UW HOSTS CHICAGO STATE BEFORE TRIP TO MAUI
No. 9 Wisconsin plays its second game in 48 hours by hosting Chicago State on Nov. 17. The game tips at 7:01 p.m. (CT) on ESPN3.

Up next, the Badgers will travel to the Maui Jim Maui Invitational for three games, beginning with Tennessee on Nov. 21 on ESPN2.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WISCONSIN
HAPPY NEW YEAR: Wisconsin begins its 118th season of men's basketball in 2016-17 and the first full season under Greg Gard, who took over for the final 23 games of the 2015-16 season.
QUITE A DEBUT: In his inaugural season as head coach, Gard led Wisconsin to wins in 11 of the final 13 regular-season games and a trip to the 2016 Sweet 16, winning the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award.
GANG'S ALL HERE: Wisconsin returns each of the top 9 scorers from last season. In fact, the Badgers bring back all but 20 minutes played (99.8%) and all but 6 points (99.7%) from a year ago. UW returns all 5 starters for the first time since the 1988-89 season.
TERRIFIC TRIO: Senior Nigel Hayes was named Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year as well as a consensus member of the Preseason All-Big Ten Team. Fellow senior Bronson Koenig and sophomore Ethan Happ were also selected for the Preseason All-Big Ten team.
POLL POSITION: Wisconsin opened the year ranked No. 9 in the preseason AP Top 25, the second-highest debut in program history (UW was ranked third in the 2014-15 preseason poll).
PRO OR (NON)CON: The Badgers have won 37 of their last 44 (.841) regular-season, non-conference games dating back to Dec. of 2012. Of those 7 losses, 5 came last season.
BENCHMARKS: Nigel Hayes already ranks 15th in school history with 1,370 career points, while fellow senior Bronson Koenig needs just 26 points to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
WRECKING THE RANKED: Even with UW's 79-67 setback at No. 22 Creighton on Tuesday, UW is 20-11 against teams ranked in the AP Top 25 over the last 3 seasons. Under Greg Gard, the Badgers are 6-6 in such games, with a quartet of top-10 wins.
KOENIG COMES OUT FIRING: Bronson Koenig appears to be making his final year count. The senior has led UW in scoring in both games this season, averaging 18.5 ppg.
WINS RECORD: The Badgers' senior class has been a part of 89 wins already in their UW career, averaging 29.3 wins per season. The winningest class graduated in 2015 with a total of 115 victories.

ALL-TIME VS. CHICAGO STATE
Thursday's game will mark the 2nd-ever meeting between Wisconsin and Chicago State. In the only other meeting, the Badgers rolled to a 73-45 win on Jan. 4, 2003. In that contest, Devin Harris led UW with 19 points.

NON-CON, NO-CONTEST
- UW has won 37 of its last 44 (.841) regular-season, non-conference games dating back to Dec. of 2012.
- Since 2001-02, UW is 152-37 (.804) in non-conference games, including a mark of 111-11 (.910) at the Kohl Center.
- Over the last 15 seasons, the Badgers have gone 21-19 (.525) in non-conference road games. That includes wins in 6 of last 8 true road games.
- Since 2003-04, Wisconsin is 93-5 (.949) vs. unranked non-con opponents, including 3 such setbacks last season.
- Last season, Wisconsin dropped 5 non-conference games for just the 2nd time since 1997-98 and the first time since starting the 2001-02 season with a record of 7-6 in Bo Ryan's first season in Madison.

THEY'RE ALL WATCHING
Wisconsin's roster features a trio of players on the Preseason All-Big Ten list with Nigel Hayes (Preseason Player of the Year), Bronson Koenig and Ethan Happ all earning distinction. That trio is also featured on numerous national award watch lists:

Hayes
- Naismith Player of the Year Award
- Wooden Player of the Year Award
- Lute Olsen National Player of the Year
- Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year

Koenig
- Naismith Player of the Year Award
- Wooden Player of the Year Award
- Lute Olsen National Player of the Year
- Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year

Happ
- Naismith Player of the Year Award
- Wooden Player of the Year Award
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year

2016-17 TEAM INFO
Starters Returning/Lost: 5/0
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 13/4

RETURNING FRONTCOURT STARTERS
- The Badgers welcome back 2016 first-team All-Big Ten selection Nigel Hayes, who averaged 15.7 ppg and 5.8 rpg while leading UW with 104 assists. The 2016-17 Blue Ribbon Magazine preseason National Player of the Year and preseason Big Ten Player of the Year, Hayes joins Michael Finley as the only Badgers to tally at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists by their junior season. If he just matches his junior year totals he would finish 3rd in school history in points (1,340 entering 2016-17), 7th in rebounds (557 entering 2016-17) and 7th in career assists (219 entering 2016-17).
- Sophomore Ethan Happ looks to build off his 2016 Big Ten Freshman of the Year campaign during which he averaged 12.4 ppg, ranked 6th in the Big Ten with 7.9 rpg and became the first freshman to lead the Big Ten in steals (63 steals) since OSU's Aaron Craft (2010). Happ became just the third NCAA freshman over the last 15 seasons to score 400 points, while recording 60 steals and 30 blocks (also Kevin Durant and DuJuan Blair).
- Senior Vitto Brown finished 4th on the team in scoring, averaing 9.7 ppg with 5.0 rpg. He enjoyed the third-largest scoring increase in the Big Ten a year ago, going from 1.8 ppg to 9.7 ppg in 2015-16. Brown did not attempt a 3-pointer in his first two seasons at UW, but led the team last year, shooting 40% (38-95) from deep.

RETURNING BACKCOURT STARTERS
- Third-team All-Big Ten junior Bronson Koenig returns as the team's lead guard after averaging 13.1 ppg and shooting 39.0% (83-213) from 3-point range. The moniker "Klutch Koenig" was born in 2015-16 after his game-winning shots against VCU and Xavier. In fact, over the final 5:00 and overtime of games last season, Koenig shot 54.8% (17-for-31) from 3-point range. Koenig needs just 71 points and 27 assists to become the 14th player in UW history with at least 1,000 points and 250 assists.
- Senior guard Zak Showalter made just four 3-pointers in his first two seasons, but knocked down 35 percent (37-107) from long range as a junior. Showalter averaged 7.5 ppg and 3.8 rpg while ranking third on UW with 36 steals.
- The Badgers also return key reserves Jordan Hill (junior guard - 15.6 mpg), Khalil Iverson (soph. guard - 13.0 mpg), Alex Illikainen (soph. forward - 9.8 mpg) and Charles Thomas, IV (soph. forward - 9.1 mpg). Wisconsin will also regain the services of redshirt freshman guard Brevin Pritzl, who missed all but one game of his freshman year with a foot injury and sophomore forward Andy Van Vliet, who was forced to sit out the 2015-16 season after the NCAA ruled him ineligible for not enrolling in college within a year of high school graduation. 
- Wisconsin will also welcome a three-man freshman class that features guard D'Mitrik Trice (6-0, Huber Heights, Ohio), forward Aleem Ford (6-8, Lawrenceville, Ga.) and walk-on guard Michael Ballard (6-4, Oak Park, Ill.).