(Update) Afternoon Wisconsin Sports Briefs: Wilson scores career high in leading UW to win

• Wisconsin Badgers

Wisconsin Badgers

Talk about it

INDIANAPOLIS - Rob Wilson scored a career-high 30 points, including a school record 7-of-10 showing from behind the three-point arc in leading the University of Wisconsin to 79-71 win over Indiana Friday afternoon in front of a mostly pro-Indiana crowd of 18,464 at the Fieldhouse in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.

Wilson, who is only averaging three points per game helped UW make seven of their first 11 shots from three-point range, and it put them up by 11 in the first half. Indiana started catching up, and the margin was five at the break. The Hoosiers got the lead down to two in the opening minutes of the second half. But IU never took the lead as the fourth seeded Badgers shot 45 percent in the opening half, and Indiana shot a little better at 46 percent.

Indiana was without senior guard Verdell Jones III this afternoon, when the Hoosiers play Wisconsin in the quarter-finals of the Big Ten Tournament. Jones tore an ACL ligament in his right knee yesterday, when the Hoosiers beat Penn State 75-58 in the tournament’s first round. Jones averaged seven-and-a-half points and three rebounds a game for an Indiana team that’s 25-8. He scored 12 points when the Hoosiers lost to Wisconsin by seven on January 26th.

Wilson made 11-of-16 shots for the ballgame. His 30 points is the most any Badger player has scored this season so far.

He was helped by Jared Berggren's 16 points, Jordan Taylor's 12 and another 12 points for Ryan Evans. The Hoosier had three players scoring 17 points in Cody Zeller, Christian Wattford and Jordan Hulls.

Wisconsin will play top seeded Michigan State, which crushed Iowa earlier this afternoon 92-75.

___________________________________________________________________________

The Milwaukee Bucks are reportedly taking trade offers for center Andrew Bogut. The NBA’s trade deadline is next Thursday, and ESPN says the Bucks are fielding inquiries. Bogut’s agent, David Bauman, tells the Journal Sentinel there are a lot of teams interested in the 7 foot center and he’s not sure what Bucks’ general manager John Hammond will end up doing. Bogut has suffered a number of injuries since Milwaukee made him the top choice in the 2005 NBA draft. The most serious blow was a fall to the floor in April of 2010. Bogut suffered elbow and arm injuries which he never recovered from last season. This year, Bogut missed four games due to a family matter in his native Australia and he’s been out since January 25th when he broke his left foot during a game in Houston. Bogut has played in 12 games for Milwaukee this season and the Bucks went 7 and 5 in those contests. He’s in the third year of a five year contract extension, and is getting just over $12 million this season. He’ll be owed just over $27 million for the final two years of his current deal.

__________________________________________________________________________

UW-Green Bay will host the final three games of the Horizon League women’s basketball tournament tonight and Sunday afternoon. Second seeded Detroit will play Number three Wright State in this evening’s first semi final. Top seeded Green Bay will then host Number four Illinois Chicago in the other semi. The winners will square off Sunday afternoon for the conference title, and the Horizon League’s automatic berth in the NCAA women’s tourney. Green Bay is 28-1, and will face an Illinois Chicago team that’s 17 and 11. The Phoenix beat the Flames by 13 points last Saturday, and GB is 56-6 all-time against Chicago. Julie Wojta needs one more double double to become Green Bay’s all time career leader in that department. She and Kim Wood are both tied for the school record with 32. Jasmine Bailey leads Illinois Chicago. She had 15 points and 13 rebounds when UIC topped Butler by 13 points in the tournament quarter finals on Wednesday night. It was the Flames’ first post season victory since 2007. Green Bay crushed Valparaiso 77-53 in their quarter-final on Wednesday.

___________________________________________________________________________

UW-Parkside was among the first to advance today, as the NCAA Division Two women’s tournament began. Parkside eliminated Indianapolis 73-66 in a first round game in Ashland Ohio. The Rangers trailed by one at the half, but Jadee Rooney put them in front for good with a lay-up with 5:15 left. Rooney led Parkside with 19 points, and she made all 11 of her free throws. Kristin Turner scored 15 for Indianapolis, which ended its season at 19-11. Parkside improved 23-5, and will advance to the second round tomorrow.

__________________________________________________________________________

Round Two begins tonight in the state girls’ high school basketball regionals. Thirty two games are scheduled in each of five divisions. One hundred sixty seven schools will make their tournament debuts, after having byes in the first round on Tuesday night. Four of last year’s five state champions had Tuesday night off. Glendale Nicolet, New London, Eau Claire Regis, and Wausau Newman will all play their first post-season games this evening. Division Three titlist Altoona won its opener on Tuesday. Each division has eight Number One seeds, all of which had first round byes except four schools in Division Five and they all survived their first challenges. The girls’ teams will play their regional finals tonight. The sectionals will be played next week. Boys’ sectional finals will be played tomorrow. Their state tournament will be held next week in Madison.

