Three Things To Watch As Wisconsin Badgers Play Their Exhibition Game At Green Bay

Wisconsin players sing Varsity following the Badgers' exhibition victory over UW-Parkside on Oct.10, 2026. | UW Athletics

MADISON, Wis. – The next warm-up round for the University of Wisconsin includes a short bus ride north with its red road jerseys.

Five days after opening its exhibition season with a 94-71 win over UW-Parkside, the Badgers will travel to Green Bay to face the Phoenix in a preseason tune-up tonight at the Resch Center (6:30 p.m.).

Wisconsin is 27-1 against the Phoenix and 3-1 in games played in Green Bay. This will be the first exhibition game between the two programs, the first matchup in the series since 2022, and the first meeting in Green Bay since 2013.

Head coach Doug Gottlieb is coming off a successful second season with the Phoenix, which finished 18-15 overall and finished in third place in the league standings.

Here are three things to watch or listen for during UW's second exhibition game.

Can Wisconsin stay large and in charge?

Wisconsin's offense was dominated by guards in 2025-26, but the Badgers have built a roster this season that will likely carried by the size of their low post.

The numbers from Saturday are skewed because of Parkside's size disadvantage, but the Badgers finished +14 on the glass, scored 56 points in the paint, 18 points off the fast break and 22-for-29 around the rim.

Even without Austin Rapp, UW's other three bigs – Nolan Winter, Victory Onuetu, and Will Garlock – all reach double figures and had at least six rebounds.

UW was thin with productive height after Winter and Rapp last season, only leaning on the freshman Garlock. Known more for his passing ability than scoring (never surpassing five points in a game), Garlock had 10 points, six rebounds, three assists, a block, and a steal in 22 minutes Saturday.

Going against the shot-blocking Onuetu throughout the summer, Garlock looks as confident on the court as he's been since arriving on campus.

"I think his confidence has grown in every aspect of his game, of his life, just being in college and growing up a little bit over the last 18 months," associate head coach Joe Krabbenhoft said Tuesday. "It's been a lot of fun to watch."

The addition of both players make Wisconsin's frontcourt look exponentially more imposing with its rebounding and rim protection than it has in past seasons.

The Phoenix should provide a little larger test for the Badgers. Green Bay boasts six players who are at least 6-7, five of them are new to Gottlieb's group this season. Ne'Quan Brown and Aidan Holloway are the two most notable. Brown had 15 points and 6.8 rebounds per game for North Idaho College, shooting 48.2 percent from the field. Hadaway averaged 14.4 points, a team-best 7.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game for Ohio, while shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 23 blocks on the season.

Defense regains its importances

Wisconsin had a team that could outscore any team on its schedule to the point that the coaching staff begrudgingly let some defensive lapses slide to make its offense tick. After being dumped by High Point in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Badgers' staff wasn't willing to make that concession moving forward.

While finding players who can be impactful on both ends of the floor was a priority in the portal, the staff leaning on the returning players setting the tone on that end of the floor was going to be critical.

As expected, UW's defense was good against Parkside in limiting the Rangers to less than 40 percent shooting from the floor and a tick over 25 percent shooting from three. UW only forced 13 turnovers but in general made life difficult for the Rangers' offense.

"We had to get back to our roots defensively, without sacrificing anything on offense," Krabbenhoft said. "I don't think that should be a thing. It's not like we're continuing to go backwards. We're going to continue to push the ball, shoot threes, and get at the rim, but really dialing up that defensive intensity."

The Phoenix are playing their first exhibition game with a roster of nine newcomers, but preseason first-team All-Horizon League guard Marcus Hall returns after averaging 13.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 40.6 percent from three-point range last season.

Cleaning up the mistakes

Rotating through 12 players and having half of them play their first game in a Wisconsin uniform, it wasn't a shock that the Badgers lacked a little continuity and flow with their offense. UW committed 15 turnovers on its 73 possessions (20.5 percent). The Badgers' defense was solid enough that those miscues only yielded seven points, but head coach Greg Gard is expected to use a deeper rotation through the early month of the season.

Starting point guard Owen Foxwell tied Garlock with a team-high four turnovers, a number that will be cut down as the veteran freshman gets his feet wet playing American basketball. He'll likely have the biggest learning curve of UW's core group, but he'll be Gard's unquestioned floor leader with sophomore Zach Kinziger still growing into the backup point guard role.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/wisconsin as Three things to watch as Wisconsin Badgers play their exhibition game at Green Bay.

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