After suffering back-to-back two-game sweeps against Penn State and Minnesota, the Badgers (1-7-2 Big Ten, 4-12-6 overall) will look to right the ship this weekend with the Alaska Nanooks (5-11-4 WCHA, 7-13-4 overall) in town.
With eight games left to play in the regular season, it could be hard for the Cardinal and White to stay hungry, as it was announced Monday that the No. 2 Wisconsin women’s hockey team (18-1-1 WCHA, 24-1-1 overall) secured home ice for the first round of the WCHA playoffs.
Wisconsin has reportedly found its replacement for Dave Aranda. Footballscoop.com is reporting that the former UW and current LSU defensive coordinator’s void will be filled by Justin Wilcox, USC’s defensive coordinator in 2015. Wilcox followed former Trojan head coach Steve Sarkisian to USC in 2013 after serving as Sarkisian’s defensive coordinator at Washington for one season in 2012.
After Wisconsin’s home upset against No. 4 Michigan State last Sunday, junior forward Nigel Hayes opined that “if you hit more free throws than the other team, then you usually win.” This mentality proved to be right Tuesday night, as Hayes and the Badgers (4-4 Big Ten, 12-9 overall) got to the free-throw line frequently and defeated No. 19 Indiana (7-1, 17-4) 82-79 in overtime at the Kohl Center. With 37 trips to the charity stripe, the Badgers scored 26 points and had a season-high in free-throw makes and attempts.
Wisconsin senior guard Tessa Cichy’s competitive nature has been ingrained in her ever since she was a kid.
Men’s Basketball The men’s basketball team got a couple of much-needed wins last week, ending a three-game skid with victories against Michigan State and, later, Penn State.
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.
In what has been a prolonged fall from grace for the Wisconsin men’s hockey program, Saturday may have been the low point.
The No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers (18-1-1 WCHA, 24-1-1 overall) came into the weekend seeking revenge against a formidable No. 8-ranked North Dakota squad (10-7-3, 13-8-3) that managed to mark Wisconsin with its first blemishes on an otherwise flawless season.
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.
Same song, third verse. For the third time in the last four games, the Badgers (1-6 Big Ten, 6-12 overall) have found themselves down by a significant margin entering the fourth quarter.
The Wisconsin Badgers (2-5 Big Ten, 6-11 overall), not the Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-3, 12-6), have dug themselves a deep borough that they soon hope to pop out of.
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.
With home losses to Western Illinois, Milwaukee and Green Bay it became almost inconceivable to think that Wisconsin had much of a chance to defeat potential Final contender Michigan State last Sunday.
The end of the No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers’ (16-1-1 WCHA, 22-1-1 overall) 18-game winning streak at the hands of North Dakota right before the winter break did not slow them down at all at the start of the second half of the season.
The Wisconsin Badgers are trying to build the championship culture that the Maryland Terrapins currently have.
After losing two close games to No. 14 Penn State last weekend, Wisconsin welcomes archrival Minnesota to the Kohl Center in a series that could change the course of its season.
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.
After losing five games by three points or less this season, Wisconsin (10-9 overall, 2-4 Big Ten) finally received a break as it upset No. 4 Michigan State (16-3, 3-3) 77-76 in a thriller at the Kohl Center Sunday.
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.
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