Wisconsin is perhaps a good example of what a lot of teams have had to do this season, especially in the Big Ten. They’ve had to deal with plenty of ups and downs, winning streaks and losing streaks, and adversity that didn’t come as a result of wins or losses. While some teams have to deal with more, this is certainly a lot for many teams to deal with.
As we head towards the final week of the regular season, though, there aren’t many teams playing better than the Badgers. They won their fifth straight on Thursday night, and in so doing knocked off another team that has been playing well at the right time and on the road to boot, winning at Michigan 81-74.
Wisconsin never trailed in this one, leading by ten at the half but having to hold off the Wolverines after intermission. Michigan would get within three at one point, then D’Mitrik Trice had an answer, which he had a lot of on the night as he had 28 points, and that was enough to keep the Wolverines at bay the rest of the night.
Zavier Simpson had a career-high 32 points for Michigan, but it wasn’t enough to extend their winning streak to six games and pick up their tenth Big Ten win. That will have to wait at least until Sunday, when they go to Ohio State.
The Badgers now join three other teams tied for second behind Maryland in the Big Ten. It’s one more sign of how little separation there is in the conference in the top 12 teams, as is a look at who has knocked them off. The Badgers don’t have a bad loss on the season, but symbolic of the Big Ten, they have been defeated by Rutgers, Purdue, Iowa and Minnesota, all of who are below them in the standings. They have proven their mettle in part with wins over Maryland, Michigan State and Penn State, all of who are tied with or ahead of the Badgers.
Early on, the Badgers lost three straight, with two coming in Brooklyn in the Legends Classic and the third on a trip to NC State in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. They rebounded to win five out of the next six. Then in January, second-leading scorer Kobe King left the program, then they lost their third in four games. Brad Davison was then suspended a game by the Big Ten for a flagrant foul near the end of the Iowa game, and a week later they would make it four losses in six games when Minnesota beat them in Minneapolis to drop them to 6-6 in Big Ten play. Since then, they have won five in a row.
In a sense, the way a team appears to be trending at a given time almost seems meaningless this season. Teams have had three- and four-game winning streaks snapped by teams seemingly not as good as they are, then knocked off seemingly better teams to end losing stretches. Momentum seems to be less existent this season.
The Badgers, however, appear to have some, and their next two games are at home against Minnesota and Northwestern before they go to Indiana. It wouldn’t be shocking if they go to Bloomington for the regular season finale with a seven-game winning streak. They have already overcome plenty to get to this point.
Side Dishes
Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Purdue snapped a four-game losing streak with a 57-49 win over Indiana, Ohio State took care of Nebraska 75-54 in Lincoln, and Illinois handled Northwestern 74-66.
Oregon took care of Oregon State 69-54 in Eugene in Pac-12 action, pulling away in the second half. Elsewhere, it gets more interesting. The surprise of the night was Cal upending Colorado 76-61 in Berkeley, though we should give Mark Fox’s team credit as they have vastly improved this season. USC scored a big 57-48 win over Arizona in Los Angeles, while UCLA edged Arizona State 75-72 on a three-pointer in the final second to grab a share of the lead in the Pac-12 – which was unthinkable many months ago. UCLA has now won six straight.
Merrimack clinched at least a tie for the regular season title in the Northeast Conference, a remarkable achievement for a first-year Division I team. The Warriors handled Central Connecticut 69-58 in North Andover to finish 14-4 in the NEC, which Saint Francis U can equal after they moved to 13-4 with a 75-62 win over Mount St. Mary’s. The Warriors are ineligible for the conference tournament since they cannot play in an NCAA-sanctioned tournament, but they will almost certainly be in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT).
Little Rock clinched at least a share of the regular season title in the Sun Belt with a 79-63 win over Louisiana-Monroe getting 32 points from Markquis Nowell. The Trojans were picked 11th in the conference’s preseason poll, so Darrell Walker should win the conference Coach of the Year award in a walk.
The MAAC got more interesting last night as Niagara beat St. Peter’s 63-54. That drops the Peacocks a game back in the loss column after they had been in the lead recently, and they’re even with Monmouth in that category, though the Hawks have two more games to play than the Peacocks do.
There was a dandy in Conference USA last night between two teams chasing North Texas. While the Mean Green took care of Florida International 78-59, Western Kentucky got 43 points from Taveion Hollingsworth to hold off Louisiana Tech 95-91 in overtime. Hollingsworth originally sent the game to overtime with a game-tying three-pointer in the final seconds of regulation, so he was Mr. Clutch all night long for the Hilltoppers.
The CAA regular season is winding down, and for the moment, Hofstra can’t clinch an outright regular season title as Towson beat them 76-65 in Hempstead last night. One other key game was College of Charleston stopping a four-game losing streak by knocking off Delaware 80-71, putting both teams at 10-7 entering the regular season finale.
It’s only fitting that the game that may decide the Summit League regular season title went to overtime. North Dakota State got a big stop late in the extra session to win their 10th straight home game by holding off South Dakota State 71-69. The Jackrabbits would have clinched an outright regular season title with a win, but now they must wait as the Bison host Omaha on Saturday.
Finally, Eastern Washington has pulled ahead in the Big Sky as a result of their 69-51 win at Southern Utah and Montana losing 57-56 at Northern Arizona last night. The Eagles are a game up on the Grizzlies with each having three games left. Montana swept their head-to-head meetings, so the Eagles will have to win the conference outright to also get the top seed in the Big Sky Tournament.
Tonight’s Menu
As usual, it’s a light night of action with a baker’s dozen Division I games on tap.
- They get started with a MAC contest as Kent State visits Ohio (6:30 p.m.)
- Dayton’s latest test in the Atlantic 10 comes in the form of a visit from Davidson (7 p.m.)
- Rivals in the Peach State battle as Georgia State hosts Georgia Southern (7 p.m.), and another rivalry game in the Sun Belt is on tap later as UT Arlington hosts Texas State (9 p.m.)
- In the Ivy League, Princeton visits Brown, Penn goes to Yale, Harvard visits Columbia and Dartmouth visits Cornell, all tipping at 7 p.m.
- In the MAAC, Quinnipiac travels to Fairfield and Marist hosts Siena (7 p.m.), then Monmouth visits Rider (9 p.m.)
- A showdown in the Horizon League is on tap as Northern Kentucky hosts Wright State (7 p.m.)
- A Pac-12 battle is also on tap as Washington hosts Washington State (9 p.m.)
