Wisconsin 70, Ohio State 57: Last word
MADISON — Wisconsin continued its trend of playing well at home Sunday, taking down Ohio State 70-57 to claim a regular season sweep of the Buckeyes for the first time since 2005.
Player of the Game: Brevin Pritzl
The senior went off, scoring a season-high 19 points. It included a pair of 3-pointers and two assists in a 16-0 run to end the first half that gave the Badgers an 18-point lead at the break. When Ohio State got within 11 to open the second half, Pritzl responded with a layup and a 3-pointer. He finished the game with five 3-pointers, one off his career-high. Wisconsin is now 8-0 when Pritzl scores in double figures.
https://twitter.com/WisconsinOnBTN/status/1226596263694487552
The good: Aleem Ford
When Ford is aggressive and is willing to bang down low, he’s at his best. On Sunday, he was and he produced a solid game on both ends of the floor. He had 10 points and a career-high nine rebounds, including four on the offensive end. He shot a season-high eight times but also dished out three assists and, after getting turned around a couple times in the first half, more than held his own on the defensive end.
The not so good: Outside shooting
If you take Pritzl out of the equation, the rest of the Badgers were 7-for-26 (26.9 percent) from beyond the arc.
Stat of the Game: 24
That was Wisconsin’s biggest lead of the game. The Badgers have now led or trailed by at least 18 points in six of their last seven games.
Best Video:
https://twitter.com/WisconsinOnBTN/status/1226596263694487552
What they said:
Trevor Anderson on what they took from the 2000 Final Four team that was honored during halftime.
"Everything we've learned from them is just about playing for the W on the front of your jersey. They said there were like (12-11) at one point in the season. It just shows that anything can happen when you buy in and play for each other, so that's a good message for us."
In Case You Missed It
— Wisconsin honored the 2000 Final Four team with a halftime ceremony. A healthy contingent of the team returned to Madison, but the biggest cheers came for coach Dick Bennett.
https://twitter.com/ZachHeilprin/status/1226580840483868672
— Playing in his second game against his former team, Micah Potter made his first start with the Badgers. He finished with 9 points and 5 rebounds in 23 minutes.
— D'Mitrik Trice continued his strong play of late with a career-high 8 assists. He's now had at least five assists in five of the last six games.
- A large collection of future recruits were in the crowd. That included 2020 signees Johnny and Jordan Davis, Steven Crowl and Carter Gilmore. 2021 commit Chris Hodges also was in attendance.
What’s next?
Wisconsin (14-10, 7-6) will travel to Nebraska (7-16, 2-10) on Saturday to take on the Huskers.
Wisconsin Basketball Roundtable: Feb. 7, 2020
On this week's Wisconsin Basketball Roundtable, our former Badgers -- Brian Butch, Josh Gasser and Mike Bruesewitz -- talk about a difficult week for the team, the impact of the off the court distractions and their memories of the 2000 Final Four team.
Wisconsin, Notre Dame to play under the lights at Lambeau Field
Wisconsin will play at least two night games in 2020.
The program announced Friday that its game against Notre Dame at Lambeau Field on Oct. 3 will kickoff at 6:30 p.m.
https://twitter.com/BadgerFootball/status/1225844534464143365
It was already announced the Badgers season opener against Indiana will be a night game on Sept. 4.
The matchup with the Fighting Irish is the first of two games between the schools, with the other taking place in 2021 at Solider Field in Chicago. The game this fall will see the two teams play for the first time since 1964. Notre Dame leads the all-time series 8-6-2.
For Wisconsin, this will be the second time it has played at the home of the Green Bay Packers. The Badgers opened the 2016 season at the historic venue and beat No. 5 LSU 16-14.
Badgers blown out in Minnesota
Wisconsin’s early season road woes have returned at an inopportune time.
After blowout losses at Michigan State and Purdue in January, the Badgers got pummeled once again, this time falling at Minnesota 70-52.
Coach Greg Gard’s club gave up a season-high 45 points in the first half and trailed by 13 at the break. Things got worse after halftime, with the Gophers building their lead by as many as 22. After shooting 42.0 percent from the field this season — ranked 262nd in the country — the Badgers allowed Minnesota to hit on 54.5 percent of its shots in the first half, including 50 percent from beyond the arc.
