The UW-Whitewater men’s basketball team shook off a sluggish opening half and surged past Simpson College Tuesday night, fueled by a dominant 28-point outing from junior guard Collin Madson and a poised, strong performance from senior forward Austin Ambrose.
Head coach Jared Wichser didn’t mince words after the game, acknowledging that the early energy wasn’t where it needed to be.
“Our overall energy and intensity early on wasn’t great,” Wichser said. “These games before holidays, it’s quieter, the students are gone, you have to be able to mentally get charged up on your own.”
He added that the first half lacked the defensive sharpness that is expected of this group. “Defensively, we didn’t have the engagement, attention to detail that we’ll need to be successful later in the season,” he said.
Wichser said the team began picking things up late in the first half and especially at the beginning of the second half we greatly improved.
A major early issue was ball movement. Wichser explained that the team sometimes became too focused on working the ball inside, which stalled the offense.
“We got a little too tunnel vision,” he said. “Everyone kind of stops moving and it looks like guys are getting stuck with it. We didn’t space the floor very well. We weren’t attacking like we needed to.”
The second half provided changes to the pace of the game, creating more opportunities for the Warhawks.
“One guy would attack and then he would kick, and that would continue two or three times until eventually the opposition is forced to collapse,” Wichser said.
Madson, who had 15 points in the first half, said the spacing his teammates created opened the door for his own offensive rhythm.
“My teammates were just getting me the ball and reading the spacing… when I’d catch it, I had a lot of room to work with the rock,” Madson said.
He added that the physicality of the Warhawks allows him to consistently get downhill. “I just thought getting downhill was working the best. There was really no need to settle for threes at that point in the game,” he said.
Madson felt his early scoring helped the team’s flow throughout the game but recognized where he could improve his game.
“Offensively I played well, however, on defense I could have done a little better guarding [Simpson’s Cam Henderson],” Madson said.
With players unavailable, including junior forward and leading rebounder Brock Marino, Ambrose stepped into a key role with more responsibilities.
“Even with injury, we stay together as a team, we have enough people on this squad to step up,” Ambrose said. “We have a deep roster, and we can play 12-14 guys and not have to worry about who’s in and who’s not.”
Ambrose said the game plan going in was to attack Simpson physically.
“Our goal was to get inside; these smaller conference teams have a hard time battling with us against the glass, that’s what we wanted, score inside, and get them into foul trouble,” he said.
Defensively, he credited his focus on contesting at the rim and rebounding.
“Working off the ball, making sure I contest at the rim, getting rebounds and not giving up any offensive chances,” Ambrose said.
One of the biggest turning points came on the glass. Wichser noted that Simpson grabbed eight offensive rebounds in the first half, but only two for the rest of the game.
“Once we settled defensively, that helped us settle in on the glass,” he said.
He explained that in the first half, poor defense rotations led to confusion on box-outs. “We were in rotations and scrambles, you’re not thinking much about who you must box out,” Wichser said. “They’re taking a lot of threes, that creates long rebounds.”
Both Madson and Ambrose emphasized that the team’s focus changed in the first half to the second.
We were kind of just playing with them instead of pulling them away,” Madson said. “Our defense wasn’t great, rotations were late, not contesting shooters was an issue. At the end of the first half, we cleaned all that up.”
Ambrose added that the team had to stop taking quick shots.
“Against teams like this, really wearing them down and getting the best shot is what we talked about at half,” he said.
Wichser confirmed that the second half was all about staying disciplined.
“We needed to get stops, and secure rebounds. Once the stops came, we did well in transition,” Wichser said.
Whitewater’s late surge turned a shaky start into a decisive 100-78 win, highlighted by improved defense, stronger rebounding and a more controlled offensive pace. With contributions across the roster and momentum building, the Warhawks will now shift their focus to their next matchup against Elmhurst University, looking to extend their win streak Dec. 2.
