2018–19 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team

2018–19 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball
NCAA tournament, First Round
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 24
APNo. 21
Record23–11 (14–6 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaKohl Center
(Capacity 17,287)
Seasons
2018–19 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 5 Michigan State † 16 – 4   .800 32 – 7   .821
No. 13 Purdue 16 – 4   .800 26 – 10   .722
No. 8 Michigan 15 – 5   .750 30 – 7   .811
No. 21 Wisconsin 14 – 6   .700 23 – 11   .676
Maryland 13 – 7   .650 23 – 11   .676
Iowa 10 – 10   .500 23 – 12   .657
Minnesota 9 – 11   .450 22 – 14   .611
Ohio State 8 – 12   .400 20 – 15   .571
Indiana 8 – 12   .400 19 – 16   .543
Penn State 7 – 13   .350 14 – 18   .438
Illinois 7 – 13   .350 12 – 21   .364
Rutgers 7 – 13   .350 14 – 17   .452
Nebraska 6 – 14   .300 19 – 17   .528
Northwestern 4 – 16   .200 13 – 19   .406
† 2019 Big Ten tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 2018–19 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Badgers were led by fourth-year head coach Greg Gard and played their home games at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 23–11, 14–6 in Big Ten play to finish in fourth place.[1][2] In the Big Ten tournament, the Badgers defeated Nebraska in the quarterfinals[3] before losing to Michigan State in the semifinals.[4] They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 5 seed in the South Region, their 24th trip to the NCAA Tournament. They were upset in the First Round by No. 12-seeded Oregon.[5]

Previous season

The Badgers finished the 2017–18 season 15–18, 7–11 in Big Ten play to finish in ninth place. They defeated eighth-seeded Maryland in the Big Ten tournament, but lost to top-seeded Michigan State in the next round. They failed to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1998.[6]

Offseason

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Matt Ferris 4 G 6'6" 205 RS Junior Appleton, WI Graduated[7]
Aaron Moesch 5 F 6'8" 220 RS Senior Green Bay, WI Graduated[7]
T. J. Schlundt 20 G 6'5" 197 RS Junior Oconomowoc, WI Graduated[7]
Alex Illikainen 25 F 6'9" 231 Senior Grand Rapids, MN Quit prior to season; transferred to University of Minnesota Duluth (D2) after fall semester[8]
Andy Van Vliet 33 F 7'0" 228 Junior Antwerp, Belgium Transferred to William & Mary[9]

Incoming transfers

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Micah Potter 11 C 6'9" 240 Junior Mentor, OH Transferred from Ohio State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Potter will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.
Owen Hamilton 30 C 7'0" 266 Sophomore Prescott, WI Walk-on; transferred from Northern Illinois

Returning players

Redshirt junior forward Ethan Happ announced his intent to enter the NBA draft on April 2, 2018 without hiring an agent.[10] He withdrew himself from the draft on May 30 after not being invited to the combine.[11][12]

2018 Recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Joe Hedstrom
C 		Minnetonka, MN Hopkins High School 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Oct 11, 2017 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:3/5 stars    ESPN grade: N/A
Taylor Currie
PF 		Clarkston, MI Clarkston High School 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Oct 31, 2017 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports:3/5 stars    ESPN grade: N/A
Tai Strickland
PG 		Tampa, FL St. Petersburg High School 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Mar 27, 2018 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 79
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2018 Wisconsin Commitments". Rivals.com.
  • "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com.
  • "ESPN- Wisconsin Badgers Men's Basketball Recruiting". ESPN.com.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com.
  • "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Roster