Defense wasn't the only issue. Wisconsin shot just 28.4 percent from the field, which was a season low and the lowest by the school since hitting on just 23.5 of its shots in a loss to Oklahoma in 2015.
Wisconsin started the year 0-5 away from the Kohl Center before winning three-straight, including two at ranked teams. But in the last four trips on the road — at Michigan State, Purdue, Iowa and Minnesota — the Badgers have trailed by at least 20 points in three of them.
The Gophers were led by 21 points from Peyton Willis, while Daniel Oturu had 17 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks.
Wisconsin got 14 points from Nate Reuvers and 11 points and 15 rebounds from Micah Potter.
The loss dropped the Badgers (13-10, 6-6) into a three-way tie with Minnesota for seventh in the Big Ten. They’ll return home on Saturday to take on Ohio State.
Wisconsin S&C coach Erik Helland resigns
Wisconsin announced Thursday afternoon that head strength and conditioning coach Erik Helland had resigned his position.
According to the school, Helland used a racial epithet while recounting a story from his days working in the NBA.
"UW Athletics administration was informed last weekend that Helland, while recounting a story from earlier in his NBA career, had used a racial epithet in the presence of multiple Wisconsin men’s basketball student-athletes. UW Athletics confirmed that assertion on Sunday. UW Athletics works to promote a safe and welcoming environment for its student-athletes and staff and the aforementioned language used does not align with the values of the athletic department, men’s basketball program or the university."
Helland, who had been with Wisconsin since 2013 after spending 25 years working in the NBA, did not travel with the team to its game at Minnesota.
A report from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Wednesday night stated the UW was looking into the use of a racial slur made to former Badgers guard Kobe King. In its statement on Thursday, Wisconsin said that wasn't the case.
"Multiple public reports have indicated that UW Athletics has been investigating the alleged use of racially insensitive language directed at one student-athlete. That allegation is inaccurate. UW Athletics has no evidence -- nor has it been alleged to the athletic department -- that Helland directed racially insensitive language toward any member of the men’s basketball team."
Wisconsin will host Ohio State on Sunday at the Kohl Center.
4-star RB Jalen Berger signs with Wisconsin
Wisconsin finished off its 2020 recruiting class Wednesday with the signature of running back Jalen Berger.
The 4-star recruit made it official during a signing ceremony at his high school, Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.).
https://twitter.com/BadgerFootball/status/1225144441536679937
Berger announced his commitment to the Badgers at the All-American Bowl in San Antonio in early January, picking them over offers from UCLA, LSU, Rutgers and others. But Greg Schiano, the new coach for the Scarlet Knights, and others didn’t give up, heavily pursuing the No. 15 running back in the country. But he never wavered, sticking with Wisconsin.
According to the 247Sports Composite, Berger is rated as the No. 3 player in the state of New Jersey. He is the second-highest rated running back (John Clay, 2007) the Badgers have landed in the recruiting rankings era.
Berger’s hometown of Ramsey, N.J., is about 150 miles north of Salem, N.J., the town that produced Wisconsin star Jonathan Taylor.
Before Taylor and Berger, the Badgers had also hit it big with several other players from the state, including Ron Dayne, Anthony Davis and Corey Clement.
The 6-foot, 205-pound Berger is the lone scholarship running back in Wisconsin’s 2020 class. It’s a class that now ranks No. 25 in the country. That would be the highest finish in the recruiting rankings era for the Badgers.
Here's the full class of scholarship players:
https://youtu.be/WEEuZkJI0cM
Former Packers safety Willie Wood has died
Another great of the Vince Lombardi-era Green Bay Packers has passed away.
The team announced Monday night that safety Willie Wood had died in Washington D.C. at the age of 83. Wood had been suffering from advanced dementia for nearly a decade or more.
Undrafted in a day and age when the NFL Draft lasted 20 rounds, Wood played for the Packers from 1960 to 1971. A five-time All-Pro, the Southern California product finished with 48 interceptions — the second-most in team history.
