The Wisconsin Herd fell to the Sioux Falls Skyforce 121-109 at the Oshkosh Arena Nov. 19 to remain winless in the G League Tip-Off Tournament.
Herd center Liam Robbins, who is on a two-way contract with the Milwaukee Bucks, said that he thought the coaching staff gave the players a great game plan, but the loss just came down to execution.
“We just didn’t do what we needed to do from the start,” Robbins said. “Then we [played better] in the second half, and you saw the boards and plus/minus numbers increase. So I think it was more of an application thing [from the players], not an execution by our coaches and higher ups.”
The Herd (0-4) was led by Bucks two-way player Stanley Umude, who scored a game-high 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds on 11-for-21 shooting. Chris Livingston, who was with the Herd on assignment from the Bucks, scored 26 points and recorded eight boards off the bench while fellow Bucks teammate AJ Johnson added 14 points. Wisconsin’s Stephen Thompson recorded 13 points while assignment player Tyler Smith finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Wisconsin shot 48.8% from the field and 31.8% from behind the arc but the Herd committed 19 turnovers and were outrebounded 51-39.
The Skyforce (3-2) knocked down six more 3-pointers than the Herd, and Sioux Falls was led by Miami Heat two-way player Josh Christopher, who went 10-for-23 from the floor for 25 points and six rebounds. Fellow Heat two-way player Keshad Johnson scored 22 points and grabbed 12 boards while Zyon Pullin and Nassir Little each added 17 points for the Skyforce.
Sioux Falls finished the contest shooting 45.3% from the floor and 34.2% from behind the arc. The Skyforce turned the ball over 16 times but recorded 14 steals and six blocked shots defensively.
Umude said it felt really good to be out on the court knocking down shots.
“The coaches were doing a great job putting me in position to be successful,” Umude said. “I’ve been working on my game a lot, so it felt good to get out here showcase that a little bit.”
Umude said the difference between the two teams was the fact that Sioux Falls came out a little more aggressive than the Herd.
“They were switching their one [point guard] through five [center], so that kind of bothered us a little bit, but they just came out more aggressively that we did to start the game,” Umude said.
Robbins said it was difficult to stop the Skyforce offense because they were getting downhill.
“They were just making the right read every time,” Robbins said. “So then once you get into that scramble, because you have guys rotating, you’re not on this guy you started with and they put pressure on the rim. You know, when that happens, it’s really easy for them to get to their best shooters and make shots. I think that was what really separated [us] and made it tough to get back in the game with them.”
Sioux Falls jumped out to a 9-2 lead early in the first quarter after a 3-pointer from Pullin and never looked back, opening up a 36-22 advantage by the end of the period. The Herd shot just 25% from behind the arc in the first quarter while the Skyforce shot 50% from 3-point territory.
The Herd began the second quarter with a reverse layup from Livingston and a pullup jumper from James Akinjo to cut the deficit to 10 points, but Sioux Falls responded with a 15-4 run to build a 21-point lead. Wisconsin was unable to cut the Skyforce lead to less than 20 points for the remainder of the quarter as Sioux Falls went into the break leading 72-47.
Sioux Falls began the third quarter on an 8-3 run to build a 30-point lead, but the Herd responded with a 19-6 run midway through the period to cut the deficit to 93-75 behind 11 points from Livingston. Wisconsin ended the third quarter on a 7-3 run behind a 3-pointer and a four-point play from Thompson to trail 101-82 at the break.
The two teams traded baskets for most of the fourth quarter until the Herd embarked on an 8-0 run in the final two minutes to pull to within 12, but it was too little too late as the Skyforce cruised to its third win of the season.
With the loss, the Herd remain in last place of the Central Division in the G League’s Tip-Off Tournament. For the Tip-Off Tournament, teams are placed into four regions to play 14 games exclusively against each other. The teams with the best winning percentage in each region, along with the next four teams with the best winning percentages regardless of region, will advance to compete for the Championship at the NBA G League Winter Showcase in December.
The Herd will travel to Hoffman Estates, Illinois, to take on the Windy City Bulls Nov. 21 at the Now Arena at 7 p.m. The game can be streamed on ESPN+ or locally on TV-32.