2018–19 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 D'Mitrik Trice 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 187 lb (85 kg) RS So Wayne High School (OH) Huber Heights, Ohio
G 1 Brevin Pritzl 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 198 lb (90 kg) RS Jr De Pere High School De Pere, Wisconsin
F 2 Aleem Ford 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS So Archer High School Lawrenceville, Georgia
G 3 Walt McGrory (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Edina High School Edina, Minnesota
G 4 Carter Higginbottom (W) Current redshirt 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 183 lb (83 kg) Fr St. Ignatius College Prep (IL) Chicago, Illinois
F 11 Micah Potter Current redshirt 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Montverde Academy/Ohio State Mentor, Ohio
G 12 Trevor Anderson Injured (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 201 lb (91 kg) RS So Stevens Point H.S./Green Bay Stevens Point, Wisconsin
G 13 Tai Strickland 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 172 lb (78 kg) Fr St. Petersburg High School Tampa, Florida
F 15 Charles Thomas IV 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Sr River Hill High School Highland, Maryland
G/F 21 Khalil Iverson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 217 lb (98 kg) Sr Rutherford B. Hayes High School (OH) Delaware, Ohio
F 22 Ethan Happ 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 237 lb (108 kg) RS Sr Rockridge High School Milan, Illinois
G 23 Kobe King 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 203 lb (92 kg) RS Fr La Crosse Central High School La Crosse, Wisconsin
C 30 Owen Hamilton (W) Current redshirt 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 266 lb (121 kg) So Prescott H.S. (WI)/Northern Illinois Prescott, Wisconsin
G 31 Michael Ballard (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 197 lb (89 kg) RS So Fenwick High School (IL) Oak Park, Illinois
C 32 Joe Hedstrom (W) Current redshirt 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 223 lb (101 kg) Fr Hopkins High School Hopkins, Minnesota
F 33 Taylor Currie Current redshirt 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 226 lb (103 kg) Fr Clarkston High School (MI) Clarkston, Michigan
G 34 Brad Davison 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 206 lb (93 kg) So Maple Grove High School Maple Grove, Minnesota
F 35 Nate Reuvers 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) So Lakeville North High School Lakeville, Minnesota
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
November 2, 2018*
7:00 pm, BTN Plus 		UW–Oshkosh W 82–70  –
  16 – Davison   7 – Pritzl   4 – Tied  Kohl Center (–)
Madison, WI
Regular season
November 6, 2018*
7:00 pm, BTN Plus 		Coppin State W 85–63  1–0
  21 – Trice   11 – Happ   12 – Happ  Kohl Center (17,287)
Madison, WI
November 13, 2018*
5:30 pm, FS1 		at Xavier
Gavitt Tipoff Games 		W 77–68  2–0
  30 – Happ   13 – Happ   5 – Tied  Cintas Center (10,312)
Cincinnati, OH
November 17, 2018*
7:00 pm, BTN 		Houston Baptist W 96–59  3–0
  17 – Pritzl   12 – Happ   6 – Happ  Kohl Center (17,287)
Madison, WI
November 21, 2018*
1:30 pm, ESPN 		No. 25 vs. Stanford
Battle 4 Atlantis Quarterfinals 		W 62–46  4–0
  16 – Tied   12 – Tied   1 – Tied  Imperial Arena (1,573)
Nassau, BAH
November 22, 2018*
12:30 pm, ESPN 		No. 25 vs. Oklahoma
Battle 4 Atlantis Semifinals 		W 78–58  5–0
  25 – Trice   12 – Happ   5 – Happ  Imperial Arena (1,182)
Nassau, BAH
November 23, 2018*
1:00 pm, ESPN 		No. 25 vs. No. 4 Virginia
Battle 4 Atlantis Championship 		L 46–53  5–1
  22 – Happ   15 – Happ   6 – Happ  Imperial Arena (2,249)
Nassau, BAH
November 27, 2018*
8:00 pm, ESPN2 		No. 22 NC State
ACC–Big Ten Challenge 		W 79–75  6–1
  19 – Happ   11 – Happ   6 – Trice  Kohl Center (17,012)
Madison, WI
November 30, 2018
7:00 pm, BTN 		No. 22 at No. 14 Iowa W 72–66  7–1
(1–0) 		 20 – Trice   7 – Tied   5 – Happ  Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,056)
Iowa City, IA
December 3, 2018
