UW SEEKS WIN STREAK
On the heels of an upset over No. 4 Michigan State Sunday, Wisconsin will travel to Penn State looking to post back-to-back Big Ten wins. The Badgers have won 7 straight against the Nittany Lions. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. (CT) on BTN.
Up next, UW will enjoy a bye weekend before hosting Indiana on Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. (CT) on ESPN. The Badgers have won 13 straight home games vs. IU.
NOTES TO KNOW
1 TOUGH SLEDDING: According to the RPI, Wisconsin has played the nation's 8th-toughest schedule and its 4 Big Ten losses have come by an average 3.8 points. In all 4 losses, UW has been tied or within one possession in the fi nal 2:00.
2 CHANGING OF THE GARD: Despite the 3-4 record, the Badgers have shown marked offensive improvement since Greg Gard assumed the head coaching duties on Dec. 15. Wisconsin is shooting 44.7% (35.8% 3FGs) under Gard after hitting on just 41.2% (32.9%) in the 12 contests prior to him taking over.
3 HAYES-ING: Preseason All-Big Ten pick Nigel Hayes is 1 of just 2 players in the Big Ten averaging at least 15.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg and 3.5 apg. He has scored in double fi gures in all but 2 games, including 25 points vs. Michigan State.
4 BEEN HERE BEFORE: Prior to this season, the last time UW was .500 in January was during the 2001-02 season. That year, a win over a ranked MSU team sparked a run of wins in 10 of the final 13 Big Ten games to win the conference championship. The Badgers are hoping their 77-76 win over No. 4 MSU propels them in a similar fashion.
5 ANOTHER TOP-5 TAKEDOWN: Including the win over No. 4 MSU, Wisconsin has won 7 of its last 10 games against teams ranked in the AP top 5 dating back to 2013. During that same span, no other Big Ten team has a winning record or posted more than 5 wins over the AP top 5.
6 DEVELOPING DEFENSE: The Badgers held Maryland to a season-low 63 points on Jan. 9. Over the last 12 games, UW has held Oklahoma, Purdue, Temple, Marquette, Indiana and Maryland to season-low point totals.
7 MAKING IT HAPP-EN: Averaging 11.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, freshman Ethan Happ leads the Big Ten with 6 doubles-doubles on the season. Happ had 14 points, 8 boards and scored the game-winning basket with 10.2 seconds remaining in the win over Michigan State. He also leads UW in steals (25) and blocks (21).
SERIES VS. PENN STATE
Thursday's game against the Nittany Lions marks the 44th all-time meeting between Wisconsin and Penn State with the Badgers owning a 33-10 advantage in the all-time series.
- This marks the only regular-season meeting between UW ans PSU.
- The Badgers have won the last 7 meetings with the Nittany Lions, including a home-and-home season sweep last season.
- Wisconsin has won 4 straight at Penn State and 10 of the last 11 meetings in University Park, Pennsylvania. Last year, the Badgers slugged out a 55-47 win at PSU.
- UW has won 20 of the last 22 against PSU overall. Penn State's last win over the Badgers came in the 2011 Big Ten Tournament.
- UW has won 20 straight games vs. PSU when scoring at least 60 points. The Badgers' last loss to PSU when scoring at least 60 was a 76-61 setback in 2000 under then-head coach Dick Bennett.
NOTES FROM UW'S LAST GAME
Wisconsin 77, #4 Michigan State 76 - 1/17/16 - Kohl Center
Wisconsin posted its first win over a ranked team under head coach Greg Gard with a thrilling 77-76 victory over No. 4 Michigan State Sunday at the Kohl Center. The back-and-forth battle featured 10 ties and 13 lead changes.
- The Badgers trailed 76-72 with 0:32 remaining before getting a 3-pointer from Bronson Koenig, then forcing a turnover on the ensuing possession to set up the game-winning basket from freshman Ethan Happ with 10.2 seconds remaining. The comeback win was complete with MSU's Denzel Valentine missed a 3-pointer in the waning seconds.
- Koenig would finish with a career-high 27 points (4-8 3FGs) with 4 assists. Junior Nigel Hayes scored 25 points, going 2-for-3 from 3-point range and 9-for-10 at the FT line. He also added 7 boards. This was the first time Koenig and Hayes have ever both went over 20 points in the same game.
Happ tallied 14 points with 8 rebounds.
- Wisconsin turned the ball over just 6 times and enjoyed a decided advantage at the foul line where the Badgers went 29-for-36 (80.6%) and MSU was just 12-for-16 (75.0%).
- Michigan State, which out-shot UW 47.5% to 44.7% was led by 23 points from Denzel Valentine.
PARALLELS TO 2002?
