Forget the deflating losses to Minnesota and Purdue, or the schedule-fillers earlier in the season; Saturday morning was the Kohl Center in its purest form, the Badgers showing up for a big-time rival and feeding off of a raucous mid-winter crowd.
After their third straight loss, the Wisconsin Badgers (1-4 Big Ten, 10-4 overall) look to regroup against a familiar opponent whose season is also in free-fall: the Minnesota Golden Gophers (1-4, 12-4). This will be the second showdown between these two border rivals as they met earlier this season in an ugly 56-74 defeat for Wisconsin.
A sense of déjà vu permeated Wisconsin’s (3-3 Big Ten, 11-6 overall) loss to Maryland Monday. Terrapin junior guard Anthony Cowan Jr. scored 21 points and knocked down a dagger three-pointer in the final minute as Maryland (4-1, 15-3) held off a late Wisconsin comeback to win 64-60. Sophomore forward Nate Reuvers led the way for the Badgers with a career-high 18 points.
In a matchup of bona fide superstars, the Purdue Boilermakers (3-2 Big Ten, 10-6 overall) and junior guard Carsen Edwards bested senior forward Ethan Happ and the Wisconsin Badgers (3-2, 11-5). In need of a win to keep pace in the Big Ten race, the Badgers instead turned in a sloppy performance, falling 84-80 in overtime despite late heroics at the end of regulation. Here are the key takeaways from the disappointing result.
After a humiliating home defeat to rival Minnesota three days earlier, No. 22 Wisconsin traveled to Happy Valley to take on a struggling Penn State team, and came away with a 71-52 victory that was just the tonic it needed. The Badgers improved to 3-1 in Big Ten play, (11-4 overall), as the Nittany Lions (0-4 Big Ten, 7-8 overall) posted another listless performance in a rebuilding year.
Wisconsin (1-2 Big Ten, 10-5 overall) looks to bounce back after its second conference loss of the season as it prepares to take on No. 19 Iowa (1-1 Big Ten, 10-3 overall) Monday at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
After outlasting the Purdue Boilermakers (10-5, 1-1) in a 76-69 near-collapse, the Wisconsin Badgers (1-1 Big Ten, 10-4 overall) now face the Penn State Lady Lions (0-2, 7-6) as part of a two-game road trip.
After a weeklong break for the holidays, the No. 15 Wisconsin Badgers (2-0 Big Ten, 10-3 overall) traveled to Bowling Green, Kentucky for their final tilt of the calendar year against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (0-0 C-USA, 7-6 overall). With the backing of a raucous crowd, WKU exposed UW’s rust, triumphing 83-76.
Oftentimes, the singularity of a veteran player’s greatness can be easily forgotten — it can take major milestones to jolt fans from their complacency and recognize a remarkable career.
After a dispiriting letdown in the spring, the Wisconsin men’s basketball team has spent the last two months on a redemption tour. Eager to prove that last year’s failures were merely an anomaly, they have begun their redemption tour with spirited performances against marquee opponents.
Facing an opponent that entered the Kohl Center with the nation’s worst scoring defense and had just been gashed for 139 points in its last game, Wisconsin’s Thursday-night matchup with Savannah State looked to be a chance for the Badgers to flex their offensive muscles.
Wisconsin (0-0 Big Ten, 8-3 overall) rolled to a breezy 85-38 victory over the still-winless Chicago State Cougars (0-0 WAC, 0-9) Wednesday night. The Badgers strengthened their all-time record against Chicago State to 7-0 in the two teams’ first matchup in over 26 years.
The long-running rivalry between Wisconsin and Marquette is ever-present in America’s Dairyland. It has caused friendships to fracture. Parents and siblings root for the younger members of the family to spurn one university or the other; sometimes they even watch, with feigned horror, as their loved ones make the “wrong” choice. People in (slightly) long-distance relationships are forced to weather the tensions that accompany these divided loyalties.
For the fourth straight game, the Badgers (2-0 Big Ten, 8-1 overall) entered the second half without a lead. And yet, after No. 12 Wisconsin’s 69-64 win over Rutgers (0-2, 5-3), just one of those games in question has ended in a loss. Call the Badgers a second-half team if you want, head coach Greg Gard would probably just call them winners.
Wisconsin’s Big Ten revenge tour began in style Friday night with a 72-66 victory over Iowa on the road to begin conference play. Here are the major takeaways from the encouraging victory:
Flip through the Badgers roster, and you may scratch your head as to why the team has started this season 6-1. It’s virtually the same group that stumbled to a 15-18 overall record last season and failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 19 years.
The Duke Blue Devils (0-0 ACC, 5-3 overall) handed Wisconsin (0-0 Big Ten, 6-2) its first home loss of the season in a 53-60 defeat for the Badgers, their second straight loss of the year.
Tuesday night, the Wisconsin men’s basketball team faced a home test for the first time. To make matters more difficult, NC State (0-0 ACC, 6-1 overall) applied pressure throughout the game, daring the Badgers to make them pay. The Wolfpack seemed to have an answer for every Wisconsin run. It appeared the Badgers would succumb to the pressure. On this occasion, however, they found an answer.
With 16 seconds remaining, the Badgers finally took the game by its reins. Brad Davison took his fourth charge of the game, this time on the Wildcats’ talisman Markell Johnson, and from there the Badgers had enough to eke out a 79-75 win in its toughest home contest of the season.
Last time out, Wisconsin (0-0 Big Ten, 6-1 overall) dropped a 69-68 nail-biter to the Arkansas Razorbacks for its first loss of the season. Now the Badgers return to Madison looking to change the tide as they prepare to take on the the Duke Blue Devils (0-0 ACC, 4-3) in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.
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