Wood never missed a game in his career and was a part of all five of Lombardi’s NFL Championship teams. That included the 1966 unit that played in the first Super Bowl against Kansas City. Wood had a game-changing interception that he returned 50 yards, setting up a Green Bay touchdown. The Packers went on to a 35-14 win over the Chiefs.
Eighteen years after his playing career with the Packers came to an end, Wood was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, one of 12 Lombardi-era players to make it. With his death, only five are still alive.
The Swing: Feb. 3, 2020
On this week's episode of The Swing, Zach Heilprin and Jesse Temple recap the Badgers win over Michigan State, talk about the Kobe King and Brad Davison situations, and are joined by the Wisconsin State Journal's Jim Polzin.
Wisconsin 64, (14) Michigan State 63: Last word
MADISON — Fighting through a week adversity, the Wisconsin basketball did just enough to upset No. 14 Michigan State 64-63 on Saturday at the Kohl Center.
Player of the Game: D’Mitrik Trice, Brevin Pritzl
With Brad Davison suspended and Kobe King leaving the team, the two starting guards played 78 of a possible 80 minutes against the Spartans. The duo combined for 24 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and just two turnovers. They didn’t shoot it great, especially in the second half, but they did just enough to get Wisconsin across the finish line with a win.
The good: Aleem Ford
The last time Wisconsin played Michigan State, Ford played just six minutes and didn’t score. On Saturday, the junior played 34 minutes and scored 13 points on 5 of 6 shooting. His back-to-back 3-pointers late in the second half were huge when the Badgers were struggling to get anything going offensively. He was also strong on the defensive end and helped limit the Spartans to just two offensive rebounds after halftime. It was easily Ford’s best all around game of the season.
The not so good: The final 7:27 on offense
Wisconsin did not make a single shot in the final 7:27 of the game and scored just four points overall. That came five days after the Badgers had only five points in the final 7:13 of a loss at Iowa. Luckily for them, they were much better defensively on Saturday and held off the Spartans.
Stat of the Game: 2
That’s how many points Tyler Wahl scored, but it’s also evidence that you don’t need to put up a bunch of points to have an impact. Making his second career start, the true freshman also had several big rebounds late in the game and a huge block of a Michigan State shot with 17 seconds left.
Best Tweets:
https://twitter.com/JonLeuer30/status/1223700142714388480
https://twitter.com/dekker/status/1223700656046989318
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Best Video:
https://twitter.com/BadgerMBB/status/1223693074687242240
What they said:
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo
“We got our ass kicked today by a team that played for their coach, played for their school, played for each other.”
Wisconsin coach Greg Gard
“Proud of our guys and the guys in that locker room that really embrace and appreciate and understand what it means to wear that Wisconsin jersey."
In Case You Missed It
— Guard Brad Davison missed the game due to a one-game suspension handed down by the Big Ten for his flagrant foul on Monday at Iowa. Davison sat on the bench Saturday and acted as another assistant coach throughout the game.
-- King officially left the program midweek and on his way out told the Wisconsin State Journal that he felt Gard treated him like a servant, only interested in how he could help the coach win games. At least one national writer, Rob Dauster, said the program had fallen into disarray with the Davison and King news. That, combined with having lost three of their last four games, led to at least some boos when Gard was introduced prior to the game. While he didn't show it after the game, the week was clearly an emotional one for the fourth-year head coach. It's notable that much of Gard's immediate family stood in the back of the room during his post-game press conference.
— With Davison and King not available, the Badgers had just seven scholarship players dressed. All seven played, with walk-on Walt McGrory also getting three minutes of action.
— Nate Reuvers led Wisconsin in scoring with 15 points. He was one of four Badgers to hit double digits and also hit two 3-pointers.
What’s next?
Wisconsin (13-9, 6-5) will travel Minnesota (11-10, 5-6) on Wednesday to take on the Gophers.
Wisconsin Basketball Roundtable: Jan. 31, 2020
On this week's episode of the Wisconsin Basketball Roundtable, our former Badgers -- Brian Butch, Josh Gasser and Mike Bruesewitz -- tackle the Kobe King situation, Brad Davison's suspension and facing Michigan State. The Athletic's Jesse Temple also joins the show.
