After battling all season to put themselves in a position to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Badgers deflated in front of the Kohl Center crowd, falling 3-1 and virtually ending their chance at an at-large berth.
WASHINGTON — On multiple occasions this season, redshirt sophomore Ethan Happ has had to run extra sprints in front of teammates at the end of a Wisconsin practice.
WASHINGTON — The Badgers ended the Big Ten regular season playing the hottest team in the conference.
Playing in its first-ever NCAA tournament game, Robert Morris took the ice against No. 1 Wisconsin and for the first 13 minutes managed to play toe-to-toe with the top-ranked team in the country. Then junior forward Annie Pankowski forced a turnover, senior forward Sarah Nurse scored, and the Badgers (22-2-4 WCHA, 32-2-4 overall) proceeded to dominate the next 27 minutes of play en route to a 7-0 win over the Colonials (15-3-2 CHA, 24-5-6 overall) in the quarterfinal game.
WASHINGTON — Sometimes, everything goes right. After a brutal stretch of games in the middle of the season, the Badgers put together their most complete game of the season as everyone got in on the action, including Ethan Happ at the free-throw line. The redshirt sophomore forward had his best shooting performance of the season as No. 24 Wisconsin (12-6 Big Ten, 25-8 overall) laid waste to Northwestern (10-8, 23-11), 76-48, to earn a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game for the second time in three seasons. Though the Badgers shot the lights out in the second half, it was the defense that looked most impressive in the semifinal.
WASHINGTON ? The Badgers opened their Big Ten Tournament semifinal game with two airballs in the first three possessions.
WASHINGTON — In the games leading up to No. 24 Wisconsin’s (12-6 Big Ten, 24-8 overall) 66-59 loss to Northwestern (10-8, 23-10) in mid-February, the Badgers had been playing with fire. While UW had won eight games in a row, in its wins over Nebraska, Indiana, Illinois and Rutgers, Wisconsin pulled out victories not because of its offense, but in spite of it. Against the Wildcats, the Badgers finally got burned.
WASHINGTON — D’Mitrik Trice didn’t sleep much before Wisconsin’s Big Ten Tournament game against Indiana Friday night. And when the freshman got off the bus and entered the Verizon Center Friday night, he said he felt a “different feeling” than he does before most games. But any nerves that Trice had quickly subsided, as the young guard flourished in his 31 minutes of play. But Trice was far from the only productive Badger on the night, as five different Badgers scored in double figures in No. 24 Wisconsin’s (12-6 Big Ten, 24-8 overall) 70-60 victory over the Hoosiers (7-11, 18-15).
WASHINGTON — After falling to Iowa on Jordan Bohannon’s 3-pointer with under 10 seconds to play a week ago, the Badgers walked sullenly into the media room of the Kohl Center and quietly, robotically answered questions.
Once the third period started, the Badgers were finally able to get their legs going. From the start of the final frame, the Badgers were pushing the puck up ice, creating shots on goal and crashing the net for rebounds.
The last time the No. 16 Badgers (12-6-0 Big Ten, 19-12-1 overall) met the No. 15 Buckeyes (9-8-1, 18-10-6), Ohio State erased a two-goal deficit with just two minutes left to force an overtime period in Madison Square Garden.
In this week's episode, host Bobby Ehrlich chats with women's hockey beat writer Cameron Lane-Flehinger, who breaks down the NCAA Tournament bracket and Wisconsin's chances of winning it all.
A year ago, the Badgers strode into the Big Ten Tournament one of the hottest teams in the conference, having won 11-of-13 games and locking up a 15th-straight Top 4 finish.
Top-ranked Wisconsin continued its quest for a fifth national title, winning the WCHA Final Face-Off last weekend for the third-straight year.
For the first time since 2001, the No. 12 Wisconsin Badgers will have a diver at the NCAA Championships. Senior Ashley Peterson punched her ticket and became the first diver of any gender to qualify in 16 years after an impressive sixth-place finish in the platform event with a score of 507.80 at the NCAA Zone D qualifiers in Columbia, Mo.
Four Wisconsin swimmers and four relays were selected by the NCAA to compete at the men’s National Championships later this month. There are twelve total individual entries confirmed for the meet, which means that every swimmer was selected to swim in three events. The individual entries include: Cannon Clifton: 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly Victor Goicoechea: 200-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle, mile Matt Hutchins: 200-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle, mile Brett Pinfold: 200-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, 200-yard backstroke Griffin Back, Harrison Tran, Ryan Barsanti and Ryan Stack are also expected to compete as relay-only swimmers. The NCAA National Championships will take place at the storied IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis March 22-25.
In the spring semester of his sophomore year, Matt Ferris found himself enrolled in Calculus 213 with his high-profile teammate, Nigel Hayes. Hayes was a serious contributor on a team that came within a few minutes of a national championship, while Ferris scored a total of two points in 17 minutes over the course of the season.
For the Badgers, Tim Davison, Jake Bunz, Jarod Zirbel, Jake Linhart and Jason Ford all dreamed about playing for Wisconsin since they were little kids. All five current Badgers grew up in Wisconsin, and their careers have been dedicated to finding their way to UW.
There are lots of things that can derail the draft stock of an NFL prospect. A poor combine showing, injury issues, and even small hands on a quarterback are often red flags for team scouts. However, nothing embarrases draft prospects more than social media mishaps, which give players unwanted attention and can send them tumbling down draft boards. The most recent example of this occurred before last year’s NFL Draft, as the Twitter account of Laremy Tunsil posted a video of the offensive tackle smoking out of a bong.
Men’s Hockey As the season comes to an end, post-season anticipation rises for the Badgers.
Solutions by The State News
