Yale @ Wisconsin preview

Wisconsin coach Greg Gard was wondering how he would replace five players who accounted for 62 percent of the scoring and 61 percent of the minutes for a team that went to its 19th consecutive NCAA Tournament last season. He received more than one answer in the Badgers’ opening-night win against South Carolina State but will receive a tougher test Sunday when a quality Yale team visits as part of the Hall of Fame Classic.

One answer for Gard was Andy Van Vliet, a 7-0 junior center who scored 18 points, drained four 3-pointers and grabbed eight rebounds with two blocks in 22 minutes in his first career start. “Tonight felt good. I was a little bit nervous before, which I think is normal,” Vliet told the Wisconsin State Journal. “But it felt good to be on the floor and after two years of not really playing, to finally be playing in the Kohl Center." Wisconsin’s backcourt also had a solid debut, as Brevin Pritzl scored a career-high 17 points and knocked down three beyond from the arc in his first start, while fellow sophomore guard D'Mitrik Trice added 13 points and five assists. Yale, which made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 54 years in 2015-16 and won 18 games last season despite playing without star guard Makai Mason, opened the season with a 92-76 loss at Creighton on Friday.

TV: 6 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network

ABOUT YALE (0-1): Mason, who averaged 16 points and 3.8 assists two years ago and torched Baylor for 31 points in an NCAA Tournament upset over Baylor, did not play against the Bluejays and is out indefinitely after injuring the same right foot that caused him to miss last season. Junior forward Blake Reynolds led the Bulldogs with 18 points and four 3-pointers and 6-10 freshman Paul Atkinson added 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting in his debut while Trey Phills (12 points, five rebounds) and Alex Copeland (10 points, eight rebounds) each finished in double figures in scoring. The Bulldogs allowed Creighton to shoot 59 percent from the floor and were beaten 23-6 in fast-break points.

ABOUT WISCONSIN (1-0): South Carolina State was within 58-46 near the midway point of the second half, but the Badgers answered with a 20-2 run that included eight points by Van Vliet, including 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions. The player all of the newcomers are trying to help out is junior center Ethan Happ, a first team All-Big Ten performer and defensive player of the year last season who opened the 2017-18 campaign with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting while adding 11 rebounds and two steals in 28 minutes. Talented freshmen Brad Davison (five points, two assists) and Kobe King (six points three rebounds) played 14 and 18 minutes off the bench, respectively.

TIP-INS

1. The Badgers shot 57 percent from the field, drained 10-of-23 from the 3-point line and held South Carolina State to 34-percent shooting while winning the battle of the boards 41-22.

2. The left-handed shooting Van Vliet, who played 48 minutes in 14 games last season after sitting out the 2015-16 campaign due to an NCAA eligibility issue, is from Belgium.

3. Yale F Jordan Bruner, a 6-9 sophomore who averaged 8.4 points and 5.6 rebounds last season despite being slowed by a knee injury that forced surgery this past summer, tore his meniscus in the final preseason game and will miss this season.

PREDICTION: Wisconsin 84, Yale 60