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.
MILWAUKEE — Sitting at the podium on Saturday night, senior center Ethan Happ couldn’t care less about his historic performance. “It doesn’t matter about individual stuff, stats, whatever it may be,” he said after posting a career-high 34 points in a 74-69 overtime loss at Marquette.
Every season it seems, Wisconsin suffers several self-inflicted losses. Missing free throws, failing to convert open looks and committing needless turnovers tend to be the primary culprits.
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.
Trailing Rutgers 27-17 in the waning moments of the first half Monday, it appeared likely the No. 12 Wisconsin basketball team (2-0 Big Ten, 8-1 overall) would earn themselves a dubious distinction.
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:
Last season, the Badgers went to Charlottesville to take on a top-ranked Virginia team. They left having scored only 37 points in a humbling loss to the Cavaliers. his year, an improved UW team took on UVA with a chance to win the Battle 4 Atlantis, hoping for some vengeance. While the Badgers were able to break 40 points on this occasion, they return to Madison with the end result unchanged.
Wednesday’s Wisconsin-Stanford game took place in the Bahamas, but it might as well have been in the Bermuda Triangle.
Wisconsin beat Xavier 77-68 Tuesday in their first road test of the season, improving to 2-0 on the year.
The Wisconsin basketball team’s frontcourt got a little thinner Monday, as the team announced senior forward Alex Illikainen has left the program.
Ethan Happ may never score more important points in garbage time. With 6:32 left in the second half and the Badgers already leading Coppin State by 25, Happ aced a pair of free throws to give Wisconsin a 77-51 lead.
The Wisconsin basketball team’s unofficial season opener Friday at the Kohl Center was their first opportunity to prove last year was an aberration.
Wisconsin basketball announced Wednesday that sophomore forward Aleem Ford has suffered a knee injury and will have to undergo surgery. Ford is expected to return later this season but was ruled out “indefinitely” in a press release from the program.
When the Wisconsin men’s basketball team took the floor for warm-ups before the “Red and White Scrimmage” Sunday, one of the first songs to play over the loudspeakers was Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” It was an apt choice for this year’s team, one that finds itself in uncharted territory. After a 2017-2018 season full of injuries, heartbreaking losses and countless ups and downs, the 2018-2019 squad returns with a chip on their shoulder.
The 2018-2019 men’s basketball season began in earnest Sunday at the Kohl Center as the Badgers took part in the annual Red and White scrimmage.
There is perhaps no better indicator of expectations and interest in a team than ticket sales. An emptier Kohl Center highlights the perception of the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team.
On a typical night, Jared Berggren will come home from practice to be greeted by his wife, Cass, and their baby daughter, a welcome sight at the end of a long day. There’s nothing particularly novel about Berggren spending time with his daughter, just eight months old, and his wife of over three years. But these days, Berggren’s family time happens in a unique fashion, that cuts across transatlantic lines and couldn’t have been replicated even a decade ago. “I’m pretty much FaceTiming with my wife and daughter every morning and every night, so it gives you a little taste of home,” he said. Berggren, a Wisconsin basketball alumnus, currently plays for the Shinshu Brave Warriors of Japan, and technology has been paramount in connecting him to his family back in the United States. Berggren’s stint in Japan is not his first overseas, as he’s played in Belgium and Italy as well.
After three years with the Badgers, forward Andy Van Vliet will be transferring from Wisconsin to another Division I school, he said in a statement on Twitter Tuesday. “After meeting with the coaching staff last week, I have made the decision to leave the University of Wisconsin and pursue my academic and athletic goals at another Division I school,” he said in his statement. Van Vliet’s came to Madison from Antwerp, Belgium, to a buzz of excitement on campus that was promptly silenced by the NCAA.
NEW YORK — Through a thick stream of tears and a lump in his throat, Brad Davison extolled the virtues of playing college basketball following the No. 9-seed Badgers’ (8-12 Big Ten, 15-18 overall) season-ending loss to top-seeded Michigan State (17-2, 29-3). He could barely get the words out. “It's fun,” he said.
NEW YORK — As Brad Davison walked off the court for the final time in the 2017-’18 season, head coach Greg Gard was right by his side.
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