WISCONSIN MEN’S BASKETBALL 2016 NCAA TOURNAMENT GUIDE MARCH 25 & 27 WELLS FARGO CENTER PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA WISCONSIN BASKETBALL Will Decorah Brevin Pritzl Jordan Smith Zak Showalter Matt Ferris Aaron Moesch 0 G, Jr., 6-4, 205 1 G, Fr., 6-3, 185 2 G, R-Sr., 6-3, 181 3 G, R-Jr., 6-2, 184 4 G, So., 6-6, 196 5 F, R-So., 6-8, 211 Waunakee, Wis. De Pere, Wis. Orono, Minn. Germantown, Wis. Appleton, Wis. Green Bay, Wis. Nigel Hayes Jordan Hill Jackson Bax Charlie Thomas T.J. Schlundt Khalil Iverson 10 F, Jr., 6-8, 240 11 G, R-So., 6-3, 178 13 G, Fr., 5-11, 157 15 F, Fr., 6-8, 253 20 G, R-Fr., 6-5, 194 21 G/F, Fr., 6-5, 205 Toledo, Ohio Pasadena, Calif. Frankfort, Ill. Highland, Md. Oconomowoc, Wis. Delaware, Ohio Ethan Happ Bronson Koenig Alex Illikainen Vitto Brown Andy Van Vliet 22 F, R-Fr., 6-9, 235 24 G, Jr., 6-4, 193 25 F, Fr., 6-9, 220 30 F, Jr., 6-8, 230 33 F, Fr., 6-11, 203 Milan, Ill. La Crosse, Wis. Grand Rapids, Minn. Bowling Green, Ohio Antwerp, Belgium WISCONSIN ROSTER POS HT WT YR/ELIG HOMETOWN (HIGH SCHOOL) 0 Will Decorah G 6-4 205 Jr./Jr. Waunakee, Wis. (HS) 1 Brevin Pritzl G 6-3 185 Fr./Fr. De Pere, Wis. (HS) 2 Jordan Smith*** G 6-3 181 5th/Sr. Orono, Minn. (HS) 3 Zak Showalter** G 6-2 184 Sr./Jr. Germantown, Wis. (HS) 4 Matt Ferris (+) G 6-6 196 So./So. Appleton, Wis. (Xavier) 5 Aaron Moesch* F 6-8 211 Jr./So. Green Bay, Wis. (Southwest) 10 Nigel Hayes** F 6-8 240 Jr./Jr. Toledo, Ohio (Whitmer) 11 Jordan Hill* G 6-3 178 Jr./So. Pasadena, Calif. (LaSalle/Exeter Academy [N.H.]) 13 Jackson Bax G 5-11 157 Fr./Fr. Frankfort, Ill. (Lincoln-Way East) Greg Gard Gary Close 15 Charlie Thomas F 6-8 253 Fr./Fr. Highland, Md. (River Hill) Head Coach Assistant Coach 20 T.J. Schlundt G 6-5 194 So./Fr. Oconomowoc, Wis. (St. John’s Military Academy [Wis.]) 21 Khalil Iverson G/F 6-5 205 Fr./Fr. Delaware, Ohio (Rutherford B. Hayes) 22 Ethan Happ F 6-9 235 So./Fr. Milan, Ill. (Rock Ridge) 24 Bronson Koenig** G 6-4 193 Jr./Jr. La Crosse, Wis. (Aquinas) 25 Alex Illikainen F 6-9 220 Fr./Fr. Grand Rapids, Minn. (Brewster Academy [N.H.]) 30 Vitto Brown** F 6-8 230 Jr./Jr. Bowling Green, Ohio (HS) 33 Andy Van Vliet F 6-11 203 Fr./Fr. Antwerp, Belgium * letters earned | (+) will redshirt in 2015-16 Head Coach: Greg Gard (1st) Assistant Coaches: Gary Close (13th), Lamont Paris (6th), Howard Moore (6th) Director of Basketball Operations: Katherine Vosters, Strength & Conditioning Coach: Erik Helland Lamont Paris Howard Moore Athletic Trainer: Henry Perez-Guerra, Video Coordinator: A.J. Van Handel Assistant Coach Assistant Coach WISCONSIN BASKETBALL 22 NCAA Tournaments (18 consecutive) . 4 Final Fours (1941, 2000, 2014, 2015) . 18 Big Ten Championships . 21 Consensus All-Americans (7) WISCONSIN (22-12, 12-6 BIG TEN) vs. (6) NOTRE DAME (23-11, 11-7 ACC) 2015-16 SCHEDULE FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016 . 6:27 P.M. (CT) . PHILADELPHIA, PA. WELLS FARGO CENTER . TBS Date Opponent Time Location . .Philadelphia, Pa. WISCONSIN BADGERS NOV. 13 WESTERN ILLINOIS L, 67-69 Site . Wells Fargo Center (19,500) Rankings (AP/Coaches) .............................RV/RV NOV. 15 SIENA W, 92-65 Record (Big Ten) .............................22-12 (12-6) Head Coach .........................................Greg Gard NOV. 17 NORTH DAKOTA W, 78-64 TBS . Brian Anderson, Steve Smith & Dana Jacobson Record at Wisconsin (Years) ................15-7 (1st) Westwood One . Tom McCarthy & John Thompson 2K Classic – New York City (Madison Sq. Grdn) Badger Radio Network . Matt Lepay & Mike Lucas Nov. 20 vs. Georgetown L, 61-71 NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH Rankings (AP/Coaches) .............................RV/RV Nov. 22 vs. VCU W, 74-73 All-Time vs. Notre Dame . ND leads, 18-10 Record (ACC) ..................................23-11 (11-7) NOV. 25 PRAIRIE VIEW W, 85-67 Last Meeting. ND won, 58-51 (11/28/10) Head Coach .........................................Mike Brey Nov. 29 at Oklahoma [7] L, 48-65 at Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla. Record at Notre Dame (Years) ......355-176 (16th) Big Ten/ACC Challenge NOTES TO KNOW ABOUT WISCONSIN Dec. 2 at Syracuse [14] W, 66-58 ot 1 SWEET 16 REGULARS: Playing in their 18th-consecutive NCAA DEC. 