Badgers Might Make NCAA Tournament in 2016

Four weeks ago the Wisconsin Badgers were 1-4 in Big Ten Conference play, 9-9 overall, nowhere near the NCAA Tournament, and pretty much left for dead. That was four weeks ago. Since then the Badgers have rattled off five solid wins in row.  Is this the "turn around" for Wisconsin? We think so.

The first one was the big eye opener, when they stunned Michigan State in the final seconds to upset the highly ranked Spartans 77-76. Junior guard Bronson Koenig had 27 points and four assists. Junior forward Nigel Hayes had 25 points and seven rebounds. Four days later the Badgers traveled to Penn State and defeated a very improved Nittany Lions team 66-60. This time the star was freshman forward Ethan Happ, who finished the game with 20 points and 11 rebounds. The following Tuesday the Badgers once again stunned the nation when they defeated 19th ranked Indiana 82-79 in overtime despite 30 points and 7 rebounds from Indiana's superstar guard Yogi Ferrell. Nigel Hayes answered Ferrell's 30 with 31 points of his own. Ethan Happ had another strong performance, this time with 25 points and 8 rebounds. The following Sunday, the Badgers traveled to Illinois and had another solid defensive performance, holding the Illini to just 55 points. For the Badgers, Hayes had 17 points and Koenig had 11 in a 63-55 victory. Last Thursday, the Badgers put together another strong performance, this time at home against Ohio State, winning 79-68. Four starters reached double figures in scoring, led by Nigel Hayes with 21 points.

Despite the five game winning streak, the Badgers haven't done nearly enough. They need to do more. Fortunately for them, they will have a chance to do more. Following their home game on Wednesday against Nebraska, in which the tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the  Big Ten Network has the broadcast, the Badgers have crucial back to back games on the road against fourth ranked Maryland and 10th ranked Michigan State. The Saturday game against Maryland is set for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off and ESPN has the broadcast. The game the following Thursday against Michigan State is set for an 8 p.m. tip-off and once again, ESPN has the broadcast. Following that Thursday match-up against the Spartans, the Badgers come home to take on Illinois. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network. Three days later the Badgers travel to Iowa to take on the 5^th ranked Hawkeyes and Wooden Award candidate Jarrod Uthoff. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. on the Big Ten Network. Following the game against Iowa, the Badgers have a home game on February 28th against Michigan. The Badgers then finish the regular season on Sunday, March 2nd, at home against Minnesota. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

As I put my analyzing cap on now, in my opinion, the Badgers need to, not it would help, need to, as MUST win one of those three road games against ranked opponents if they want to make the NCAA Tournament as an at large without needing to run the table in the Big Ten Conference Tournament. They also can't afford to slip against the other three opponents either. Their best shot would be against Iowa.

The Badgers Will Not Make the 2016 NCAA Tournament | Which Big Ten Teams Will?

In this post, let's take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of each Big Ten team that has, at the very least, a reasonable chance of making the NCAA Tournament. I have six teams listed, and that means that I don't think that the Badgers will make the tournament this year. 

Indiana- The 17^th ranked Indiana Hoosiers are a mild surprise, sitting atop of the Big Ten at the moment tied for first place. This team's strength is guard play, especially from Big Ten player of the year candidate Yogi Ferrell. What concerns me the most is their interior size. The Hoosiers only have one play who is 6'10” or taller. The next biggest are several players tied at 6'8”. I know, I know, George Mason ran all the way to the Final Four without a player over 6'8” years ago. However, they took advantage of some major upsets in their very weak bracket and avoided playing anyone with serious size until they met Florida in the Final Four, and ran up against all those trees on the Gators roster.

Iowa- The Iowa Hawkeyes, currently ranked 3^rd in the AP poll, are tied with Indiana on top of the Big Ten standings. Their strength is the fact that they have an All-American candidate in senior forward Jarrod Utoff who can take over a game. The weakness is the fact that other than Utoff and his sidekick, junior guard Peter Jok, they don't have much else.

