State Basketball Roundup: Badger men win 20 games for the sixth straight year

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MADISON - The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team has won 20 games for the sixth straight year, after getting by Penn State 65-55 yesterday in Madison.

The 15th-ranked Badgers went up by 14 at the half. And they led by as many as 22 before the Nittany Lions put on a late charge that fell short. Wisconsin had four players score in double figures, led by Josh Gasser with 15. Jared Berggren scored 13, and Ryan Evans and Jordan Taylor added 11 each. The Badgers shot 50-percent from three-point range, after coming in with a 35-percent average. Wisconsin remains in fourth place in the Big Ten, a game in back of Ohio State and Michigan and two behind front-running Michigan State. The Badgers are now 9-5 in the conference and 20-7 overall. They reached the 20-win plateau for the ninth time in coach Bo Ryan’s 11 seasons in Madison, after having just four 20-win campaigns in school history before Ryan got there. Tim Frazier scored 20 for Penn State – and he became the first Nittany Lion to get 500 points, 150 assists, and 50 steals in the same season. It wasn’t enough, though, as Penn State dropped to 4-and-11 in the Big Ten and 12-16 overall. The Lions are also 0-8 in conference road games. Wisconsin’s next game is on Thursday night at Iowa.

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The University of Wisconsin women's basketball team lost their fifth straight game yesterday, 68-59 at Nebraska. The 16th-ranked Cornhuskers broke the game open with 19-4 run to end the first half. That put Nebraska up by 18 at the break – and they led by as many as 26 in the second half before the Badgers put on a late spurt to make the final score respectable. Jordan Hooper had 19 points, 18 rebounds, and two blocked shots as Nebraska ended a three-game losing streak. They improved to 9-5 in the Big Ten and 20-6 overall. Morgan Paige scored 15 for Wisconsin, which dropped to 4-10 in the conference and 8-18 overall. The Badgers will play at Indiana on Thursday night.

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Four teams will play tomorrow night when the WIAC women's tournament begins. Third-seeded UW-Whitewater will host No. 6 UW-Superior. And fourth-seeded River Falls entertains No. 5 UW-La Crosse. The winners will play the top two seeds in the semi-finals on Thursday night. Top-seeded Stevens Point and No. 2 Eau Claire both have first-round byes. The women's league title game will be played on Saturday.

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UW-Whitewater has the top-seed in the WIAC men's basketball tourney that begins Wednesday night. The Warhawks broke a three-way log-jam over the weekend to win the regular season crown. Whitewater and Number-two River Falls both have first-round byes. Third-seeded Stevens Point will host No. 6 Superior on Wednesday, and No. 4 UW-Platteville is at home against fifth-seeded La Crosse. The winners advance to the semifinals on Friday night. The WIAC men's title game is set for next Sunday.

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Eight teams will square off in the Northern Athletics Conference men's tournament that opens tomorrow night. Regular season champion Concordia-Mequon has the top seed, and will host Marian. No. 2 Benedictine entertains Aurora. Third-seeded Edgewood is at home in Madison against Rockford College. And fourth-seeded Concordia-Chicago hosts Number-five Lakeland. Tomorrow night's winners advance to the semi-finals on Thursday night. The men's title game will be played Saturday afternoon.

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Meanwhile, the field is set for the NAC women's tournament that begins Wednesday night. Regular season champ Wisconsin Lutheran hosts Benedictine. Second-seeded Dominican hosts Marian. No. 3 seed MSOE entertains Concordia-Chicago. And fourth-seeded Lakeland hosts No. 5 Concordia-Mequon. The winners advance to the semi-finals on Friday night, and the women's championship game is on Saturday night.

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