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Wednesday, July 02, 2025

Sports

Khalil Iverson
SPORTS

Red-hot Indiana meets burgeoning Badgers

Back in early December, few people would’ve predicted that No. 19 Indiana would be first in the Big Ten standings at this point in the season. Though the Hoosiers (7-0 Big Ten, 17-3 overall) came into this season with lofty expectations, they stumbled out of the gates, losing to Wake Forest and UNLV at the Maui Invitational and were blown out by Duke on their way to a disappointing 5-3 start. Calls for head coach Tom Crean to be canned reached a fevered pitch amongst the Indiana faithful and a once promising season seemed doomed before it ever really had a chance to start. However, since their loss to the Blue Devils, the Hoosiers have won 12 consecutive games and are 7-0 in Big Ten play for the first time since 1993.


Robert Wheelwright
SPORTS

The Cardinal Zone - 1.23

In this week's edition of the Cardinal Zone podcast, Lorin Cox, Matt Tragesser and Tommy Valtin-Erwin join sports editors Jake Powers and Zach Rastall to discuss the Bo Ryan era of Wisconsin basketball, Wisconsin's win in the Holiday Bowl, Dave Aranda's move to LSU, the NFL playoffs and more.


Ethan Happ
SPORTS

Badgers hold off Penn State for second straight win

Coming off its dramatic, last-second victory over Michigan State, Thursday night’s trip to University Park looked like it could potentially be a trap game for Wisconsin.   Though Penn State made things interesting down the stretch, the Badgers were able to hold on to pick up a road win and earn back-to-back Big Ten victories for the first time this season.   Redshirt freshman forward Ethan Happ scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to record his seventh double-double of the season, as Wisconsin (3-4 Big Ten, 11-9 overall) outlasted the Nittany Lions (2-5, 11-9) 66-60.   The Badgers led by as much as 17 in the second half, but a late, furious Penn State rally cut the deficit as low as three.


Bobbie Kelsey
SPORTS

Kelsey prepares Badgers for showdown with Maryland

It’s rare for head coach Bobbie Kelsey to give her team a motivational speech before games. While her players likely could have used a little more inspiration in the locker room after two consecutive lethargic starts, Kelsey fully expects her team to be ready to go in their toughest challenge yet against Maryland (5-1 Big Ten, 16-2 overall) Wednesday at the Kohl Center. The Badgers (2-4, 6-10) are not worried about an accomplished Maryland team and its deep roster, but instead are more concerned with their own performance. “Anybody can beat anybody on any given day,” Kelsey preached to her team at practice Monday afternoon. The Badgers, though, will likely need to play their best game yet to upend a Terrapins team that has made the Final Four two consecutive seasons, something the Badgers are hoping to one day accomplish. “We’re trying to build a championship culture,” Kelsey said.


Wisconsin Playing Time
SPORTS

Changing of the Gard: Swing offense, bench play have Badgers improving

From the moment he took over as interim head coach, Greg Gard has been fighting an uphill battle. Taking over for a coach as iconic as Bo Ryan was always going to be tough, but replacing him in the midst of the Badgers’ worst start in 14 years made his task all the more difficult. A radical shift in philosophy was never going to be on the table for Gard, who spent 23 years as an assistant under Ryan, but there have been significant changes in the way he coaches this team when compared to his predecessor. Of these changes that Gard has made since taking over in late December, none have been more pivotal than the switch back to a swing offense and an increased reliance on the bench. For years, the swing offense was a staple of Bo Ryan-coached teams.


Daily Cardinal
SPORTS

Poor shooting, loose defense dooms UW

Throughout the Badgers’ (2-4 Big Ten, 6-10 overall) season, when the team finds itself trailing, it usually finds a way to wage a tenacious and heartfelt effort to climb its way back into games.


Roichelle Marble
SPORTS

Spartans taper Wisconsin's strong start in conference play

After opening the Big Ten season with a win earlier in the week, the Badgers (1-1 Big Ten, 5-7 overall) struggled in the first half of Sunday’s game en route to losing their first conference game of the season to the Michigan State Spartans (1-1, 10-3) 77-67. After trailing by a mere five points after the first quarter in East Lansing, Mich., the Badgers scored only nine points in the second period and went into the break down 14 points, a deficit that was too great for UW to overcome. Not only did the Badgers miss senior guard Tessa Cichy, who sat out her second consecutive game due to an illness, but also played almost the entire first half without Dakota Whyte due to foul trouble. Whyte picked up her second foul of the game with 7:43 to go in the first quarter and spent the rest of the half on the bench.


Zak Showalter
SPORTS

Showalter's career day powers Badgers past Rutgers

Wisconsin has had its difficulties closing out opponents at home this season, but thanks in large part to a career day from redshirt junior guard Zak Showalter, there was no drama at the Kohl Center Saturday afternoon. Showalter was a perfect 8-8 from the field, including 4-4 from behind the arc, to finish with a career-high 21 points.


Nicole Bauman
SPORTS

Wisconsin edges out Indiana in Big Ten opener

After a momentous win for the football team in the Holiday Bowl less than 24 hours earlier, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team won its biggest game of the season, defeating Indiana, 73-69, in its Big Ten opener Thursday afternoon in Madison. Many expected senior guard Tessa Cichy to perform in a similar manner as her brother, Jack Cichy, did in the Holiday Bowl, but Tessa missed UW’s conference opener with an illness.



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