Whether you are a Wisconsin fan or simply a fan of the game, Tuesday night’s 49-47 Badger loss to Michigan State was about as frustrating as it gets. The game slugged along with neither team hitting the 40 percent mark from the field and a combined 6 points being scored over the final 6:56.
Wisconsin (4-2 Big Ten, 13-6 overall) shot 7-of-18 from the free throw line, including 0-of-5 in the final five minutes, en route to a 49-47 loss to No. 13 Michigan State (6-1, 17-3) Tuesday at the Kohl Center.
Tonight I write not as a journalist but simply as a Wisconsin fan, a Wisconsin fan still unable to comprehend what the Badgers have for a 2012-’13 team. After knocking off No. 2 Indiana Tuesday, it seemed as if the sky was the limit. Wisconsin was 4-0 in Big Ten play and in the midst of a seven-game winning streak with Iowa the final opponent on a three-game “road trip.” The Badgers were alone on top of the conference standings and poised to move into the national rankings—potentially into the top 15 or 20.
Just a few weeks ago, Wisconsin men’s basketball was not even considered a team worthy of NCAA Tournament consideration. After Tuesday night’s shocking upset on the road against No. 2 Indiana (3-1 Big Ten, 15-2 Overall), the Badgers (4-0, 13-4) are once again in the conversation for a Big Ten title. In front of 17,472 Hoosier fans in shock at Assembly Hall, Wisconsin pulled off the impossible with a 64-59 win.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.—Coming off by far its best performance of the season Saturday against Illinois, Wisconsin faces No. 2 Indiana at perhaps the best time possible. Although the Hoosiers (3-0 Big Ten, 15-1 Overall) have not beaten UW since the Kelvin Sampson era, the Badgers (3-0, 12-4) will need to have a near-perfect effort just to compete against an IU team that can make a good case as the best in the nation.
Having failed to notch a truly marquee win in non-conference play, Wisconsin men’s basketball entered the conference season in need of a few big ones in order to make a 15th straight NCAA Tournament. Although they were able to avoid setbacks against lowly Penn State and Nebraska last week, the defining part of the Badgers’ season didn’t begin until Saturday’s game against No. 12 Illinois (1-3 Big Ten, 14-4 Overall), the beginning of an 11-game stretch in which every opponent is a legitimate NCAA Tournament contender. On the strength of a 14-0 run to start the game, Wisconsin (3-0, 12-4) got the statement victory it desperately needed, defeating the Illini by a final score of 74-51.
Whatever hope was born out of Wisconsin’s wins over California and Nebraska-Omaha last week was lost over forty minutes of ugly basketball Saturday in Milwaukee. Playing without junior forward Mike Bruesewitz, the Badgers (6-4) lacked energy and poise from the opening tip, committing 10 first-half turnovers en route to a 34-20 halftime deficit. Ultimately, that deficit was simply too much to overcome as UW fell to Marquette 60-50.
The Wisconsin men’s basketball team (6-3 overall) will play what is perhaps its most important non-conference game of the season when it travels to the Bradley Center Saturday to face in-state rival Marquette (5-2).
The Wisconsin women’s basketball team (5-3 overall) hosted Marquette (4-3) in a nail-biter Wednesday night, topping the Golden Eagles 71-68. Wisconsin came in off a big home win against Alabama, but the Golden Eagles entered hot on a two-game win streak themselves.
Like many who watched the Penn State-Wisconsin football game a few weeks ago, I couldn’t avoid thinking about last year’s horrifying revelations of former Nittany Lions Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky’s crimes against children. From the infamous 23-page grand jury indictment to the cringe-worthy phone interview with Sandusky on NBC’s “Rock Center”—I will never forget a sullen Bob Costas speaking of “rhythmic slap, slap, slapping sounds”—the news story was unlike anything I’d ever come across before. The lurid accusations, the high-profile figures, the institutional failure—it all seemed so surreal.
The atmosphere inside the Kohl Center is always a little bit different when Marquette comes to town.
Five Badgers scored in double digits and two recorded double-doubles in Wisconsin’s 86-40 win over Nebraska-Omaha (2-8 overall) Tuesday night.
Fresh off its dismantling of previously unranked California, the Badgers (5-3 overall) will host Nebraska-Omaha (2-7) Tuesday at the Kohl Center.
In her Monday press conference, head coach Bobbie Kelsey announced that sophomore guard Lindsay Smith has chosen to transfer and will no longer be a part of the team effective immediately.
Having started off the week with a dismal effort in Wednesday’s loss to Virginia, Wisconsin men’s basketball got back on track quickly Sunday as it cruised to an 81-56 win over previously undefeated California.
Normally the Wisconsin men’s basketball team (4-3 overall) thrives in tight, slug-it-out type games, but Wednesday, the Badgers were given a taste of their own medicine, falling to Virginia 60-54 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
Back from a third-place finish at the Las Vegas Invitational, Wisconsin (4-2 overall) will host Virginia (4-2) Wednesday as part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
After a poor defensive effort Friday night that ended with an 84-74 loss to No. 14 Creighton, Wisconsin needed a bounce back effort Saturday against Arkansas to avoid heading into the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in a tailspin. Although the Badgers continued to struggle en route to a 40-29 halftime deficit, they recovered with their best half of basketball thus far this season and left Sin City with a 77-70 victory in the third-place game of the Las Vegas Invitational.
Having seemingly righted the ship after their blowout loss last week against Florida, Wisconsin once again struggled to contain the attack of a ranked opponent, losing 84-74 to No. 14 Creighton in the semifinals of the Las Vegas Invitational.
Coming off an 88-43 win Tuesday over Presbyterian College, Wisconsin now heads to Las Vegas for the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational and a Friday night matchup with No. 14 Creighton.
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Solutions by The State News
