We're about four hours away from tip-off here in Indianapolis. When the Badgers and Buckeyes get underway at 1:30 CT, I welcome you to follow along on the live blog below. Feel free to comment during the game, it's a great way to get some insightful commentary going on while you watch on TV.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Wisconsin - Ohio State Preview
(4) Wisconsin vs. (5) Ohio State
Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Friday, March 13, 1:30pm CT
TV: ESPN
Radio: WIBA-AM (1310), WIBA-FM (101.5)
Spread: Wisconsin by 1.5
Due to the Big Ten’s rotating schedule, Wisconsin and Ohio State met just once during the regular season, a memorable 55-50 Badger victory in Madison on Valentine’s Day. The Kohl Center crowd that night was phenomenal, due in no small part to the presence of ESPN’s College GameDay, which began whipping the students into a frenzy at 9 o’clock that morning, 11 hours before tip-off.
Friday’s atmosphere will be decidedly less electric, but the quality of the game should overshadow the absence of Digger Phelps & Co. (Erin Andrews will be in attendance, however).
The senior leadership of Marcus Landry and Joe Krabbenhoft was vital in the first meeting, keeping the Badgers composed through eight ties and 17 lead changes. Landry was the primary scorer, posting 17 points in 30 minutes, while Krabbenhoft made his usual impact across the stat sheet, racking up nine points, eight rebounds (four offensive), four assists and six steals. His three-pointer with 2:06 to play ignited an 8-1 Wisconsin run over the final two minutes of the game.
Unquestionably, the key for Wisconsin in winning the first game was the ability to manufacture opportunities. Of the Badgers’ 55 points, 32 came on second-chance opportunities or off turnovers. They racked up 10 steals and 15 offensive rebounds, numbers that allowed them to overcome a rather pedestrian shooting night (36 percent).
Wisconsin will need to have similar success forcing turnovers and converting on second chances to beat Ohio State on Friday. Another key will be stopping do-everything forward Evan Turner, who had 23 points in the first matchup. The All-Big Ten first-teamer ranked first in scoring, second in assists and fourth in rebounding in conference play this season. Expect Joe Krabbenhoft to be primarily responsible for locking down on Turner, although Bo Ryan will certainly be backing Krabbenhoft up with plenty of backside help.
Controlling the glass and limiting Turner’s effectiveness are the two necessary ingredients if the Badgers hope to make it 2-for-2 against the Buckeyes. Both teams will likely receive an at-large selection even with a loss, but a win would allow the players and coaches to breathe a little easier on Selection Sunday.
Once again, tip-off is set for 1:30pm CT. I’ll be courtside at Conseco Fieldhouse, live blogging the game, and would love to hear your comments during the action.
Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Friday, March 13, 1:30pm CT
TV: ESPN
Radio: WIBA-AM (1310), WIBA-FM (101.5)
Spread: Wisconsin by 1.5
Due to the Big Ten’s rotating schedule, Wisconsin and Ohio State met just once during the regular season, a memorable 55-50 Badger victory in Madison on Valentine’s Day. The Kohl Center crowd that night was phenomenal, due in no small part to the presence of ESPN’s College GameDay, which began whipping the students into a frenzy at 9 o’clock that morning, 11 hours before tip-off.
Friday’s atmosphere will be decidedly less electric, but the quality of the game should overshadow the absence of Digger Phelps & Co. (Erin Andrews will be in attendance, however).
The senior leadership of Marcus Landry and Joe Krabbenhoft was vital in the first meeting, keeping the Badgers composed through eight ties and 17 lead changes. Landry was the primary scorer, posting 17 points in 30 minutes, while Krabbenhoft made his usual impact across the stat sheet, racking up nine points, eight rebounds (four offensive), four assists and six steals. His three-pointer with 2:06 to play ignited an 8-1 Wisconsin run over the final two minutes of the game.
Unquestionably, the key for Wisconsin in winning the first game was the ability to manufacture opportunities. Of the Badgers’ 55 points, 32 came on second-chance opportunities or off turnovers. They racked up 10 steals and 15 offensive rebounds, numbers that allowed them to overcome a rather pedestrian shooting night (36 percent).
Wisconsin will need to have similar success forcing turnovers and converting on second chances to beat Ohio State on Friday. Another key will be stopping do-everything forward Evan Turner, who had 23 points in the first matchup. The All-Big Ten first-teamer ranked first in scoring, second in assists and fourth in rebounding in conference play this season. Expect Joe Krabbenhoft to be primarily responsible for locking down on Turner, although Bo Ryan will certainly be backing Krabbenhoft up with plenty of backside help.
Controlling the glass and limiting Turner’s effectiveness are the two necessary ingredients if the Badgers hope to make it 2-for-2 against the Buckeyes. Both teams will likely receive an at-large selection even with a loss, but a win would allow the players and coaches to breathe a little easier on Selection Sunday.
Once again, tip-off is set for 1:30pm CT. I’ll be courtside at Conseco Fieldhouse, live blogging the game, and would love to hear your comments during the action.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Bracket Projections
Lots of bracket projection sites updated their brackets on Monday, and here's a look at where Wisconsin stands on a few of them.
Current RPI: 38
Current SOS: 11
Bracket Matrix: 9 seed
Bracketology 101: 9 seed
Crashing the Dance: 9 seed
Joe Lunardi (ESPN): 9 seed vs. (8) Oklahoma State in Dayton, OH
Jerry Palm (CBS Sports): 9 seed vs. (8) Texas A&M in Dayton, OH
Bracketography: 10 seed vs. (7) Tennessee in Kansas City, MO
Warren Nolan: 10 seed vs. (7) Butler in Greensboro, NC
The conference tournaments will still have a lot of impact on the final seedings, but consensus is that the Badgers fall in that 9-10 seed range. On the plus side, this means a very winnable game in the first round. On the negative side, it means a date with a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the round of 32.