Maryland- The 8^th ranked Maryland Terrapins are a dangerous team lurking right below Iowa and Indiana in the standings. The Terrapins are one of the most balanced teams in the nation as they have five players averaging double figures in scoring. They also have really good size which, at the collegiate level at least, usually equates to good interior defense, and in this case, is. The problem I see with Maryland is the fact that they don't have that one player who can take over a game.

Michigan- The Wolverines are tied with the Terrapins right below Iowa and Indiana in the Big Ten standings. Michigan is a guard-oriented team, and have that player, in senior guard Caris LeVert, who can take over a game. The Wolverines also shoot 74% from the free throw line as a team, which is very good. What is going to be their downfall is their complete lack of size on the interior.

Purdue- The 21^st ranked Boilermakers, much like Maryland, are very balanced, with four players averaging double figures in scoring. Also like Michigan, Purdue shoots 74% from the free throw line as a team. They also have one of the most coveted aspects at the collegiate level, a pair of seven footers that are skilled and dominate the paint. So what is the problem with these Boilermakers? The concern is whether or not their guards can do enough as unit to change the outcome of a game.

Michigan State- The 12^th ranked Spartans have fallen on some tough times, having lost three in a row. Their biggest strength is they have one of the best players in the country in senior do-it-all guard Denzel Valentine, who can just take over a game with the best of them. The problem with this team is after Valentine, not much else, which could explain the three losses in a row.

Badgers Basketball Team Comes To Life | NCAA Tournament Still In Sight

As the calendar turned to 2013, the Wisconsin Badgers wereleft for dead. Their season was pretty much toast and they were given no chance to make the NCAA tournament. It's not like the season was being considered a disappointment either. Many thought this was Bo Ryan's worst team ever during his tenure in Madison and the preseason loss of point guard Josh Gasser really hurt. At that point, any chances they had of making the tournament yet again this season had been thrown out the window. Something unusual, and this is what makes sports so darn awesome happened after New Year's- all of a sudden the Badgers gained some traction and their season sprung to life.

The Badgers began Big Ten Conference play with several okay wins, at home against Penn State and on the road against Nebraska. Alright then, couple of so-so wins. It’s nothing to get excited about. It's what happened after the Nebraska that caught everyone's attention. Illinois came into the Kohl Center on January 12^th feeling confident and left, well, not so much, losing 74-51. The Badgers went on the road three days later and pulled off perhaps the biggest upset of the college basketball season, defeating preseason number one and currently ranked number two Indiana 49-47. Wisconsin came down to earth in the next two games and I thought that the Badgers had peaked and were on their way down. They proceeded to come home and beat 12^th ranked Minnesota on a last second shot.

Some of this has been luck though. Indiana couldn't hit a shot to save their life that night and the Badgers needed to Gophers to have their worst game of the season offensively. But still, a win is a win is a win. The Badgers travel to Columbus tonight to take on Ohio State. How long can the magic last though? Well, let's wait and see, shall we?

Badgers getting ready for the tournament

Greg Gard sounded more like a traffic cop than the associate head coach for the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team earlier this week when he explained what the Badgers need to do on offense to be efficient and avoid scoring droughts.

"You've got to know how to drive the speed limit," Gard said. "Drive 65 in a 65 — not 90, and not 40. So you've got to find where to set the cruise control at."

Too often this season, UW has found itself stopped at a red light for what seems like an eternity. The clock ticks away, yet the Badgers' point total remains the same.

Those slumps may ultimately be what keep the Badgers from making an extended run in the NCAA tournament. In other words, one drought and fourth-seeded UW (24-9), which opens against 13th-seeded Montana (25-6) on Thursday afternoon at The Pit, might be out.

"We've got to try to avoid those situations as best we can," sophomore guard Josh Gasser said. "Because if they happen, unfortunately we don't get another chance to play."

There's no universal definition of what constitutes a drought, but UW fans certainly know it when they see it.

Three times in Saturday's 65-52 loss to Michigan State in a Big Ten Conference tournament semifinal, the Badgers went at least five possessions without scoring. One stretch lasted nine possessions and 7 minutes, 49 seconds; another lasted seven possessions and 4:57.

