Wisconsin Badgers: 25-9, 12-6 in the Big Ten
Head Coach: Greg Gard (1st season)
Players to watch: Bronson Koenig (14.2 PPG, 38.7 3PT%, 89.8 FT%); Ethan Happ (13.9 PPG, 9.1 RPG); Nigel Hayes (13.5 PPG, 6.5 RPG)
Season recap: Head coach Greg Gard’s squad got off to a strong start in his first full season—he led the team to the Sweet 16 last year as the interim coach following Bo Ryan's retirement—as the Badgers cruised to victories in 21 of their first 24 games. Their three losses all came to quality opponents in North Carolina, Creighton and Purdue, and all three occurred away from home. However, after winning 10 of its first 11 conference games, Wisconsin fell into a deep slump, losing five of its next six games to let the Boilermakers claim the regular-season conference crown.
The Badgers recovered enough to win their final two regular-season games and finish second in the league before advancing to the Big Ten tournament title game and falling 71-56 to red-hot Michigan Sunday.
Senior point guard Bronson Koenig has once again helped fuel Wisconsin's success this year. The veteran is typically the team's go-to perimeter scorer in crunch time but was banged up late in the year, placing more of a burden on star forwards Ethan Happ and Nigel Hayes. Although Happ leads the team in assists as a first-team All-Big Ten performer inside, the Badgers often struggle to score unless their leading trio is playing well at the same time.
How they make a run: Koenig and Hayes—who both played against Duke in the 2015 national championship—use their tournament experience to their advantage and step up in crunch time to get Wisconsin back to the Sweet 16 with an upset of Villanova.
How they falter: Hayes and Koenig go cold, and Wisconsin's stingy defense that only allows 61.4 points per contest cannot keep up with Virginia Tech's speed on the perimeter.
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Digital Strategy Director for Vol. 115, Michael was previously Sports Editor for Vol. 114 and Assistant Blue Zone Editor for Vol. 113. Michael is a senior majoring in Statistical Science and is interested in data analytics and using data to make insights.