WISCONSIN FINISHES REGULAR SEASON AT HOME
After three of its last four games were on the road, Wisconsin closes the regular season with a pair of home games this week, beginning Thursday against Iowa. Entering the week just one game out of first place, the Badgers have won six straight over the Hawkeyes.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WISCONSIN
WINS PILING UP: At 22-7, Wisconsin has equaled last season's win total and won at least 22 games for the 15th time in program annals.
GARD IN CHARGE: Greg Gard is 37-15 as head coach. Only HOFer Doc Meanwell had a better 50-game record at UW (49-1, 1911-14).
SENIOR SEND-OFF: UW's senior class plays its final two games at the Kohl Center this week. The foursome has combined for 515 games, 4,274 points and a record of 110-32 (.775) over the last four seasons.
ALL-AMERICAN HAPP: Ethan Happ is doing it all for UW during Big Ten play, leading the team in points (15.1), rebounds (8.5), assists (2.9), blocks (1.6) and steals (2.6). Happ is the only player in the nation leading his team in all five categories during conference play.
PROTECT THIS HOUSE: UW is 14-1 at home this season, having won 20 of the last 21.
CONSISTENCY MODEL: UW has reached 20 wins for the 11th-straight season (longest streak in B1G) and clinched a winning record in B1G play for the 17th-consecutive season.
OT IS "OUR TIME": UW has won 8 consecutive overtime games. Of those 8, only 1 came at home.
HAYES PRAISE: A Senior CLASS Award finalist, Nigel Hayes is one of the most versatile players in Big Ten history. With 1,707 points, 720 rebounds and 295 assists, he is 1 of just 3 players in Big Ten history to reach those marks (pg 6). He is the nation's only active player with 1,700p, 700r and 250a.
OWNING THE GLASS: The Badgers are 16th in the nation with a +7.2 rebounding margin.
RESTORATION, DEFENSE: UW has allowed 80-plus points in back-to-back games for the first time since the 1992-93 season. Prior to that, UW had surrendered 80+ only twice in the previous 94 games.
NEW 3-POINT KING: Bronson Koenig has hit 238 career 3-pointers, breaking the school's all-time record. Off a career-high 27 points last week at OSU, Koenig is 18th in UW history with 1,326 points.
OWN THE PAINT: The Badgers have scored 280 more points in the paint than their opponents, a margin of +9.7 ppg. UW has only been out-scored in the paint on five occasions (1-4 in those games).
WISCONSIN RECIPE: The Badgers simply don't beat themselves. UW ranks 11th in the NCAA in scoring defense (62.1 ppg), 29th in fewest fouls per game and 23rd in fewest turnovers per game.

ANOTHER 20-WIN SEASON
At 22-7, Wisconsin has reached 20 wins for the 11th consecutive season and the 14th time in 15 years. The Badgers' 11 straight seasons with at least 20 wins is tied for Ohio State for the longest active streak in the Big Ten. Prior to Bo Ryan's arrival, UW had just four 20-win seasons in 103 years of basketball.
- UW has already matched last year's win total and won at least 22 games for the 15th time in school history. Each of the 15 winningest seasons in UW history have come since 1999.
- The Badgers started the season 21-3, the third-best 24-game start in school history (UW opened the 2006-07 and 2014-15 seasons with a record of 22-2).
- This season, UW has had separate win streaks of 8 and 9 games. The Badgers have enjoyed a win streak of at least 9 games in 3 of the last 4 seasons.

ALL-TIME VS. IOWA
Thursday's game marks the 163rd all-time meeting between Wisconsin and Iowa in a rivalry that began in 1909. The Badgers lead the all-time series, 83-79, thanks to an active six-game win streak against the Hawkeyes.
- UW's six-game sin streak vs. Iowa has equaled the second-longest win streak against the Hawkeyes. The Badgers also beat Iowa six straight times from 2003-06. UW's all-time series record is 8 consecutive wins (1909-19). Dating back to 2003, Wisconsin is 19-5 against Iowa.
- Like hoops, the Wisconsin-Iowa football all-time series is also close, as the Badgers lead, 45-43-2.
- UW is 52-28 against Iowa all-time in Madison. Since Greg Gard came to Madison with Bo Ryan in the 2001-02 season, the Badgers have gone 12-1 at home against the Hawkeyes. Iowa's only win during that stretch came in a 72-65 win at Dec. 31, 2011.
- The two teams met just once last season with UW, knocking off the 8th-ranked Hakeyes, 67-59, in Iowa City.
- In the Hawkeyes' last trip to Madison (2015), UW posted an 82-50 victory over then-No. 25 Iowa, its most lopsided win over Iowa in series history. UW shot 58.1% in the second half and averaged a season-high 1.52 points per possession. UW tied a school record with just one turnover, while dishing 16 assists and committing only nine fouls. The Badgers out-scored Iowa, 36-12, in the paint and out-rebounded the Hawkeyes, 37-24 (15 O-Reb).
- Bronson Koenig has averaged 12.0 points per game over his last four games against Iowa, shooting 10-for-19 (.526) from 3-point range.
- Nigel Hayes has averaged 13.3 ppg over his last three outings against Iowa, scoring double figures in all three games.
- Ethan Happ and Iowa's Nicholas Baer were AAU teammates on Quad-City Elite.

LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State 84, #16 Wisconsin 74
Feb. 26, 2017  |  Breslin Center  |  East Lansing, Mich.

- Wisconsin trailed by one point at the half, but shot just 38.2% after intermission, going 1-for-9 from beyond the 3-point arc.
- The Badgers owned scoring edges of 38-36 in the paint and 18-10 on second-chance points, but gave up 15 fastbreak points (second-most of the season) and shot just 13-for-25 from the free throw line. Michigan State was 21-for-23 at the charity stripe.
- Nigel Hayes led the Badgers with 22 points and 11 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season. Bronson Koenig scored 17 points, while Zak Showalter added 15 points and Ethan Happ posted 8 points and 11 boards.

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.)