UW had at least one stretch of five or more possessions without a point in 16 of the 20 games it played this season against Big Ten opponents. The longest, in the first half at Penn State on Jan. 31, covered nine possessions and 9:04. Remarkably, UW found a way to win that game.

If fans think stretches like those are tough to watch, imagine being one of the Badgers trying to find a way to make the light turn green.

"You can feel it," UW senior Jordan Taylor, "so it's just a matter of trying to keep the other team on their heels and make them make decisions."

No drought is the same, either. Some have been caused by the Badgers, a team filled with streaky shooters, going cold from 3-point range.

In Saturday's game against Michigan State, Gard noted sloppy play and poor shot selection had a lot to do with the 7:49 drought that came after UW had used a 13-0 run to pull within 46-40 with 12:17 remaining in the game.

During the nine possessions that followed that spurt, UW had three turnovers and missed four times from 3-point range. Three of those misses were by junior forward Ryan Evans, who entered the game shooting 19.2 percent from beyond the arc.

UW's offense is at its best when players are moving without the ball and making hard cuts through the lane. On the flip side, the Badgers are at their worst when the offense goes stagnant and there's a lot of standing around as they pass the ball around the perimeter.

Dissect the Badgers' worst droughts this season and one finds much more of the latter than the former.

"You still have to be aggressive, and I think this group has done a good job of growing in that area, of being smart, being efficient but still staying aggressive," Gard said. "We've become better at that, I think more consistent with that.

"If you become too cautious, then you start to play hesitant, then you become passive, then you stand around and become stagnant. If you become too aggressive, then you end up charging, turn the ball over."

Both Taylor and Gasser said the Badgers need to do a better job of finding ways to get easy baskets to break the ice. UW doesn't push the ball up the floor very often, but that's one way to break out of a scoring rut.

Most of all, UW needs to be mentally tough during slumps and not let the previous possessions affect the current one.

"We can score the ball," UW senior swingman Rob Wilson said. "But when those droughts come, when it's 1, 2 minutes, we've got to pick it up and not let our last shot affect our next shot."

Gard admitted the Badgers don't have a large margin for error to begin with because of their style of play. This time of year, that margin gets even smaller.

"There's not a lot of mulligans that you can pull out of your pocket," he said. "You have to cash in any time you can. So you can't waste opportunities."

I sure hope the Badgers can make it to the sweet sixteen.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badger Basketball is picking up

Just two weeks ago it appeared the Wisconsin men’s basketball team’s (5-3 Big Ten, 16-5 overall) season was headed for disaster. With three straight losses, including a rare stretch of back-to-back home losses the Badger’s streak of 12 consecutive NCAA tournament births was in jeopardy. Fast forward just sixteen days later and Wisconsin suddenly finds itself only a half game out of first place in the conference after an impressive four-game Big Ten winning streak.

“So much of the schedule is who you play, when you play, who you played before, how many days off you get,” head coach Bo Ryan said.

Indeed the fickle nature of college basketball scheduling can sometimes either emphasize the struggles of a team, causing a team to quickly pile up loses, or trigger a win streak in a similar stretch if a team is hot.

“Because of the popularity and media coverage of college basketball, no sport is as controlled as college basketball,” Ryan said.  “Some weeks you could be playing on Monday-Tuesday, or Tuesday-Thursday, Thursday-Sunday, or you could have nine days off.”

Right now the schedule is working for the Badgers, as a combination of hot shooting and improved defense has allowed Ryan’s group to pull out a string of quality conference wins, including impressive road wins over Purdue (4-3, 14-6) and Illinois (4-3, 15-5).

“Anytime you have an object that you are trying to put in a target, you will have some nights that are better than others,” Ryan said. “In basketball you have the defensive end, which can allow you to fight through slumps and give you a chance to win.”

