Wisconsin basketball rockets up both KenPom and ESPN BPI after win over Appalachian State

Wisconsin basketball improved to 3-0 on the 2024-25 season with a blowout win over Appalachian State on Sunday.

The win was powered by transfer wing John Tonje, a common sentence in the season’s early stages. He finished with 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting, plus seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. Senior center Steven Crowl also had his best outing of the young season, adding 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting.

Related: Big Ten basketball power rankings after first week of 2024-25 season: Wisconsin’s downfall was greatly exaggerated

Wisconsin is off to a strong start with a 3-0 record and several strong victories. The opponents are far from the class of the sport, but the Badgers are taking clear steps forward with every contest. That improvement, mixed with decisive winning, should be enough to create optimism surrounding the team’s rest-of-season outlook.

For more on that outlook, here is where Greg Gard’s group now stands in KenPom and ESPN’s Basketball Power Index after the win over Appalachian State:

KenPom: No. 40 overall (up nine spots) — No. 37 offense, No. 55 defense

ESPN BPI: No. 29 overall (up 10 spots) — 13.1 rating, 18.8 – 11.2 projected record, 6.7% chance to win Big Ten Conference

Those trend lines are just from the decisive victory over Appalachian State. The movement has the team now ranked No. 5 in the Big Ten by BPI and No. 10 by KenPom.

The latter may be a bit more reserved on the Badgers’ quality after only three games. Regardless, it’s worthwhile to note that our updated Big Ten basketball power rankings aren’t the only measure that is upgrading Wisconsin after the first week of the season.

The Badgers are back on the Kohl Center court for a premier matchup against No. 10 Arizona on Friday. A win would only continue the team’s current upward trajectory.

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/wisconsin-basketball-rockets-both-kenpom-134521009.html

Author : Badgers Wire

Publish date : 2024-11-11 13:45:00

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