Ahead of the AP Poll this coming week, the Wisconsin Men's Basketball team will keep an eye on it to see if they will remain ranked. After a vast blown lead against the Nebraska Cornhuskers and a tough loss at home against the number two team in the country, the Purdue Boilermakers, the Badgers had what any struggling team needs: a favorable schedule the following week to bounce back. Instead, the Badgers would go on to lose on the road against the worst team in the Conference, the Michigan Wolverines, and then proceed to get blown out by twenty-two points on the road against a slightly above .500 Rutgers team. Following this tough week, let's look at the good and the bad from this rugged stretch of four straight losses for Wisconsin.
@Michigan
The Wolverines came into this week finding themselves at the bottom of the Big Ten, and it didn't appear to get any easier with the number eleven-ranked team in the country, the Wisconsin Badgers, coming to town. The struggling Badgers don't define the whole team, as the offense has been an extensive combination of AJ Storr and Tyler Wahl over this tough stretch. Riding a five-game losing streak, Michigan would get off to a hot start and lead 37-33 at the half. Despite the effort from the starting five for the Badgers, the bench would be outscored eighteen to six, leading to a 72-68 loss behind the Wolverine's leading scorer, Dug McDaniel, who had sixteen points. As for the Badgers, four starters would go into double figures: AJ Storr, the team leader once again with 20 points; Tyler Wahl; Chucky Hepburn; and Steven Crowl. The main struggle over this stretch has been three-pointers for the Badgers, and it continued to show in this one, as they shot 26.3% or five for nineteen from beyond the three-point line. Their next game would come on a Saturday against a Rutgers team that was getting a new face on the court.
@Rutgers
Riding a three-game losing streak coming into this one, playing on the road in the Big Ten Conference is never going to be an easy task, and the Badgers found that out. This game was not even close for the Badgers as they saw themselves lose by twenty-two points. AJ Storr was the one starter in double figures with 14 points, but Connor Essegian, off the bench, would lead the team in scoring with 15 points. This was up there for the worst game the Badgers have played this season, as they shot just under 33% from the field as a team and would shoot 23.8% from three. While the Badgers were in a shooting slump, Rutgers would get a spark with their transfer, Jeremiah Williams, getting his waiver cleared up to let him play. In his first action of the season for Rutgers, Williams would lead the team in scoring with 18 points.
The Badgers, after being ranked sixth in the nation two weeks ago, are on a four-game losing streak now and find themselves in danger of falling out of the top twenty-five in a matter of a few games. They will need their post-game to improve and find someone else who will spark the offense alongside Storr consistently. They will look to get back on track at home against Ohio State this coming Tuesday.
(Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
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