As Michigan State comes into town for a weekend series at the Kohl Center, Wisconsin is flying high on one of its longest winning streaks of the season.
The Badgers (18-5-3 WCHA, 23-5-4 overall) will take on St. Cloud State (4-21-1, 7-25-1) this weekend in the final conference series of the year. Minnesota clinched the regular season WCHA title last weekend, but Wisconsin will look to finish the campaign strong and gain some momentum for the conference playoffs beginning next week.
It wasn’t pretty, but Wisconsin was still able to slog through a tenacious Penn State team and put another Big Ten road win on the board. The Badgers (12-1 Big Ten, 24-2 overall) prevailed 55-47 over a Nittany Lions team (3-11, 15-12) that played very unlike the Big Ten’s cellar dweller.
When No. 5 Wisconsin and Penn State square off Wednesday night at 6 p.m. in University Park, Pennsylvania, it will be a matchup of two teams that are on opposite sides of the Big Ten spectrum.
Sportswriters are, admittedly, not the pinnacles of journalism. We aren’t overseas covering wars, reporting on the latest medical discoveries or having our helicopter shot down by an RPG in Iraq.
Walking into Madison Fresh Market the other day, I noticed they had a 2/$5 deal on gallons of milk. Naturally, I got both gallons, because deals where I can get two amazing and equal products at the same price don’t arise often. The Green Bay Packers are faced with the same situation here, but instead of dairy, they are looking at wide receivers. With Jordy Nelson already inking his bargain payday of just over $39 million over four years, his wideout partner Randall Cobb is up next. Many outside and inside of the organization feared Cobb would cost too much to retain after his breakout season, but sources on Monday indicate that Cobb only desires a deal similar to Nelson’s. If that’s the case, Ted Thompson is walking out of the negotiation room with two under-30, No. 1 receivers at just over $18 million per year combined.
Just as one item was checked off his offseason to-do list, head coach Paul Chryst will have to pencil in another before he can begin his first season leading the Badgers.
Five coaches came to the podium Monday afternoon, all going through various levels of success.
In a redeeming performance, the Badgers (5-6 overall) won four of their six games in the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi tournament this weekend to alleviate some of this season’s early disappointment.
The Badgers (4-10 Big Ten, 8-16 overall) fell 70-63 to Nebraska (8-6, 18-7) Sunday afternoon in Lincoln despite stellar performances from senior forward Jacki Gulczynski and senior guard Nicole Bauman.
The Badgers (18-5-3 WCHA, 23-5-4 overall) traveled to Columbus to take on the Buckeyes (12-11-3, 17-12-3) and came away with a series split, taking the first game 2-0 and falling in the second, 4-3.
As the college hockey season approached its end, the Badgers were still looking for their first Big Ten conference win. Saturday, the Badgers (1-9-2 Big Ten, 3-19-4 overall) finally got it, grabbing a 3-2 win in the second game of their road series against Ohio State (3-9-0, 8-16-2).
The recipe for success for No. 5 Wisconsin has been fairly consistent during its current eight-game winning streak, and Sunday afternoon was no different.
After struggling in the first tournament of the year, Wisconsin (1-4 overall) hopes to fare better this weekend in the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi tournament in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The last time they met, the Wisconsin Badgers and the Ohio State Buckeyes were competing for conference supremacy in the Big Ten tournament championship game.
Despite having five players score in double digits, Wisconsin (4-9 Big Ten, 8-15 overall) came up short Wednesday against Minnesota (8-5, 18-6), losing 93-82.
With the playoffs right around the corner, the Badgers head to Ohio State for their last road series of the season. For the Buckeyes’ leading scorer, sophomore forward Claudia Kepler, it is a little taste of home coming to Columbus.
The Wooden Award committee came out Wednesday with their short list of the 20 players in the country that can win the prestigious Wooden Player of the Year award. Of course, they could likely have just shortened that list to two players.
Throughout the student section they stand, 150 strong, with hoarse voices and red shirts bearing a screaming depiction of their namesake across the chest.
Read on Issuu
Solutions by The State News
