four shots blocked, three coming from former Wauwatosa West standout Kai Rogers in the first half. It was a sign that he didn't always have his legs fully underneath him.

UW missed 21 three-pointers on 31 attempts, a number Gard said he wanted to be higher but certainly more efficient.

"This group is going to have to shoot threes," Gard said. "That's how we are built, but I thought there were a handful we took that we didn't need to take."

Nick Boyd was 6-for-17 from the floor and 1-for-6 from three, and he got caught going too fast into traffic that bogged down possessions and forcing offense.

"The kid has the heart of a lion and an extreme competitor," Gard said. "I rather have that and reel it in a little bit and get him to understand the cause-and-effect of every possession than have to pump him up. I don't have to worry about pumping him up."

Gard admitted that he didn't call many plays in the huddle or from the sideline, choosing to let the group play organically. The end result showed he won't have to do a lot of hand holding on offense.

"I think we have a good cohesive group," guard John Blackwell said. "I think we get along really well. It's our first game playing together. I think we can learn from this group, but honestly it was fun out there playing with those guys."

Oklahoma will improve Wisconsin's defense

It's clear that Wisconsin's offense is ahead of its defense, not surprising considering the drastic roster turnover the Badgers underwent in the offseason with three fifth-year seniors in the rotation graduating and three new starters from three different colleges filling the spots.

Wisconsin got caught multiple times out of position or guessing defensively in the first half, resulting in the Sooners getting open looks from all three levels and shooting 63 percent in the first half.

A remade roster in their own right with five new starters, the Sooners shot 51.8 percent and averaged 1.183 points per possession. The toughest stretch for Wisconsin was when the Sooners scored 15 points in the final 2:54 of the first half to flip a four-point deficit into a five-point lead.

Wisconsin seemed to get their footing in the final stretch of the second half. They had two stretches where Wisconsin had five consecutive stops on a 9-0 run that tied the game with under eight minutes remaining, and they later forced turnovers on three consecutive possessions to tie the game at 78 with 1:10 left.

"We better have a long way to go in October," Gard said. "That's good. That means the ceiling is high for this group."

By the numbers

51 - Wisconsin's winning streak in exhibition games ended at 51, a streak that dated back to an 87-71 defeat to the Russian National Team on November 17, 1992.

50 - Points scored by new additions to Wisconsin's roster

10 - The number of players used by Gard Friday, a group he said had been the most consistent in the weeks leading up to the opener.

72.2 - Wisconsin went 13-for-18 from the free throw line

7 - Fouls drawn by Boyd, a game-high.