Playing for the second time in just 18 hours, Minnesota State returned to LaBahn Arena and with a physical game plan, succeeding at times in keeping Wisconsin in its own zone and limiting scoring opportunities.
NEW YORK—Playing just blocks away from Broadway and New York City’s theatre district, sophomore forward Ethan Happ put forward his audition tape for Big Ten Player of the Year Saturday afternoon in Wisconsin’s 61-54 overtime victory over Rutgers.
NEW YORK—The No. 15 Wisconsin Badgers (7-1 Big Ten, 18-3 overall) might have traveled halfway across the country to face the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in Madison Square Garden Saturday afternoon, but there was little to no showmanship in the Badgers’ trip to Broadway. But as time expired in overtime, sophomore forward Ethan Happ saluted the crowd, euphoric as the sophomore forward from Milan, Ill., scored a career-high 34 points to carry Wisconsin to a 61-54 victory. In the first half UW struggled to muster any offense against the Scarlet Knights’ defense.
A little over a year ago, the Badgers found themselves in a bad situation in a beautiful place: in the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, trailing by six in the locker room at halftime of the 2K Classic consolation game. They would come alive in the second half, though, holding the VCU Rams to just 30 points and claiming a thrilling one-point win on Bronson Koenig’s game-winning layup with eight seconds to go. Saturday afternoon, UW will again get the chance to play at the Garden, but is looking to avoid yet another weak first half as the No. 15 Badgers (6-1 Big Ten, 17-3 overall) take on Rutgers (1-7, 12-9) for their first rematch of the 2016-’17 season. Though many of the UW players were in New York for the 2K Classic a year ago, freshman guard D’Mitrik Trice missed out on the opportunity by just a year. “I know they’ve been in this arena before,” Trice said.
In women’s hockey, where body-checking is officially illegal, physical play is still an important part of the game and has a tendency to manifest itself in more dangerous forms, like scrums after the whistle or questionable hits behind the play and away from the attention of the referees. Like in any sport, the interpretation of these acts will differ wildly between coaches, players and officials as to what constitutes a “dirty” or illegal play, and what is allowable.
The NR/No. 12 Wisconsin swim and dive team is getting a little taste of championship season this weekend when they head to South Bend, Ind. to compete in the Notre Dame Shamrock Invitational this Friday and Saturday.
During the offseason, forward Luke Kunin made waves when he was selected as the first sophomore captain of the Badgers since former head coach Mike Eaves captained UW in the 1975-’76 season.
The Badgers are coming off maybe their most impressive weekend of hockey this season after splitting a home series against No. 6 Minnesota.
The uninspired and unintimidating first-half play that has plagued the Badgers all season continued yet again Wednesday night.
Bronson Koenig might be the best 3-point shooter in the Big Ten, but on Tuesday night in Madison it was a layup that was his prettiest play. The senior guard took a few crossover dribbles at the top of the key and glanced up at the shot clock, which showed six seconds.
The No. 15 Badgers (6-1 Big Ten, 17-3 overall) struggled to put away a pesky Penn State (3-5, 11-10) team in the first half and went into the break with a slim 3-point lead.
Men’s Basketball Head coach Greg Gard didn’t have many complaints at Monday’s press conference following an excellent week that saw the Badgers take down two Big Ten opponents.
Despite remaining winless in Big Ten play, freshman guard Suzanne Gilreath is focused on finding the silver lining.
Don’t let No. 15 Wisconsin’s (5-1 Big Ten, 16-3 overall) record fool you; the Badgers have yet to play a complete 40-minute game this season.
With roughly one-third of the Big Ten season now completed, the race for the conference title is starting to truly take shape.
While waiting in line for more than hour, junior forward Zach Bohannon decided to strike up a conversation with outgoing Wisconsin senator Herb Kohl.
Twice during a physical and occasionally chippy game, Wisconsin’s bench watched as one of their teammates was helped off the ice after a hard and questionably legal hit by a North Dakota player.
For the second night in a row, and continuing a theme of the season, the Badgers had a slow start coming out of the locker room in the first period.
Sophomore forward Ethan Happ and senior forward Nigel Hayes might have combined for 49 of the No. 17 Wisconsin Badgers’ (5-1 Big Ten, 16-3 overall) 78 points Saturday evening, but when the Badgers needed a basket most, it was the third member of Wisconsin’s big three, senior guard Bronson Koenig, who made the key play. Trailing by two points with less than a minute to play in overtime, Koenig curled around two pin-downs and elevated for a 3-pointer over Minnesota’s Nate Mason.
Top-ranked Wisconsin found themselves in a situation that they hadn’t faced much throughout the season when North Dakota arrived at LaBahn Arena Saturday afternoon: a physical game.
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