Lack of bench production proves detrimental for Wisconsin men’s basketball in loss to Michigan State
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Bracketology Report: Badgers climb in latest release
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Last week we started our annual Bracketology report back up and we saw our Wisconsin Badgers sitting on the 4-seed line. In our opinion, it felt a little disrespectful that the Badgers weren’t higher given their hot start to the season. Clearly, Joe Lunardi read our piece and took note as this week the Badgers have found a higher line after back-to-back wins over Ohio State and Northwestern.
In Joe Lunardi’s latest release the Badgers come in as a 3-seed in the Midwest Region. The projection shows Wisconsin playing the 14-seeded South Dakota State Jackrabbits. Oh, what a matchup that would be. The winner of that game would take on the winner of the 6/11 matchup between USC and Creighton. Overall, that seeding would be great for Wisconsin as they’d get their first two games at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
Another B1G TEAM W on the road!
• @JohnnyDavis - 27 points
• @ChuckyHepburn - 14 points
• @tjwahl01 - 14 points
• @braddavi34 - 13 points
• @steven_crowl - 10 points
Top Plays from tonight’s win! pic.twitter.com/uoYpD6fjw5 — Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) January 19, 2022
For the first time in Joe Lunardi’s projections, the Big Ten has been surpassed by another conference in terms of teams, as the Big 12 now shows eight teams in the dance while the Big Ten shows seven. Leading the way for the Big Ten is once again Purdue which is still a head-scratcher considering Wisconsin has a similar resume and won head to head, but I digress.
After Purdue comes Illinois and Wisconsin who are both listed as 3-seeds. Next up is Michigan State who currently sits as a 4-seed. Ohio State currently sits as a 5-seed, while Iowa comes in as a 7-seed and Indiana a 9-seed. The rest of the Big Ten has some work to do, as all other teams are out of the dance according to Lunardi.
Overall, the Badgers sit in a great spot at this point in the season. Being listed as a 3-seed and getting to play in the comfort of your home state would be a great way to start the NCAA tournament. However, it will be interesting to see just how much further this group can climb.
It’s very reasonable that Wisconsin could climb their way up to a 2-seed line with a win over Michigan State on Friday. If they were able to do that they’d get through a tough gauntlet of games unscathed before taking on some lesser conference opponents in Minnesota and Nebraska. How far will the Badgers climb? Time will tell!
Wisconsin athletic department condemns fan’s actions at Tuesday’s men’s basketball game
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Jim Polzin: Where Joey Hauser and Johnny Davis fit in a classic what-if scenario for Wisconsin basketball
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Wisconsin men’s basketball: Badgers win on the road in Evanston
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On Tuesday night, the No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team (15-2 overall, 6-1 Big Ten) came into Evanston looking to win their seventh game in a row this season by beating the Northwestern Wildcats.
Even with Northwestern leading scorer Pete Nance back in the lineup after missing the Michigan State game, their last, due to an ankle injury, the Badgers would take care of business to win by six.
Game over. #Badgers escape Evanston with the win, 82-76
Johnny Davis finishes with 27 pts, 8 reb — Bucky’s 5th Quarter (@B5Q) January 19, 2022
Northwestern would grab an early lead thanks to a 7-0 run and five consecutive makes. By the first media timeout, the Wildcats would hold an 11-9 advantage with Boo Buie and Chase Audige doing the heavy lifting offensively. Wisconsin would go ice cold over the next few minutes, and as a result, Northwestern was able to push their lead to four with 11:55 remaining in the first half.
The Badgers would string together five straight points on a Johnny Davis three and a Tyler Wahl layup to take the lead shortly thereafter though. With Steven Crowl on the bench with two fouls, Chris Vogt would hammer home a put-back dunk and by the next media timeout Wisconsin found themselves up by two.
The Badgers would continue to settle into a rhythm on the offensive end from there. A deep three by Chucky Hepburn and some nifty moves inside by Tyler Wahl would give Wisconsin a 30-24 edge with just under four minutes left in the first half.
Northwestern would rally back late, but a buzzer-beater from the opposite three-point line by Chucky Hepburn would give the Badgers a six-point lead at halftime.
CHUCKY BABAY!!!!
Halftime in Evanston.#Badgers up 41-35 after a 3/4 court heave to remember. — Bucky’s 5th Quarter (@B5Q) January 19, 2022
Wisconsin would come out of the intermission playing well once again. A Johnny Davis three and a contested layup by Hepburn would push the Badgers lead to nine points with just under 16 minutes left in the game.
Davis would slow down a mini-run by Northwestern coming out of the timeout with a pretty layup. Both teams would go on to make their next three shot attempts, and by the next media timeout, the Badgers lead was 61-54.
A four-minute scoring drought by Wisconsin would allow Northwestern to cut into the deficit slightly by the next media timeout. Davis would respond though, bloody nose and all, to keep the Badgers ahead by five with 2:41 on the clock.
Northwestern would not relent in a wild final couple of minutes. The Wildcats went on a 6-0 run to make it only a four-point game late, and there were some questionable foul calls on both ends, but Wisconsin escaped with a six-point win.
We are now a blog that reports on the FIRST PLACE IN THE BIG TEN WISCONSIN BADGERS MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM — Bucky’s 5th Quarter (@B5Q) January 19, 2022
Notable stat lines:
Johnny Davis —> 27 points (8-of-15 from the floor), eight rebounds, two assists
Chucky Hepburn —> 14 points (6-of-10 from the floor), one rebound, one assist
Tyler Wahl —> 14 points (5-of-12 from the floor), 11 rebounds, four assists
Chase Audige (NU) —> 23 points (10-of-17 from the floor), four rebounds, three assists
Up next: The Badgers will look to knock off Michigan State on Friday night at the Kohl Center. Tip time is set for 8 p.m. CT, and the game will be aired on FS1.