Back-to-back Final Four appearances and a trip to the title game on the shoulders of Frank Kaminsky placed the Badgers firmly in the national spotlight two years ago.
Wisconsin Badgers forward Nigel Hayes has not been shy in expressing his opinions on the current social climate in the U.S., expressing ad nauseum his frustrations with how Black Americans are currently being treated. In UW’s first two exhibition games, Hayes and his teammate Jordan Hill have delivered their own on-court protest, standing out-of-line from their teammates as the National Anthem was performed. “You can’t take a knee on the court because my knee would hurt,” Hayes said.
Wisconsin’s 86-56 exhibition win over UW-Platteville Sunday afternoon might have been an early Thanksgiving reunion for the Gard and Showalter families, but the Badgers’ win over the Pioneers featured more than your standard batch of familial reunions. Turnovers, missed free throws and at times sloppy defense plagued the Badgers for long stretches of the afternoon, making Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard’s first matchup against his brother, Platteville head coach Jeff Gard, far less enjoyable than he would have wanted. Sure the Badgers have now won 43 consecutive exhibition games and led Sunday’s game from start to finish, but for a team with championship aspirations, the Badgers showed they still have a long way to go. “I saw some things that were good and positive and obviously a lot of things that will make the teaching tape that we’ll have to get better at,” Gard said. UW struggled for long stretches of the first half thanks to a flurry of bad passing, poor offensive possessions and abysmal free throw shooting.
In this week's episode, host Bobby Ehrlich is joined by football columnist Zach Rastall and basketball beat writer Ben Pickman to discuss the football game vs.
After back-to-back Final Four appearances, the Badgers struggled mightily to start the 2015-’16 season thanks to the departures of Frank Kaminsky, Sam Dekker and Josh Gasser.
New and improved Koenig shines After spending most of the offseason in Los Angeles working out with various high-profile basketball trainers, Bronson Koenig returned to Madison this fall in what he called the best shape of his life. It didn’t take long for Koenig and his new and improved body to make an impact on the court.
For former Wisconsin Badger and current Dallas Maverick guard Devin Harris, walking around campus Friday night felt similar to move-in day for a student returning after a long summer away. “It’s a little weird being back on campus,” Harris said.
The connection between athletes and fans is often distant. Fans observe from afar as athletes make plays in the arena.
Let’s put the cart way before the horse, just for the fun of it. Could this be the best year ever for Badger athletics?
Trent Jackson has stayed constantly involved with the UW-Madison community since he first arrived on campus in the fall of 1985.
Despite eliminating a 14-point lead in the second half and having the support of one of the loudest student sections all season, Wisconsin (6-5) lost in the final 30 seconds of the game to in-state rival Marquette (8-2) at the Kohl Center Saturday afternoon.
After suffering yet another stunning loss to an unranked non-conference opponent at the Kohl Center, Wisconsin (6-4) will look to gain new momentum with a home matchup against Marquette (7-2) this Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
The parallels to Wisconsin’s season-opening loss to Western Illinois were too obvious to ignore as the game wore on and the panic level at the Kohl Center continued to rise.
A mediocre first half may have had some fans worried, but a big second half squashed any concerns over a repeat performance of the Western Illinois game at the Kohl Center Wednesday night.
Expectations will be especially high this Wednesday night when the Wisconsin Badgers (3-2) face off the Prairie View A&M Panthers (0-4) at the Kohl Center.
Faced with its toughest test of the young season, Wisconsin looked more like the team that dropped its season opener to Western Illinois and less like the one that impressed in wins over Siena and North Dakota.
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Solutions by The State News
