WASHINGTON — After falling to Iowa on Jordan Bohannon’s 3-pointer with under 10 seconds to play a week ago, the Badgers walked sullenly into the media room of the Kohl Center and quietly, robotically answered questions.
Once the third period started, the Badgers were finally able to get their legs going. From the start of the final frame, the Badgers were pushing the puck up ice, creating shots on goal and crashing the net for rebounds.
The last time the No. 16 Badgers (12-6-0 Big Ten, 19-12-1 overall) met the No. 15 Buckeyes (9-8-1, 18-10-6), Ohio State erased a two-goal deficit with just two minutes left to force an overtime period in Madison Square Garden.
In this week's episode, host Bobby Ehrlich chats with women's hockey beat writer Cameron Lane-Flehinger, who breaks down the NCAA Tournament bracket and Wisconsin's chances of winning it all.
A year ago, the Badgers strode into the Big Ten Tournament one of the hottest teams in the conference, having won 11-of-13 games and locking up a 15th-straight Top 4 finish.
Top-ranked Wisconsin continued its quest for a fifth national title, winning the WCHA Final Face-Off last weekend for the third-straight year.
For the first time since 2001, the No. 12 Wisconsin Badgers will have a diver at the NCAA Championships. Senior Ashley Peterson punched her ticket and became the first diver of any gender to qualify in 16 years after an impressive sixth-place finish in the platform event with a score of 507.80 at the NCAA Zone D qualifiers in Columbia, Mo.
Four Wisconsin swimmers and four relays were selected by the NCAA to compete at the men’s National Championships later this month. There are twelve total individual entries confirmed for the meet, which means that every swimmer was selected to swim in three events. The individual entries include: Cannon Clifton: 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly Victor Goicoechea: 200-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle, mile Matt Hutchins: 200-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle, mile Brett Pinfold: 200-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, 200-yard backstroke Griffin Back, Harrison Tran, Ryan Barsanti and Ryan Stack are also expected to compete as relay-only swimmers. The NCAA National Championships will take place at the storied IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis March 22-25.
In the spring semester of his sophomore year, Matt Ferris found himself enrolled in Calculus 213 with his high-profile teammate, Nigel Hayes. Hayes was a serious contributor on a team that came within a few minutes of a national championship, while Ferris scored a total of two points in 17 minutes over the course of the season.
For the Badgers, Tim Davison, Jake Bunz, Jarod Zirbel, Jake Linhart and Jason Ford all dreamed about playing for Wisconsin since they were little kids. All five current Badgers grew up in Wisconsin, and their careers have been dedicated to finding their way to UW.
There are lots of things that can derail the draft stock of an NFL prospect. A poor combine showing, injury issues, and even small hands on a quarterback are often red flags for team scouts. However, nothing embarrases draft prospects more than social media mishaps, which give players unwanted attention and can send them tumbling down draft boards. The most recent example of this occurred before last year’s NFL Draft, as the Twitter account of Laremy Tunsil posted a video of the offensive tackle smoking out of a bong.
Men’s Hockey As the season comes to an end, post-season anticipation rises for the Badgers.
For the Wisconsin wrestling team, the 2017 schedule has been a full course meal. The All-Star Classic and Pointer Open served as the amuse-bouche, a small appetizer used to stimulate hunger, for their upcoming season. Indeed, the Pointer Open did just that. The Badgers’ explosive start to tournament action began with five first-place titles and two runner-up honors.
Offensive fireworks were the theme of the weekend for Wisconsin Softball, as the Badgers outscored their opponents 35-7 on the way to a 3-0 record in the Houston Hilton Plaza Classic.
When the NCAA announced the eight-team bracket for the 2017 women’s ice hockey tournament on March 5, it didn’t come with any surprises for the top-ranked Wisconsin Badgers, but it did bring some welcome news, and some unknown matchups. No. 1 in both polls and coming off a WCHA regular season and tournament title, the Badgers were effectively assured of a tournament berth and a first-round matchup at home.
Getting to Harrison, New Jersey may not be what most people would consider as a huge step in their career.
“I feel like we can run the table, I really do,” said Nigel Hayes, maybe. Well perhaps that’s a bit of a stretch, but Badgers fans, coaches and players alike all had to let out a huge collective sigh of relief after Wisconsin’s convincing 66-49 win over Minnesota Sunday. The victory snapped a three-game skid for UW and a brutal stretch of basketball where it had lost five of six.
University of Minnesota-Duluth goaltender Maddie Rooney had stolen the show the day before against Minnesota, and for 40 minutes, she threatened to do the same to Wisconsin in the final of the WCHA Tournament. The sophomore netminder had turned back 42 of the Badgers’ 43 shots, and with the score tied 1-1 the game, and the conference title, were up for grabs in the final period. It took junior forward Annie Pankowski just 33 seconds to break the tie, the first of three goals in the final frame that gave No. 1 Wisconsin (22-2-4 WCHA, 31-2-4 overall) a 4-1 win over No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth (19-5-4, 25-6-5). The victory gave the Badgers the WCHA Tournament title, their third consecutive and seventh overall. "I'm excited for the players," head coach Mark Johnson told UWBadgers.com.
In the week leading up to his team’s final game of the regular season, Bronson Koenig made one thing clear: He wants to be remembered as a winner. After playing just five minutes in the first half thanks to two early fouls, the senior guard reiterated his sentiments on the court, burying five second-half threes en route to a blowout of Minnesota (11-7 Big Ten, 23-8 overall). Koenig led the way as the No. 22 Badgers (12-6, 23-8) ran away with a victory on senior night, 66-49. UW trailed by two points at the break, as they shot just 38.7 percent from the floor and missed four of their five free throws.
Coaches often stress the importance of playing with a lead. Playing with a lead allows a team to skate with confidence and play more sound hockey without taking chances.
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