Improved quality and consistency from All-American senior point guard Jordan Taylor has elevated the Badger’s play during the win streak. During conference play, Taylor has taken more control of the offense, which at different points has yielded mixed results. During the four-game winning streak, Taylor’s play has brought the team out of shooting slumps and has kept them in close games.

“Jordan is always going to find a way to make the team more successful; which is what all players will do. It’s just he’s better at it,” Ryan said.

The Badgers look to continue their streak this week against No. 17 Indiana (4-4, 16-4) who come in as a surprising contender for the Big Ten title after finishing in the conference’s bottom tier for two consecutive seasons. After posting wins against the likes of No. 1 Kentucky and No. 2 Ohio State, the first time in Indiana’s prestigious basketball history that the basketball team beat a No. 1 and a No. 2 team in the same season, many are projecting Indiana to make a run deep into March. The credit goes to Indiana head coach Tom Crean, who has been able to attract talent back to Indiana with the likes of freshmen forward sensation Cody Zeller (15.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg). Combining young talent with the veteran presence that has learned Crean’s system has gotten the Hoosiers back into college basketball’s elite programs.

“There’s a lot of the same players, they have the experience and have played in the toughest environments,” Ryan said. “90 percent of [Indiana] players have been there for a long time. Everyone in the conference expected them to be good this year.”

Finding a way to contain Zeller will be key for Wisconsin. In addition, limiting Indiana offensively as a team will be key, as the Hoosiers shoot 50 percent from the field, which is sixth in the nation. The Badgers are up for the challenge, as they lead the conference in opponent field goal percentage. Wisconsin has been especially stifling from behind the arc, as it is allowing opponents to only shoot 26 percent from three-point range.

“There are a lot of things that go into that. Like other teams we look at a scouting report and try to stay consistent with our roles,” Ryan said. “There’s no magic formula, just a lot of hard work from our players who try to limit our opponent’s looks.”

Let's hope the Badgers can return to the NCAA tournament and make some waves.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badgers out of NCAA Tournament

In the Badgers first two possessions Thursday night, what seemed like reason for optimism actually served as a grim foreshadowing of what was to come.

On each of UW's first two trips, Wisconsin worked the ball into the post and got good looks from senior forward Jon Leuer. He missed each, but usually going inside ensures some level of consistency.

Not on this night.

Wisconsin fell behind early and looked flustered throughout. It was a bad shooting night from its two top scorers until late in the second half, but Butler opened up a commanding lead and held on late to top UW 61-54 and end the Badgers' season.

The Bulldogs will face Florida Saturday night for a trip to the Final Four. 

Wisconsin caught fire late and trimmed what was a 20-point gap to just four with 1:38 remaining when junior guard Jordan Taylor hit a three. The junior finished the night with 22 points on 6-19 shooting (3-10 three-point attempts).

However, before the late-game frenzy, UW's offense was lethargic at best.  

Leuer frequently caught the ball in the post, but where the First Team All-Big Ten performer usually converts on a near-automatic basis, he found unfriendly results with Butler.

The Orono, Minn. native finished the game with an ugly 1-12 mark from the field (1-6 on three-point attempts) and three points.

"Overall, if you look at a shot chart, I like most of the shots we got," Ryan said. "At some point, you just have to make some of them."

Leuer certainly was not alone in his struggles, though.

In one stretch that spanned the final portion of the first half and beginning of the second half, Wisconsin went 10:05 without a field goal.

"We touched the ball in the post four out of five times [to start the second half] and came up with nothing," Ryan said.

Junior point guard Jordan Taylor—who struggled shooting in a 2-of-16 performance last Saturday against Kansas State—added carelessness with the basketball to shooting woes against Butler.

The point guard, despite his astounding numbers when it comes to protecting the ball—he entered the game leading the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.18—was credited with two turnovers in the first half and generally forced the issue on the offensive end.

"We made [poor] plays that are uncharacteristic of how we play," Leuer said. "We tried to force some things offensively … and just did some things [we] normally don't."

Butler capitalized nearly every time UW stumbled and led 33-24 at the half, largely because the Bulldogs outscored UW 15-1 in points off turnovers.