__________________________________________________________________________

In hockey, the University of Wisconsin men hope to keep their recent momentum going as they open the WCHA Playoffs tonight in Denver. The Badgers will play a best-of-three series against the Pioneers. Game-Two is tomorrow night in the Mile High City – and if a third game is necessary, it will be played there on Sunday night. Wisconsin is 16-16-2 overall. They had a rare sub.-500 season in the WCHA at 11-15-2. But coach Mike Eaves says his team still has a legitimate chance to go far in the playoffs, saying they won three-out-of-four on the road the past two weeks. The Badgers are coming off a two-game split at Minnesota, after sweeping a pair at Bemidji State the preceding weekend. Denver is 21-11-4 overall. Joey LaLeggia of the Pioneers lead is second among NCAA rookies with just over one-point per game.

__________________________________________________________________________

The top ranked University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team is getting ready to host Mercyhurst tomorrow night in the quarter-finals of their NCAA Division One tournament at the Kohl Center. The Badgers have the top overall seed, despite losing its conference semi final to Minnesota-Duluth 3-1 last weekend. Mercyhurst is also coming off a loss to Robert Morris in the title game of the College Hockey America tournament. The Lakers are 23-7-3. They’re led by Bailey Bram, who has 27 goals and 41 assists this season. The Badgers come in 31-4-2, but they’ve lost two of their last four games. WCHA player of the year Brianna Decker leads the nation with 36 goals, and is second in total scoring with 78 points. Tomorrow night’s winner plays either Boston College or Saint Lawrence at the Frozen Four next Friday night.

__________________________________________________________________________

Wisconsin’s only team in the NCAA Division III women’s hockey tournament will play its opening game tomorrow afternoon. UW-River Falls has a quarter final matchup at Gustavus Adolphus in Saint Peter Minnesota. The Falcons are 23-4-2 after winning the NCHA playoffs last weekend. Gustavus Adolphus is 23-2-2. The winner will play either Amherst or Norwich at the Frozen Four a week from today.

__________________________________________________________________________

Saint Norbert will host Gustavus Adolphus tomorrow night in the quarter finals of the NCAA Division Three men’s hockey tournament. The Green Knights are still in the running for back to back national titles, after beating Saint Thomas of Saint Paul 3-1 in the first round on Wednesday night. Gustavus Adolphus made the quarter-finals by eliminating Milwaukee Engineering 3-1 in the opening round. Tomorrow night’s winners will advance to the Division Three men’s Frozen Four starting a week from today. The winner of the Saint Norbert-Gustavus Adolphus contest will face either Norwich or Wentworth.

__________________________________________________________________________

The Milwaukee Admirals will play a home and- ome series against Rockford this weekend. They’ll host the Ice Hogs tomorrow night, and will travel to northern Illinois for Game Two on Sunday evening. The Admirals have 64 points to Rockford’s 59. Milwaukee is 11th among 15 teams in the American Hockey League’s Western Conference with a record of 30-24-2-2. The Admirals remain two points behind Houston for the final playoff spot in the AHL’s Western Conference. Rockford enters the weekend at 26-26-2-

and-5.

__________________________________________________________________________

UW-Parkside was scheduled to begin its quest for a national women’s basketball title late this morning. The Rangers are playing a familiar conference opponent, Indianapolis, in the first round of the Division-Two Midwest Regional in Ashland, Ohio. Parkside is 22-5 after winning the Great Lakes Valley Conference Eastern Division crown this season. They have the Number-three seed. Indianapolis is 19-10, and they lost to Parkside twice this winter – 73-70 on January 28th, and 72-65 on February 18th. Today’s winner will play Drury or Ferris in the second round tomorrow evening at Ashland.

__________________________________________________________________________

UW-Whitewater will host Wheaton College tonight in the Sweet-16 round of the NCAA Division-Three men’s basketball tournament. The Warhawks are hosting are four-team sectional – and their game will be preceded by a contest between Whitworth and Virginia Wesleyan. Tonight’s winners will square off tomorrow evening for a spot in the Final Four next weekend in Salem, Virginia. Whitewater is making its first appearance in the Sweet-16, with an overall record of 25-4. Wheaton comes in at 23-6.

