Life without Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker is off to a rough start in Madison. On the same night it raised a national finalist banner to honor last season's NCAA Tournament run, Wisconsin suffered a stunning 69-67 home loss at the hands of Western Illinois.
Wisconsin stunned by Western Illinois in season-opener, 69-67
Death, taxes and .... Bo Ryan?
Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports
While the 17th-ranked Badgers were expected to take a step back after losing the 2014-15 national Player of the Year in Kaminsky and another first round draft pick in Dekker, Friday’s loss was still staggering.
Western Illinois, which finished 3-13 in the Summit League last season and just 8-20 overall, entered the game as a 25.5-point underdog. The Leathernecks were picked to finish dead last in their nine-team conference before the start of the season.
Expectations may be higher now for Western Illinois after a monster performance from the backcourt trio of Jabari Sandifer, J.C. Fuller, and Garret Covington. The three guards combined to score 48 of their team's 69 points, the final two of which came on a pair of Covington free-throws with 10.3 seconds to play. Bronson Koenig's attempt to send the game to overtime on the other end of the floor found only iron.
For Wisconsin, the questions about this season now become more glaring.
Kaminsky, Dekker, Josh Gasser, Traevon Jackson and Duje Dukan combined to play 9,896 minutes over the past two seasons, and accounted for 66 percent of the scoring and 61 percent of the rebounding on last season's national runner-up squad. Those being asked to step up and fill the footsteps of the departed veterans did not appear up to the task in game one, as the Badgers assisted on only eight of their 22 made field goals, and allowed Western Illinois to shoot a sparkling 54.0 percent from the field, including 77.8 percent from beyond the arc.
It was the first season-opening loss for Wisconsin since Bo Ryan’s first season of 2000-01, and the first loss for the Badgers in their home opener in 17 years. The victory also marked the first victory for Western Illinois over a Big Ten opponent since 1994.
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