BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
NEW YORK — Two games in snowy Buffalo, New York? Done and dusted. Now it's bright lights and big city for the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament and Wisconsin's Sweet 16 gameday — a fourth-consecutive appearance —
against Florida (8:59 p.m. CT on TBS).
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer Mike Lucas is on the ground at Madison Square Garden's famous hardwood checking in as the eighth-seeded Badgers prepare for tonight's tip-off against the fourth-seeded Gators.
LOOKING AT THE MATCHUP IN 3D (DRIBBLE DRIVE DEFENSE)
Virginia Tech had some quick, athletic guards in Seth Allen, Ahmed Hill and Justin Robinson. By spacing the floor, the Hokies were able to stretch the UW defense and create some driving lanes off ball-screens. Robinson was constantly on the attack and consistently got to the free throw line (9-of-10). The aggressive dribble drive offense put extreme pressure on the defense and the Badgers were guilty of 22 fouls (Zak Showalter fouled out). They've collected more than 22 only three times in 36 games. As a result, the Hokies spent most of the second half at the line (16-of-21); overall, they were 21-of-26, the second most attempts against Wisconsin this season (Ohio State was 23-of-27 in Columbus).
Now for the morale of this story: Florida has quicker, faster guards than Virginia Tech and you can expect the Gators to attack the Badgers in a similar fashion, that is, off the bounce. The backcourt starters are Kasey Hill, a 6-foot-1, 175-pound senior from Umatilla, Florida, and KeVaughn Allen, a 6-2, 183-pound sophomore from Little Rock, Arkansas. Hill, who has 91 career starts, was second-team All-SEC. He's the only player on the Florida roster with playing experience against Wisconsin. He was a starter in a 59-53 loss to the Badgers in 2013 at the Kohl Center. Hill has accounted for 1,069 points, 522 assists and 179 steals in 135 games. Allen was first-team All-SEC and the Gators' leading scorer (13.4), though he made just 3-of-21 shots in Florida's wins over East Tennessee State and Virginia.
For sheer speed, nobody is faster than Chris Chiozza, a 6-foot, 176-pound junior from Memphis. His nickname is "Cheese." Chiozza came off the bench, as he has all season, to spark the Gators in the second half against East Tennessee State. He had 14 points in 12 minutes. Chiozza has starter's skills to go along with his 36-inch vertical. In February, Chiozza had a triple-double (12 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) against Missouri, the first such triple-double by a non-starter in nearly a decade nationally. The Gators have the luxury of two attacking point guards when Chiozza is in the game along with Hill. With their ability to get into gaps, if defenders rotate and help, it leaves open shooters. Hill has 153 assists, Chiozza has 126. "It's all about the guys not guarding the ball," Showalter said. "The secondary defender has to be in those gaps and really deter them from wanting to attack an open space."
UW associate head coach Lamont Paris spoke to the challenge. "One, you have to work as hard as you can to stay in front of your man," he said. "You have to not foul and you have to be in position to help. When guys are exceptionally fast, you're going to have to provide some help and the key is getting there early. The speed of their guards separates them from most people in the country. They're just really fast. In a 100-yard dash, I don't know that there is anybody who would beat any one of those three guys." It's even more relevant because they're just as fast with the ball in their hands. "A lot of people can't do it with the ball," Paris said. "So that speed is not as functional in a sense. But these guys can. Sometimes, they'll turn it over. Sometimes, they'll charge when you're playing that fast. That's the calculated risk because the return on their investment has been pretty good for them."
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING
Travis Trice Jr., a member of the Westchester Knicks of the NBA's Developmental League, was more than a casual observer during Thursday's open practice at Madison Square Garden, where he hopes to play his home games someday for the parent team. The 24-year-old Trice, who helped lead Michigan State to the 2015 Final Four, is the older brother of freshman D'Mitrik Trice. "It was totally great seeing him," D'Mitrik said. "I knew he was going to be here. He got on a train to come down (from Westchester County) and see the open practice. He can't be here tomorrow. He's got a game (against Reno in White Plains, New York). But hopefully if we can take care of business he will be here for Sunday."
Throughout Wisconsin's post-season, Travis has been texting some words of encouragement to D'Mitrik who struggled physically against Villanova's backcourt. "That's a tough team to matchup against," Travis said. "They really didn't have any shorter guards. Most of them were 6-4 and 6-5 and they were crashing the offensive boards. He picked up two early fouls. But he will matchup better against Florida … He just needs to stay in the game plan and stay confident. He's one of those guys who's even-keeled. He doesn't get too high and he doesn't get too low. You can depend on him."
D'Mitrik has taken his brother's advice to heart. "He told me to just go out there and calm down," he said. "I need to play like I know how to play. I felt like I didn't play as confident as I usually do in the Villanova game. They definitely had big guards and there were a lot of mismatches. But I don't think it will mess with my confidence going forward against Florida. Defensively, we're going to have to close the gaps down and play team defense like Wisconsin does."
When Travis was helping lead the Spartans to the Final Four, D'Mitrik was a senior in high school (Huber Heights, Ohio). "He actually missed most of it because he was in a state championship run," Travis said. "But he was able to go to the Elite Eight game and the Final Four game. We were using Facetime and he was texting me the whole way through." What separates teams at this stage? "It's really about seniors," Travis said. "Are your seniors going to lead you? Are they going to make plays?"
PROTECTING THE ROCK
When the Badgers boarded their team charter, Ethan Happ was carrying a basketball. He has been taking it everywhere. "It's for my pleasure," he said. "It's something to do when there is nothing to do. Just dribble the ball around. I started doing it during the tournament last year." The last time, Happ was in Madison Square Garden (Jan. 28), he scored a career-high 32-points in an overtime win over Rutgers. Happ was 12-of-18 from the field, including the game-tying basket at the end of regulation, and 8-of-16 from the free throw line. "Obviously, it doesn't feel like home," he said after Thursday's practice at the World's Most Famous Arena. "But we're not in awe anymore that it's Madison Square Garden like the first time that we played here (during the 2015-2016 season)."
QUOTE TO NOTE
On the prospect of defending Happ in the post, Florida's Kevarrius Hayes said the key was "basically keeping him off the block as much as possible; trying to limit his close touches to the basket and doing whatever I can to make him score over me instead of giving him an angle." Hayes is a 6-9, 218-pound sophomore with an appreciable wing span. The Gators have been playing without 6-11, 255-pound John Egbunu, who tore his ACL in February. Egbunu was an experienced veteran of 90 career games at South Florida and Florida. He was a physical low-post defender. "Having John here would be a huge help," Hayes said. "He's definitely a more physical counterpart to our defense. But we can't sell ourselves short. Even without him, we've played pretty good interior defense."
NOTE TO QUOTE
Canyon Barry, the SEC's Sixth Man of the Year, set a Florida record by making 42 consecutive free throws over an 11-game stretch during the middle of the season. (Jason Bohannon's holds the UW mark with 39 in 2008). The 6-6, 215-pound Barry is the son of NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry. Like his dad, he shoots his free throws underhand, granny-style. Like his dad, who made 89 percent of his free throws during his ABA and NBA careers, he makes most of them (110-of-125, .880). The younger Barry started 58 of 70 games at the College of Charleston where he earned his undergraduate degree in physics. At Florida, he's in the nuclear engineering master's program. All of Canyon's half-brothers (Scooter, Jon, Brent and Drew) played pro ball. In high school (Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, Colorado), Canyon Barry not only played basketball, but he competed in baseball, tennis (he won a state doubles title) and badminton (a club sport). He also played trombone and euphonium in the school band. Barry has scored 20 or more four times, including 30 at Auburn.