I included the projected locations for mostly selfish reasons: I'll be going to the game if the Badgers wind up in Dayton, Minneapolis, Kansas City or Philadelphia, so I'll definitely be rooting for them to wind up in one of those four spots (hopefully not Philly - 15 hours in the car would not be fun). Minneapolis would obviously be ideal - Sconnies could make the relatively short drive to the Twin Cities and infiltrate the Vikings' HHH Metrodome, giving the Badgers a decided home-court edge.
One more note: the All-Big Ten teams were announced tonight. Congrats to the following Badgers:
Marcus Landry: Second-team (coaches), third-team (media), Big Ten Sportsmanship Award
Trevon Hughes: Honorable mention (coaches, media)
Joe Krabbenhoft: Honorable mention (media)
Current RPI: 38
Current SOS: 11
Bracket Matrix: 9 seed
Bracketology 101: 9 seed
Crashing the Dance: 9 seed
Joe Lunardi (ESPN): 9 seed vs. (8) Oklahoma State in Dayton, OH
Jerry Palm (CBS Sports): 9 seed vs. (8) Texas A&M in Dayton, OH
Bracketography: 10 seed vs. (7) Tennessee in Kansas City, MO
Warren Nolan: 10 seed vs. (7) Butler in Greensboro, NC
The conference tournaments will still have a lot of impact on the final seedings, but consensus is that the Badgers fall in that 9-10 seed range. On the plus side, this means a very winnable game in the first round. On the negative side, it means a date with a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the round of 32.
I included the projected locations for mostly selfish reasons: I'll be going to the game if the Badgers wind up in Dayton, Minneapolis, Kansas City or Philadelphia, so I'll definitely be rooting for them to wind up in one of those four spots (hopefully not Philly - 15 hours in the car would not be fun). Minneapolis would obviously be ideal - Sconnies could make the relatively short drive to the Twin Cities and infiltrate the Vikings' HHH Metrodome, giving the Badgers a decided home-court edge.
One more note: the All-Big Ten teams were announced tonight. Congrats to the following Badgers:
Marcus Landry: Second-team (coaches), third-team (media), Big Ten Sportsmanship Award
Trevon Hughes: Honorable mention (coaches, media)
Joe Krabbenhoft: Honorable mention (media)
Senior Tribute
Following Wisconsin's 85-61 win over Indiana on Sunday, the Kohl Center video board displayed a tribute to Wisconsin's senior class: Morris Cain, Kevin Gullickson, Joe Krabbenhoft and Marcus Landry. I recorded it with my camera, so if you missed it, you can take a look here (YouTube made me split it into two parts):
Part I:
Part II:
Part I:
Part II:
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Dumes to Miss Sunday's Game
The Indiana Daily Student is reporting that Devan Dumes, Indiana's leading scorer, will not play tonight against the Badgers.
Dumes' aggravated a knee injury in Tuesday's loss to Michigan State, holding him to just three minutes against the Spartans. Indiana's media relations director confirmed on Saturday that Dumes will not play today.
Dumes' absence clearly hurts the Hoosiers' hopes of springing an upset in Madison. He is averaging 12.7 points per game and leads the Big Ten in 3-point shooting percentage. When Dumes missed a few games last month, freshman Matt Roth (6.9 ppg) got most of the starts in his place.
Dumes' aggravated a knee injury in Tuesday's loss to Michigan State, holding him to just three minutes against the Spartans. Indiana's media relations director confirmed on Saturday that Dumes will not play today.
Dumes' absence clearly hurts the Hoosiers' hopes of springing an upset in Madison. He is averaging 12.7 points per game and leads the Big Ten in 3-point shooting percentage. When Dumes missed a few games last month, freshman Matt Roth (6.9 ppg) got most of the starts in his place.
Blogging the Badgers
Welcome to my blog for WSUM's coverage of the Wisconsin men's basketball team. For those who don't know, WSUM is the University of Wisconsin-Madison's student radio station and can be heard locally on 91.7FM or online at wsum.org.
I've been doing live play-by-play for the Badgers' home games all season long on WSUM's sports web stream.
With only one home game remaining (6pm today against Indiana) and the Big Ten Tournament fast approaching, I launched this blog as a way for WSUM to continue to cover the Badgers, even after the home schedule has wrapped up.
We won't be able to broadcast Wisconsin's Big Ten Tournament game(s) from Indianapolis, but I will be attending the tournament, and I'll be continuously updating this blog along the way. I'm still sorting out a few details, but the plan for now is to have posts throughout the day (about everything from Conseco Fieldhouse's food to previews of the upcoming games). I also plan to live blog each of the Badgers' games for those who can't watch or who want to have an ongoing conversation during the game.
Remember to check out the live broadcast of tonight's Wisconsin-Indiana game on the WSUM sports web stream! Tip-off is set for 6pm CT.
I've been doing live play-by-play for the Badgers' home games all season long on WSUM's sports web stream.
With only one home game remaining (6pm today against Indiana) and the Big Ten Tournament fast approaching, I launched this blog as a way for WSUM to continue to cover the Badgers, even after the home schedule has wrapped up.
We won't be able to broadcast Wisconsin's Big Ten Tournament game(s) from Indianapolis, but I will be attending the tournament, and I'll be continuously updating this blog along the way. I'm still sorting out a few details, but the plan for now is to have posts throughout the day (about everything from Conseco Fieldhouse's food to previews of the upcoming games). I also plan to live blog each of the Badgers' games for those who can't watch or who want to have an ongoing conversation during the game.
Remember to check out the live broadcast of tonight's Wisconsin-Indiana game on the WSUM sports web stream! Tip-off is set for 6pm CT.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
