Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City Stars were defeated by the Wisconsin Herd 103-97 at Bruin Arena. Salt Lake City is now 0-3 to start the season.
The Stars had a lackluster opening quarter. The first points for the Stars came at the 6:56 mark after Taylor Braun hit a jump shot, but the deficit was still large as the Stars were down 15-2. They posted their lowest first quarter scoring output this season (17). The team shot 5-of-15 and 1-of-5 from beyond the arc. The Herd shot 9-of-19 and made 11-of-14 free throws. SLC was sloppy with the ball and had 4 turnovers in the first quarter. Three players for Salt Lake City: Naz Mitrou-Long, Royce O’Neale, and Dakarai Allen found themselves in early foul trouble, each player had 2 fouls.
“I saw no competitiveness, that’s the one thing,” said Head Coach Martin Schiller, “I think we came out very soft defensively.”
Fortune changed in the favor of the Stars in the second quarter, but only improved slightly. The Stars were only outscored by two in the quarter but nine more fouls put the Herd in the bonus early on. The Herd shot 60% from the free throw line and 49% overall from the floor. Brannen Greene and Nate Wolters led the Stars in scoring with eight points a piece. Greene also had two blocked shots. Seven assists on 14 field goal attempts indicated the Stars were looking to pass the ball on possessions but just couldn’t find the bottom of the net.
After halftime, adjustments were made and the Stars started to come alive. Tony Bradley put up 12 points in the quarter and the Stars cut into the Herd’s lead and came back to within three. Wisconsin was outscored by Salt Lake City 31-23 in the third quarter. Defense was a big factor that brought the Stars back, they forced five steals and grabbed 12 more rebounds. In the first half, the Stars had four steals and 20 rebounds total.
“Seemed like right away we played with no energy, first quarter, I don’t know why that was,” said Wolters, “We played with more energy on defense and that led to run outs and easy baskets.”
When the fourth quarter started, the Stars were down 80-72 but the team was playing much better in the second half than the first. The Stars closed the gap and took a brief lead late in the fourth quarter after Tony Bradley’s layup but late turnovers and missed shots cost the Stars their comeback effort as the Herd regained the lead and didn’t look back.
“I thought we finally found guys who were ready to play, ready to compete.” said Schiller, “I was actually happy with the way they competed on the defensive end, I thought they started talking on defense and moving their feet.”
The game was a tale of two halves. In the first half, the Stars looked uninterested and the body language wasn’t positive but in the second half, the Stars looked like a different team. Foul trouble and sending the Herd to the line 43 times was a big reason why the Stars lost the game but the encouraging signs were how the team played in the second half.
“Part of good defense is no fouls.” said Schiller, “We gotta guard clean. I thought in the second half we guarded decently.”
Tony Bradley and Nate Wolters were the leading scorers for the Stars. Both players had slow starts but really came on in the second half.
“I started rolling, started being more aggressive toward the basket,” said Bradley, “That attracted more defenders and it opened up everything, spread everything out, and we got open shots.”
Nate Wolters flirted with a triple double for the game. He scored nine points in the fourth quarter, 22 total points, eight assists, 10 rebounds, and three steals.
“It’s so much easier to score in transition,” said Wolters, “We were getting stops, and then able to run. It’s obviously a lot easier, get a lot better shots, and makes it a lot more fun to play.”
Former Weber State star and Utah Jazzman Joel Bolomboy was called up hours before the contest to the Milwaukee Bucks, making him unavailable. Gary Payton II was also unavailable to play.
“I thought the second half, generally speaking, I even think the second quarter wasn’t bad, it wasn’t nice but it wasn’t bad,” said Schiller, “I’m a firm believer it starts with defense.”
The Stars will go on the road to face the Sioux Falls Skyforce on Saturday, November 11th. The game will be streamed live on Facebook Live.