Prior to Sunday's win over MSU, the Badgers owned a .500 record (9-9) with 13 Big Ten games remaining. The last time Wisconsin owned a .500 record in January came in 2002, Bo Ryan's fi rst season in Madison, when UW was also 8-8 with 13 Big Ten games left.
Like they hope will happen this season, the 2002 Badgers jump-started their season by knocking off No. 25 Michigan State (64-63) to climb above .500. UW would go on to win 10 of it's fi nal 13 games and claim a share of the 2002 Big Ten Championship.
STRENGTH IN SCHEDULING
- According to ESPN.com RPI rankings, UW has faced the 8th-toughest schedule in the NCAA and the highest among Big Ten teams (Illinois is next at 15th).
- From an RPI standpoint, the Badgers faced one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the Big Ten. A total of 9 of UW's 13 non-con games came against RPI top-150 foes. Among Big Ten team, only Illinois (10) faced more top-150 teams.
- The Badgers' 5 home losses have come by a combined 14 points (2.8 avg.). In each of the defeats, UW was either tied or within one score in the final 2:00. In fact, the Badgers had a game-winning/tying shot attempt in the closing seconds of 3 of the losses.
2015-16 TEAM INFO
Starters Returning/Lost: 2/3 | Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 9/5
- Wisconsin looks to replace five of the top seven scorers from a year ago, but does return a pair of starters in juniors Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig. Overall, the Badgers bring back 38.1% of their minutes played from last season. UW will bring back 34.3% of its scoring, 31.5% of its rebounding and 40.5% of their assists.
- The 2015-16 season will mark the first year under Bo Ryan in which the Badgers do not have a scholarship senior. The only senior on the roster is walk-on guard Jordan Smith. Wisconsin has had at least one senior starter in each of Ryan's first 14 seasons in Madison. In fact, the Badgers have started at least two seniors in 10 of those 14 seasons.
- UW returns four players from last season's nine-man rotation:
FRONTCOURT
Nigel Hayes, Jr., F (12.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg) - Third-team All-Big Ten; 9th in Big Ten shooting 49.7% overall and 3rd on UW shooting 39.6% from 3s; 4 career double-doubles
Vitto Brown, Jr., F (2.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg) - Played in 34 games as a soph. averaging 6.3 mpg
BACKCOURT
Bronson Koenig, Jr., G (8.7 ppg, 2.5 apg) - Started final 24 games; 4th on the team in points and 2nd in assists; 2nd on team shooting 40.5% on 3s; 3.0 assist-to-TO Ratio
Zak Showalter, Jr., G (2.1 ppg, 1.3 rpg) - Redshirt junior averaged 7.6 minutes off the bench; career-high 9 points vs. Indiana (Feb. 3, 2015)
- The Badgers will gain the services of redshirt freshmen Ethan Happ and T.J. Schlundt in 2014- 15, who both redshirted in their first year on campus. UW will also add five true freshmen to their roster in 2015-16, Alex Illikainen (Grand Rapids, Minn.), Khalil Iverson (Delaware, Ohio), Brevin Pritzl (De Pere, Wis.), Charlie Thomas (Highland, Md.), Andy Van Vliet (Brasschaat, Belgium).
ALL-BIG TEN DUO: HAYES, KOENIG
A pair of Badgers were named to the 2015-16 Preseason All-Big Ten Team, as Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig were each selected by a vote of the league's media. This is the second consecutive season Wisconsin has had a pair selected to the conference's preseason team as Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker earned the distinction last year.
- Hayes and Koenig were also named to watch lists for the Julius Erving Award and Bob Cousy Award, respectively, as announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Each watch list contains the top 20 players at its position, as the Julius Erving Award recognizes the top small forward in the nation and the Bob Cousy Award recognizes the top point guard in the country.
Dekker was a finalist for the Erving Award last season. Jordan Taylor (2012) was UW's last finalist for the Cousy Award.
- Junior Nigel Hayes was named a preseason All-American by The Sporting News and finished 9th in the AP preseason All-American balloting.
YOUTH BEING SERVED
The 2015-16 Badgers are the youngest in now retired head coach Bo Ryan's 15 seasons. No school in the country has more freshmen on its roster than Wisconsin (8). Cornell and UTEP are the only other schools with 8 freshmen.
- Redshirt freshman Ethan Happ became just the 3rd freshman to start the season opener under Bo Ryan, joining Devin Harris (2001) and George Marshall (2012).
- True freshmen Khalil Iverson and Charlie Thomas have each seen extensive action off the Badgers' bench.
- UW's other scholarship freshmen Alex Illikainen and Brevin Pritzl made their debuts vs. Siena. Illikainen chipped in 6 points in 7 minutes. Andy Van Vliet (ineligible) has yet to see action.
