BADGERS PUT WIN STREAK TO TEST AT PURDUE
Winners of 9 straight, No. 13 Wisconsin travels to West Lafayettte, Ind., on Jan. 8, for a date with Purdue. The Badgers are looking to win at IU and PU in the same season for the first time since 1972.

Up next, the Badgers host Ohio State on Jan. 12 (6 p.m. CT on ESPN2).

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WISCONSIN
GARD IN CHARGE: Greg Gard and Wisconsin haven't missed a step since he took over a year ago. The 2016 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year, Gard is 28-10, the best start of any UW coach in 100 years (pg 6).
BIG TEN BEASTS: The Badgers have boasted a winning conference record and finished among the top 4 in each of the last 16 seasons, the longest run of success of any team in B1G basketball history.
??STREAKING: Wisconsin's 9-game win streak is tied for the 8th-longest in the nation.
BIG WINS: Wisconsin already owns wins over teams from the ACC, Big East (2x), Big 12 and SEC this season. According to KenPom.com, UW has 6 top-100 wins, the most of any Big Ten team.
RANK AND FILE: Under Greg Gard, UW is 7-6 against teams in the AP Top-25 and are looking to post wins over ranked teams in back-to-back regular-season games for the first time since 2014.
??HAYES AT THE HUB: Senior Nigel Hayes has been at the center of Wisconsin's 9-game win streak, averaging 15.8 ppg, shooting 56.0% from the field and averaging 7.3 FTAs during that stretch. Hayes ranks 6th on UW's all-time scoring list with 1,546 career points. The versatile forward is also the nation's only active player with at least 1,500 pts, 600 rebs and 200 asts.
MAKING IT HAPP-EN: Soph. Ethan Happ is doing it all this season, cracking the B1G leader board in scoring (13.1 ppg), rebounding (9.4), FG% (.672), steals (1.6) and ranks 2nd on the team with 2.8 apg.
LOOKING TO SCORE: Sporting one of the most efficient offenses in the nation (10th according to KenPom.com), UW is averaging 82.6 ppg and shooting 51.0% during the 9-game win streak.
GETTING DEFENSIVE: Wisconsin has held 10 of its 15 opponents to season-low point totals. According to KenPom.com, the Badgers rank 18th in the NCAA in adjusted defensive efficiency.
OWNING THE GLASS: The Badgers are 5th in the nation with a +12.4 rebounding margin. UW also ranks 5th in the NCAA in def. rebounding pct. (78.1%) and 10th in off. rebounding pct. (38.8%).
KOENIG HEATING UP: UW's leading scorer (14.3 ppg), Bronson Koenig was 5-for-5 from 3-point range at Indiana and is shooting 52.9% from deep (27-for-51) over the last 8 games.
KINGS OF THE ROAD: Over the last 4 seasons, UW is 50-18 (.735) in road/neutral games, the 3rd- most such wins in college basketball. Under Greg Gard, UW is 7-4 in true road games.

ALL-TIME VS. PURDUE
Sunday's game will be the 177th meeting between Wisconsin and Purdue in a series beginning in 1906. The Boilermakers lead the all-time series 106-70 but Wisconsin has won 4 of the last 6 meetings.
- Purdue swept a pair of regular-season meetings last season, winning 61-55 in Madison in Greg Gard's second game as head coach. The Boilers also claimed a 91-80 win in the regularseason finale in West Lafayette. Those wins snapped a UW 4-game win streak in the series.
- UW is just 18-69 all-time in games played in West Lafayette, Ind. In fact, the Badgers have won just three times at Mackey Arena since 1972, owning a record of 3-35 over that span. Each of those three victories have come in the last 12 years, as UW claimed a 77-68 win at Purdue in 2005, a 67-62 win in 2012 and a 72-58 win in West Lafayette in 2014.
- Wisconsin has allowed Purdue to hit the 70-point mark just 3 times in the teams' last 14 meetings.
- In his last 3 games against the Boilers, Nigel Hayes has averaged 20.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, including a 30-point effort in UW's last trip to Mackey Arena. Over that stretch, he was 17-for-21 from the FT line.
- Bronson Koenig scored 19 points vs. Purdue in the semifinals of the 2015 Big Ten Tournament.

LAST TIME OUT
#13 Wisconsin 75, #25 Indiana 68
Jan. 3, 2017  |  Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Ind.

- Wisconsin jumped out to a 13-0 lead and then held on for a 75-68 win at Indiana on Tuesday. The
Badgers have now beaten the Hoosiers in 16 of the last 18 meetings, including 6 of the last 8 at Assembly Hall.
- Ethan Happ led the Badgers with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Bronson Koenig went 5-for-5 from 3-point range to finish with 17 points, while Zak Showalter chipped in 14 points and Nigel Hayes added 10 points.
- Wisconsin shot 50% overall as well as a season-high 50.0% from 3-point range, going 10-for-20 from deep. UW also limited IU to 5-for-15 shooting from behind the arc.
- The Badgers turned the ball over just 7 times (2nd-lowest mark of the season), compared to 13 turnovers for Indiana. UW finished with 9 steals, the 6th-consecutive game with at least 9 thefts.

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.)