Photo by Tyler R. Klein
Milwaukee Hoops Showdown
For the second straight year, Fiserv Forum hosted an exciting day of mid-December neutral-site college basketball action.
The Milwaukee Panthers, which beat Akron in last season’s MKE Tip-Off, took on South Dakota State as the opener in the re-christened Milwaukee Hoops Showdown. The headliner was the Wisconsin Badgers, which faced the Villanova Wildcats.
Local fans watched UWM defeat SDSU in a high-scoring thriller, but left disappointed as the Badgers registered another frustrating loss away from Madison. After a pair of close games, a short-handed UWM enters conference play with growing confidence, while Wisconsin is still in search of production from its role players.
Milwaukee’s Team
In the span of three nights, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Marquette Golden Eagles, and the Wisconsin Badgers all lost basketball games at Fiserv Forum. The lone Wisconsin team to win at Fiserv during this stretch? The Milwaukee Panthers.
Led by the trio of Danilo Jovanovich, Josh Dixon, and Amar Augillard, a shorthanded UWM squad held off a solid South Dakota State squad to win 88-87.
Down four players, Coach Lundy relied on some unlikely players in crucial moments. Freshman Josh Dixon had a career-high 24 points in his first career start and iced the game with four straight made free throws in the final 15 seconds.
Reserve forward Simeon Murchison, who missed last season through injury, also had an impactful game. He contributed two points and four offensive rebounds while providing a key defensive presence down low.
Coach Lundy praised Murchison’s preparation, noting the redshirt sophomore’s success was a product of his tireless work over the last three years.
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
“It comes with daily preparation and how much he actually cares,” Lundy said. “He comes to work. He didn't play a second last game, and you would have never known any difference in his work ethic. These guys really care, and I think that gives us a chance.”
A True Throwback Player
To watch UWM forward Danilo Jovanovich with the ball in his hands is to take a glimpse back in time.
In an era where big men are expected to be prolific outside shooters or athletic rim-protectors, “D-Lo” is neither. Jovanovich operates in an autonomous realm, eschewing modern analytics in favor of his own strengths.
When he receives the ball in the post, time slows to a crawl. Jovanovich surveys the situation, calculating how to create space for a shot. His signature move is the mid-range fade-away jumper over his right shoulder.
D-Lo floats at the top of his release, waiting for the perfect moment to let the ball leave his fingertips. More often than not, the ball eases over the rim and through the net, leaving a helpless defender with their hand in the air like a practice dummy.
His game centers on finesse; feints, pivots, fakes, and shimmies, finished off by a smooth left-handed shooting stroke. D-Lo’s patented jumper has made him one of the most efficient big men in mid-major basketball. The Whitnall product has eclipsed 15 points five times over his last seven games and is second in the Horizon League with an offensive rating of 141.7.
Against the Jackrabbits, Jovanovich had one of his best scoring performances, logging 17 points while hitting 7-9 mid-range field goals. A typical showing for a player who is anything but typical.
Redemption Arc
In Milwaukee’s loss to Indiana State, guard Amar Augillard had his worst performance as a Panther. The senior went 0-10 from the field with zero points, no rebounds, and two turnovers.
The SDSU game began similarly, as the veteran hooper was scoreless for much of the first period. Then he hit a three-pointer in the waning minutes of the opening half.
In the second stanza, Augillard looked every bit the player who was the 2024 National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Player of the Year.
Augillard had 20 points in the second half, including ten straight points late in the game to give the Panthers an advantage they would not relinquish.
Coach Lundy credited Augillard’s perseverance while also admitting that he was critical of his fifth-year guard after the ISU game. “In our post-game film session, I lost it on him,” Lundy said. “And I was really hard on him this week, and he responded.”
Friday night’s game was the first time this season that Augillard was not in the starting lineup. Lundy had confidence that the Fresno State transfer would respond.
“It's tough to come off the bench as a senior,” Lundy said, “and he did it. He didn't complain and came out and made huge shots.”
With leading scorer Seth Hubbard out for the year with a shoulder injury, Augillard’s offense will be crucial for the Panthers in Horizon League play.
|
|
Wisconsin’s Road Struggles Continue
For the Wisconsin Badgers this season, winning the three-point battle has equaled winning games. In their seven wins, Wisconsin has averaged 12.6 made threes per game — five more than their opponents. In three defeats, the Badgers have averaged four fewer made threes per contest than their foes.
On Friday, Greg Gard’s team finished with 10 made three-pointers to Villanova’s 11, but Nova’s timely shooting made for a 45-minute uphill battle for the Badgers.
The Wildcats endured a slow shooting start, missing their first three three-point field goals to start the game, then hit three straight entering the first media timeout.
The Badgers played catch-up the rest of the contest. The Villanova lead ballooned to as many as 15 points early in the second half before Wisconsin battled back to tie the game via a Nolan Winter put-back with 31 seconds remaining.
A worn-out UW squad then fell flat in overtime as Nova powered its way to a 76-66 victory, leaving the Badgers 1-4 when playing away from the Kohl Center.
Blackwell and Boyd and Winter Too
The two-pronged backcourt attack of John Blackwell and Nick Boyd has been nearly unguardable for the Badgers. Combining for 38.8 points per game, they entered Friday’s contest as the third-highest scoring duo in Division I men’s basketball.
After a scoreless first half for Blackwell, the junior found his rhythm. All 14 of Blackwell’s points came after halftime, as his inside-out game proved problematic for Villanova.
Blackwell and Boyd recorded Wisconsin’s first seven points after halftime, then soon after scored 11 straight—cutting a 12-point Wildcat lead to just three.
But the real star for the Badgers was Nolan Winter. The seven-footer’s 43 minutes played and 23 points scored were both career highs, and he added 11 rebounds, two blocks, and three assists.
Wisconsin’s shortcoming was its lack of secondary production. Blackwell, Boyd, and Winter combined for 56 of the Badgers’ 66 points.
UW Head Coach Greg Gard issued a challenge to his squad, demanding more from his role players, saying: “Five or six guys showed me who I need on the floor, and other guys got to continue to rise to the expectations.”
Still, Gard found positives in defeat. Coming off an ugly 90-60 loss at Nebraska the week before, the 11th-year head coach pointed to his team’s strong second-half performance as a building block. “The second half showed who we can be, who we need to be,” Gard said. “It's what we've been asking for in terms of that effort and commitment on the defensive end.”
Emotional Defeat
After a strong 4-0 start, the Badgers are 4-4 since. This month-long stretch includes a 28-point loss to BYU in Salt Lake City and a 30-point defeat at Nebraska.
These defeats weigh heavily on a Wisconsin squad wth lofty expectations. A tearful Nolan Winter summarized his frustrations during an emotional press conference, saying:
“Myself, I'm a winner, and to go through losses like that, it's not what I hold this team to be. As a leader of this team, I know what it means for us to wear Wisconsin across our chests and go out there and show the effort that the state of Wisconsin deserves. I know this team is full of winners, and we're going to bounce back.”
Coach Gard echoed Winters' sentiment, commending his players for their pride in the program. “In today's day and age of everything going on in college athletics, and the individualism that gets attached to the portal or NIL, we [forget] that winning matters. From a coach's standpoint, that's good. That tells me they care.”