5 TEMPLE W, 76-60 tournament, the 5th-longest streak in NCAA history, the Badgers are DEC. 9 MILWAUKEE L, 67-68 getting used to making trips to the second weekend and beyond. With DEC. 12 MARQUETTE L, 55-57 wins over (10) Pitt and (2) Xavier, 7th-seeeded Wisconsin advanced to DEC. 15 TA&M CORPUS CHRISTI W, 64-49 the regional semis, becoming the nation’s only team to advance to the DEC. 23 GREEN BAY W, 84-79 Sweet 16 in 5 of the last 6 seasons. DEC. 29 PURDUE [14] L, 55-61 The Badgers have won 15 NCAA tournament games since 2011. Only Kentucky (20) has won more games in the Big Dance recently. JAN. 2 RUTGERS W, 79-57 Jan. 5 at Indiana L, 58-59 2 OFFICIALLY, HEAD COACH: Greg Gard was offi cially named the JAN. 9 MARYLAND [3] L, 60-63 head coach at Wisconsin on March 7, removing the interim tag. The Jan. 12 at Northwestern L, 65-70 16th coach in UW history, Gard is 15-7 at the helm of the Badgers. Wisconsin is the nation’s only team to reach JAN. 17 MICHIGAN STATE [4] W, 77-76 3 INCREDIBLE TURNAROUND: On Jan. 13, Wisconsin was 9-9 the Sweet 16 in 5 of the last 6 seasons. Jan. 21 at Penn State W, 66-60 overall and 1-4 in the Big Ten with an RPI of 110. Since then, the JAN. 26 INDIANA [19] W, 82-79 ot Badgers have won 13 of 16 games, climbing to 3rd place in the league and into the RPI top 40. Jan. 31 at Illinois W, 63-55 4 ELITE? A win over Notre Dame would punch the Badgers trip to the Elite Eight for a third-straight season. Since the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, only two Big Ten teams have made 3 consecutive Elite Eights: FEB. 4 OHIO STATE W, 79-68 Michigan State (1999-2001) and Michigan (1992-94). FEB. 10 NEBRASKA W, 72-61 Feb. 13 at Maryland [2] W, 70-57 5 TOP-10 TAKEDOWNS: With wins over Maryland (2), Michigan St. (4), Iowa (8) and Xavier (9), the Badgers are 1 of 3 Feb. 18 at Michigan State [8] L, 57-69 teams to own 4 top-10 wins this season (with Texas & Kansas). UW is the only team to tally 3 of those away from home. FEB. 21 ILLINOIS W, 69-60 6 COMEBACK KIDS: Wisconsin erased second-half defi cits in each of its 2016 NCAA Tournament wins. In fact, the Feb. 24 at Iowa [8] W, 67-59 Badgers have trailed at the half in 6 of their last 12 NCAA tournament games - UW has come back to win all 6. FEB. 28 MICHIGAN W, 68-57 7 #WINNING... YEAR IN, YEAR OUT: With a Big Ten record of 12-6, the Badgers secured a top-4 conference fi nish (tied for third place this season) for the 16th-consecutive season, the longest such streak in Big Ten history. March 2 at Minnesota W, 62-49 Wisconsin has won 20 games for the 10th-straight season. The Badgers also won at least 12 Big Ten games for March 6 at Purdue [15] L, 80-91 the 7th-consecutive season (the longest active streak in the league). Big Ten Tournament – Indianapolis (Bankers Life) 8 KLUTCH KOENIG: A third-team All-Big Ten pick, Bronson Koenig sent Wisconsin to the Sweet 16 with one of the Mar. 10 vs. Nebraska L, 58-70 biggest shots in school history, hitting a fade-away 3-pointer as time expired to beat Xavier, 66-63. In the fi nal 5:00 (and overtime) of games this season, Koenig is shooting 54.8% (17-31) from 3-point range. NCAA Tournament – St. Louis, Mo. (Scotttrade) 9 HAYES-ING: A fi rst-team All-Big Ten pick, Nigel Hayes leads the Badgers in scoring (15.9 ppg) and assists (3.0 Mar. 18 vs. (10) Pittsburgh W, 47-43 apg) while ranking 2nd in rebounds (5.8 rpg). He also paces the Big Ten in FTAs, going 189-for-256 (.738) at the line. Mar. 20 vs. (2) Xavier W, 66-63 10 HAPP HAS IMPRESSIVE TOURNEY DEBUT: Ethan Happ was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and earned NCAA Tourn. – Philadelphia, Pa. (Wells Fargo) All-Defensive honors after leading the conference in steals (1.8 spg) and ranking 4th in double-doubles (9). Happ Mar. 25 vs. (6) Notre Dame 6:27 p.m. leads Wisconsin averaging 16.5 ppg and 8.0 rpg while shooting 72.2% (13-18 FGs) during the NCAA tournament. 11 “3TTO” BROWN: Over the last 12 games, Brown is avg. 12.2 ppg and shooting 26-for-52 (.500) from 3-point All times Central range. Brown has connected on multiple triples in each of his last 6 games, and is averaging 11.5 ppg (5-10 3FGs) during the NCAA tournament. Prior to this season, the junior forward had never attempted a 3-point field goal.