7:00 pm, BTN 		No. 12 Rutgers W 69–64  8–1
(2–0) 		 20 – Happ   4 – Tied   3 – Happ  Kohl Center (17,082)
Madison, WI
December 8, 2018*
4:00 pm, FOX 		No. 12 at Marquette
Rivalry 		L 69–74 OT 8–2
  34 – Happ   11 – Happ   4 – Happ  Fiserv Forum (17,515)
Milwaukee, WI
December 13, 2018*
7:00 pm, BTN 		No. 16 Savannah State W 101–60  9–2
  24 – Davison   11 – Happ   6 – Tied  Kohl Center (17,004)
Madison, WI
December 22, 2018*
11:00 am, BTN 		No. 16 Grambling State W 84–53  10–2
  19 – Happ   8 – Happ   5 – Happ  Kohl Center (17,183)
Madison, WI
December 29, 2018*
4:30 pm, CBSSN 		No. 15 at Western Kentucky L 76–83  10–3
  26 – Davison   12 – Happ   3 – Tied  E.A. Diddle Arena (7,614)
Bowling Green, KY
January 3, 2019
8:00 pm, BTN 		No. 22 Minnesota L 52–59  10–4
(2–1) 		 17 – Happ   8 – Happ   3 – Happ  Kohl Center (16,687)
Madison, WI
January 6, 2019
6:30 pm, BTN 		No. 22 at Penn State W 71–52  11–4
(3–1) 		 22 – Happ   8 – Happ   4 – Tied  Bryce Jordan Center (8,342)
University Park, PA
January 11, 2019
8:00 pm, FS1 		Purdue L 80–84 OT 11–5
(3–2) 		 31 – Happ   13 – Happ   6 – Happ  Kohl Center (17,187)
Madison, WI
January 14, 2019
7:30 pm, FS1 		at No. 19 Maryland L 60–64  11–6
(3–3) 		 18 – Reuvers   8 – Happ   5 – Trice  Xfinity Center (12,894)
College Park, MD
January 19, 2019
11:00 am, ESPN 		No. 2 Michigan W 64–54  12–6
(4–3) 		 26 – Happ   10 – Happ   7 – Happ  Kohl Center (17,287)
Madison, WI
January 23, 2019
8:00 pm, BTN 		at Illinois W 72–60  13–6
(5–3) 		 22 – Reuvers   10 – Reuvers   6 – Happ  State Farm Center (12,294)
Champaign, IL
January 26, 2019
1:15 pm, BTN 		Northwestern W 62–46  14–6
(6–3) 		 18 – Tied   12 – Happ   11 – Happ  Kohl Center (17,287)
Madison, WI
January 29, 2019
7:00 pm, BTN 		No. 24 at Nebraska W 62–51  15–6
(7–3) 		 13 – Davison   9 – Happ   4 – Happ  Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,739)
Lincoln, NE
February 1, 2019
8:00 pm, FS1 		No. 24 No. 21 Maryland W 69–61  16–6
(8–3) 		 21 – Davison   11 – Happ   6 – Happ  Kohl Center (17,287)
Madison, WI
February 6, 2019
8:00 pm, BTN 		No. 19 at Minnesota W 56–51  17–6
(9–3) 		 15 – Happ   13 – Happ   4 – Happ  Williams Arena (14,625)
Minneapolis, MN
February 9, 2019
11:00 am, FOX 		No. 19 at No. 7 Michigan L 52–61  17–7
(9–4) 		 18 – Happ   11 – Happ   1 – Tied  Crisler Center (12,707)
Ann Arbor, MI
February 12, 2019
6:00 pm, ESPN2 		No. 20 No. 11 Michigan State L 59–67  17–8
(9–5) 		 20 – Happ   12 – Happ   3 – Tied  Kohl Center (17,287)
Madison, WI
February 18, 2019
7:00 pm, FS1 		No. 22 Illinois W 64–58  18–8
(10–5) 		 18 – Davison   10 – Pritzl   3 – Davison  Kohl Center (17,152)
Madison, WI
February 23, 2019
7:30 pm, BTN 		No. 22 at Northwestern W 69–64  19–8
(11–5) 		 16 – Davison   10 – Happ   3 – Tied  Welsh–Ryan Arena (7,039)
Evanston, IL
February 26, 2019
8:00 pm, ESPN 		No. 19 at Indiana L 73–75 2OT 19–9
(11–6) 		 23 – Happ   11 – Happ   4 – Happ  Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222)
Bloomington, IN
March 2, 2019
12:00 pm, BTN 		No. 19 Penn State W 61–57  20–9
(12–6) 		 17 – Pritzl   9 – Reuvers   5 – Happ  Kohl Center (17,287)
Madison, WI
March 7, 2019
6:00 pm, ESPN 		No. 21 Iowa W 65–45  21–9
(13–6) 		 21 – Happ   14 – Happ   4 – Trice  Kohl Center (17,287)
Madison, WI
March 10, 2019
3:30 pm, CBS 		No. 21 at Ohio State W 73–67 OT 22–9
(14–6) 		 22 – Iverson   14 – Tied   8 – Happ  Value City Arena (18,231)
Columbus, OH
Big Ten tournament
March 15, 2019
2:00 pm, BTN 		(4) No. 19 vs. (13) Nebraska
Quarterfinals 		W 66–62  23–9
  14 – Tied   7 – Happ   4 – Tied  United Center (17,369)
Chicago, IL
March 16, 2019
12:00 pm, CBS 		(4) No. 19 vs. (1) No. 6 Michigan State
Semifinals 		L 55–67  23–10
  20 – Happ   6 – Happ   3 – Happ  United Center (18,468)
Chicago, IL
NCAA tournament
March 22, 2019*
3:30 pm, TBS 		(5 S) No. 21 vs. (12 S) Oregon
First Round 		L 54–72  23–11
  12 – Tied   8 – Happ   5 – Trice  SAP Center (14,331)
San Jose, CA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
S=South.
All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