_________________________________________________________________________

Carthage of Kenosha will play Centre College of Kentucky this evening in a Sweet-16 game in the NCAA Division III women’s basketball tournament in Alliance Ohio. Both teams are 26-3. Carthage won the DePauw of Indiana regional last weekend by defeating the host school 53-48 in the tournament’s second round. Centre plays in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Colonels advanced with a two-point win over Washington of Saint Louis last weekend. Tonight’s winner will play either Mount Union or Illinois Wesleyan tomorrow night for a bid in the women’s Final Four next weekend in Holland, Michigan.

________________________________________________________________________

The Milwaukee Wave will start going for back-to-back titles in the Major Indoor Soccer League when the playoffs begin tonight. The Wave will play a two-game series against the Missouri Comets. Game-One is at Missouri, and Game-Two is set for Sunday at Milwaukee’s U.S. Cellular Arena. If they split, a 15-minute mini-game will determine the series winner. The Wave went 18-6 in the regular season, and they won the Central Division by three games over second-place Missouri. The Comets have the league’s top scorer in Geison, who has at least two points in 22 games and a goal in 20 contests. Greg Howes needs two goals to become Milwaukee’s all-time leading goal scorer in playoff games. He’s had 37 goals in the post-season. Milwaukee is going for the sixth league title in its history.

_______________________________________________________________________

The NCAA Division III wrestling tournament is being held at UW-La Crosse today and tomorrow. And 20 wrestlers from the Badger State are among those competing. The host school has five grapplers competing – Adam Sheley, Bebeto Yewah, Kevin O’Brien, Michael Schmitz, and William Mayer. They made the nationals as the result of their showings in the recent WIAC conference meet. Six athletes from conference champion Whitewater made the national field – Grant Sutter, Jake Fredrickson, Cade Sarbacker, David Dwyer, Adam Latella, and Corey Anderson. Oshkosh has four participants – Zach Mueller, Nazar Kulchytskyy, Dan Schiferl, and Sam Engelland. Also competing are Joe Mileski and Ben Strobel of Stevens Point, T.J. Wunnicke of Platteville, Sean Ambrocio of Concordia-Mequon, and Ryan Renon from Lakeland of Sheboygan. Defending Division III champion Wartburg of Waverly, Iowa has 10 wrestlers who made the nationals.

______________________________________________________________________

UW-Parkside has four wrestlers competing in the NCAA Division II championships today and tomorrow in Pueblo, Colorado. Dillon Bera, Luke Rynish, Matt Gille, and James Malechek all qualified in the recent Super-Regionals. Nebraska-Omaha dominates this tournament. They’ve won the last three titles, and six-of-the-last-eight.

________________________________________________________________________

Eleven University of Wisconsin athletes are competing in the NCAA Division I indoor track finals today and tomorrow in Nampa, Idaho. Dave Grzesiak and Japheth Cato are in the men’s heptathlon. The only other Badger men to qualify are on the distance medley relay team – Austin Mudd, Zach Mellon, Aaron Thompson, and Alexander Hatz. Five female athletes are also competing in the nationals. Dorcas Akinniyi is going for her third straight All-American honor in the pentathlon – and she’s being joined by her Badger teammate Jessica Flax. The other Wisconsin competitors are Monika Jakutyte in the high jump, Taylor Smith in the weight throw, and Kelsey Card in the shot put.

_________________________________________________________________________

UW-Parkside has one athlete in the NCAA Division II indoor track-and-field championships this weekend in Mankato, Minnesota. Ben Orvold was a late addition to the field for five-thousand-meter race tomorrow night. Orvold placed second in the event at the recent Great Lakes Valley Conference meet, with an entry time of 14:23.79 seconds. He set a new school record in the five-thousand earlier this year.

__________________________________________________________________________

UW-Oshkosh has a legitimate chance to win its second straight NCAA Division III women’s indoor track-and-field title this weekend. The Titans are joining dozens of Wisconsin athletes at the national meet today and tomorrow in Grinnell Iowa. Oshkosh junior Christy Cazzola had the country’s best time in the 800-meters this winter. Breanna Strupp has the top distance in the shot put, and Alexia Child is ranked first in the 20-pound weight throw. Oshkosh was also the national women’s runner-up in 2010, and the Titans won three straight crowns from 2004-through-’06. On the men’s side, Wisconsin is trying to win a national team title for the first time in three years. UW-Oshkosh and UW-La Crosse shared the title in 2009. UW-Stevens Point came close a year later, finishing second. La Crosse used to dominated the sport, winning six straight men’s crowns from 2001-through-’06.

Tags: wisconsin sports, proam, prep, bucks, badgers