First year head coach Jarod Wichser and the UW-Whitewater Men’s Basketball team finished the winter break portion of the season with a 6-3 record to improve their overall record to 13-4.
Despite the Warhawk’s 2-0 start in conference play against UW-Oshkosh and UW-Eau Claire, Wichser and the team suffered a 0-3 conference skid against three competitive WIAC opponents, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Stout and UW-Platteville.
“Those games will be very impactful,” Wichser said. “It is just a matter of whether we turn it into a positive or let it hurt us.”
The team managed to end the winter break slate on a positive note with a 78-74 win over the Falcons of UW-River Falls on the road, Saturday, Jan. 20. The team fell to fourth place in the WIAC with a 3-3 conference record. Platteville leads the competitive conference with a perfect 6-0 record.
“Winter break is unique, because it is really good in the sense that classes aren’t going on and they can focus on basketball and their performance,” Wichser said. “But honestly it gets to a point where you miss students being around and guys enjoy having a routine where they go to class and wake up early in the morning.”
There are eight conference games remaining on the Warhawks schedule before the WIAC tournament. Whitewater will have a chance to redeem themselves against Stout, Stevens Point, and Platteville, in addition to rematches with Eau Claire, Oshkosh, River Falls and two meetings with UW-La Crosse.
“I am still really excited about this group’s potential and the guys are working hard,” Wichser said. “The inconsistencies are frustrating, but it is something that I know we will get figured out.”
In the 2022-23 season, the Warhawks finished with a 9-5 conference record under Pat Miller to finish third in the WIAC. Despite the five impactful conference losses, the team was still able to rally in the postseason as they brought home a WIAC tournament championship along with a Final Four appearance.
While this proves that the team is capable of bouncing back from the in-conference skid, Wichser said it is hard to compare the two teams, because of the amount of moving pieces in the off season and the vastly different look and feel of this year’s squad.
“They have worked hard throughout the entire season, but the challenge for us right now is understanding that this year is different,” Wichser said. “This year’s team is different, this year is different. We have to get back to what we did at the end of last season that made us so successful.”
Wichser is optimistic about the team’s potential and ability to turn their momentum around as they traverse deeper into WIAC competition. The Warhawks will be back home to take on UW-La Crosse, Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m.
“I like this group a lot. I know we will get it figured out, but we need to get it figured out soon,” Wichser said.