As uncharacteristic as the cough-ups were for Taylor, he also missed four free throws in the first half. Coming into the season, Taylor converted his free throws at an 85 percent clip.

The junior finished the night with 22 points on 6-19 shooting.

The Bulldogs got exceptional play from senior forward Matt Howard, who finished with 20 points. In addition to scoring, he grabbed 12 big rebounds (three offensive) and seemed to track down the ball whenever the situation required it. Howard scored inside and outside and aptly closed out on Wisconsin shooters like senior forward Keaton Nankivil, who scored nine points in his final game as a Badger.

"We just needed to put a few more minutes together here tonight so we could keep dancing," Ryan said. "Unfortunately, the music stopped playing."

As a team, UW shot just 30.4 percent from the field (17-56) and 24.1 percent from beyond the arc (7-29)

The Badgers exceeded expectations this whole this season. Needless to say, though, Thursday's performance fell short.

Let's hope that next year they can go farther.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badgers may have to go without Bruesewitz

Mike Bruesewitz took part in a limited practice Tuesday but the sophomore forward's availability for the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team's opening game in the NCAA tournament remains in question.

"He remains day-to-day, but its (sic) a positive step," the school announced via the official UW men's basketball Twitter page.

Bruesewitz sustained a sprained right knee in Friday's loss to Penn State in a Big Ten Conference tournament game.

The Badgers (23-8), who drew the fourth seed in the Southeast Region, will face 13th-seeded Belmont (30-4) on Thursday at 6:27 p.m., a game that will be televised by TruTV.

Let's hope Bucky is playing on Saturday.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

March Madness

The 2010-'11 men's basketball campaign has thus far stuck to the Bo Ryan script. Ryan took a team picked to finish in the middle of the Big Ten standings and wound up continuing his streak of now 10 seasons of top-four finishes top four in the conference.

Heading into the conference tournament in Indianapolis this weekend, the expectations are high for a Wisconsin team that carries the third seed in the tournament.

Despite coming into the postseason winning eight of the last 10, the Badgers know that regular season success does not guarantee  a tournament run. Take one look at the way the 2009-'10 campaign finished (second round loss to Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament and second round loss to Cornell in the NCAA Tournament) and that fact should be fairly well established.

"Last year was a different year, a different team," freshman guard Josh Gasser said. "This is what we've worked toward, to win a Big Ten title and go to the Final Four."

Still, for every point of criticism that could be made against Ryan's program and its lack of a Final Four run, it is hard to argue with two conference tournament titles, four Big Ten championship game appearances and 12 NCAA Tournament victories, three more than the Wisconsin program had in the 96 years prior to hiring Ryan.

First team All-Big Ten selections Jordan Taylor and Jon Leuer have combined for 37.1 points per game this season, second most in the Big Ten and sixth in the nation. Add in the fact that Taylor is currently on pace for an NCAA record with his 4.26 assist to turnover ratio, and it seems that the talent is certainly there for a postseason run.

As much as the blowout loss to Ohio State on Sunday brings back thoughts of the Cornell loss, it is difficult to compare last year's team with a Badger squad this season who is on pace to set NCAA records for free throw percentage (82.7 percent), turnovers per game (7.47) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.79), all while carrying the nation's second most efficient offense (1.19 points per possession) and ninth best scoring defense (59.1 points per game).

Simply put, the Wisconsin system is built for tournament play.

"It's what our system is predicated off of. Taking care of the ball and not giving the other team easy opportunities, easy run-outs and defensively just being sound," Leuer said. "Obviously you have to hit shots but if you play good defense and rebound, you're going to have a chance to win any game."

With a favorable matchup set for Friday (Wisconsin will face the winner of Thursday's Penn State-Indiana game), the stars are starting to align for what the Badgers hope is a long run into the postseason.

"We are going down there to win the thing," Leuer said. "We wanted to win the Big Ten regular season and obviously we didn't get a chance to do that but now we have a new opportunity in front of us."

It would be awesome if the Badgers could win the Big Ten Tournament.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!