See also: 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516171819Final
APRVRVRV25221216161522RVRVRV2419202219211921
CoachesRV——RV221619171623RVRVRV2319232318211921

^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings

Player statistics

Individual player statistics[13]
Minutes Scoring Total FGs 3-point FGs Free throws Rebounds
Player GP GS Tot Avg Pts Avg FG FGA Pct 3FG 3FA Pct FT FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg A TO Blk Stl PF
Happ, Ethan 34 34 1089 32.0 589 17.3 257 485 .530 0 5 .000 75 161 .466 77 265 342 10.1 153 104 44 38 87
Trice, D'Mitrik 34 34 1107 32.6 393 11.6 133 346 .384 76 195 .390 51 68 .750 6 88 94 2.8 90 45 1 30 65
Davison, Brad 34 34 1096 32.2 358 10.5 115 299 .385 52 149 .349 76 94 .809 10 101 111 3.3 62 34 2 36 79
Reuvers, Nate 34 34 779 22.9 268 7.9 105 234 .449 32 84 .381 26 41 .634 42 91 133 3.9 34 32 60 10 81
Iverson, Khalil 33 33 810 24.5 227 6.9 89 164 .543 1 6 .167 48 77 .623 48 102 150 4.5 30 36 13 31 58
Pritzl, Brevin 34 0 668 19.6 162 4.8 50 108 .463 32 78 .410 30 36 .833 15 68 83 2.4 17 10 3 10 36
King, Kobe 34 1 646 19.0 144 4.2 55 123 .447 15 49 .306 19 29 .655 20 53 73 2.1 17 17 3 9 27
Ford, Aleem 31 0 429 13.8 97 3.1 35 103 .340 23 80 .288 4 4 1.000 11 48 59 1.9 11 16 4 8 44
Strickland, Tai 16 0 50 3.1 28 1.8 9 23 .391 4 8 .500 6 8 .750 1 4 5 0.3 7 5 0 2 5
Anderson, Trevor 8 0 55 6.9 13 1.6 6 10 .600 1 1 1.000 0 0 .000 1 8 9 1.1 3 1 0 0 3
Thomas IV, Charles 29 0 147 5.1 46 1.6 18 41 .439 3 10 .300 7 11 .636 18 18 36 1.2 5 9 10 3 23
McGrory, Walt 13 0 31 2.4 6 0.5 2 5 .400 2 4 .500 0 0 .000 0 2 2 0.2 1 2 0 0 2
Ballard, Michael 9 0 17 1.9 2 0.2 0 4 .000 0 3 .000 2 2 1.000 2 1 3 0.3 0 0 0 0 2
Total 34 - 6924 - 2333 68.6 874 1945 .449 241 672 .359 344 531 .648 285 912 1197 35.2 430 328 140 177 512
Opponents 34 - 6927 - 2099 61.7 774 1950 .397 215 682 .315 336 503 .668 328 878 1206 35.5 352 386 138 176 591
Legend
  GP  Games played   GS  Games started  Avg  Average per game
  FG  Field goals made  FGA  Field goal attempts  Off  Offensive rebounds
 Def  Defensive rebounds   A  Assists   TO Turnovers
 Blk  Blocks  Stl  Steals  High  Team high

References

  1. ^ "Wisconsin Badgers Stats 2018–19". ESPN. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  2. ^ Potrykus, Jeff (March 10, 2019). "UW 73, Ohio State 67: Badgers escape with an OT victory and earn a double-bye in Big Ten tournament". Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  3. ^ "No. 19 Wisconsin tops Nebraska 66–62 in Big 10 tourney". ESPN. Associated Press. March 15, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  4. ^ "Winston, Goins lead No. 6 Michigan State into Big Ten final". ESPN. March 17, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  5. ^ "Run for Happ, Badgers ends with 72–54 loss to Oregon". Fox Sports. Associated Press. March 22, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  6. ^ "Tai Strickland, son of former NBA guard, signs with Wisconsin". ESPN. Associated Press. April 11, 2018.
  7. ^ a b c Lucas, Mike (February 25, 2018). "'The best four years of my life'". Varsity Magazine.
  8. ^ "Former Wisconsin Forward Alex Illikainen Commits to Minnesota-Duluth". Badgers Wire. April 17, 2019. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  9. ^ "Reserve Van Vliet transferring from Wisconsin". ESPN. Associated Press. March 14, 2018.
  10. ^ "Ohio State Buckeyes". Dayton Daily News.
  11. ^ Potrykus, Jeff (May 30, 2018). "As expected, Ethan Happ opts to return to Wisconsin for his final season". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  12. ^ "Ethan Happ to return to Wisconsin for senior season". Wisconsin Athletics. May 30, 2018.
  13. ^ "2018–19 Wisconsin Cumulative Statistics" (PDF). Wisconsin Badgers. Retrieved May 29, 2020.