'Sconnie Six Pack 12/3
Covering Wisconsin's QB commit Cole LaCrue in-person at the Colorado high school football 4A championship
What’s brewing:
Wisconsin basketball renews the I-94 Rivalry against Marquette
Khris Middleton makes his debut, but Milwaukee falls to the Los Angeles Lakers
Badgers men’s hockey pulls stunning-upset; defeats #5 Michigan
Wisconsin basketball renews the I-94 Rivalry against Marquette
Wisconsin (5-2) hopes to bounce back from its loss to Wake Forest against in-state rival Marquette (6-2) this afternoon. You can catch today’s game at 3:30PM CST on FS1.
Wisconsin and Marquette are each entering this game feeling very different about their results from inter-conference matchups. Wisconsin lost to Wake Forest by a score of 78-75. Marquette, on the other hand, defeated #6 Baylor 96-70.
In the same game Wisconsin played perhaps its best offensive game of the season, Wisconsin played its worst defensive game. The Badgers got productive performances from Steven Crowl, Tyler Wahl, and Chucky Hepburn and combined for 42.9% shooting as a team. Despite that, Wisconsin allowed Wake Forest to make five of their last seven shots from the field to defeat the Badgers.
Marquette defeated Baylor thanks to efforts from its two leading scorers, Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Kam Jones, who recorded 24 and 20 points respectively. As a team, Marquette features a balanced scoring effort with four different players averaging double-digit points per game.
Marquette is ranked 33rd at KenPom. Wisconsin is ranked 47th.
Khris Middleton makes his debut, but Milwaukee falls to Los Angeles; Milwaukee plays tonight at Charlotte
Khris Middleton made his season debut after knee and wrist injuries that kept him sidelined for seven months, but it was not enough for the Bucks to defeat the Lakers. Milwaukee lost to the Los Angeles Lakers by a score of 133-129.
With the game tied with 3:22 remaining, LeBron James made a three-pointer to give Los Angeles a 128-125 lead that it would not give up the rest of the way. Milwaukee had two chances to tie the game late with the score at 132-129. First, Grayson Allen missed a three-point shot with 18.2 seconds remaining. The Bucks then fouled the Lakers’ Russell Westbrook who missed both free throws, but Jrue Holiday missed a three-pointer with 5.6 seconds remaining to effectively end the game.
Giannis Antetokounmpo for the Bucks and Anthony Davis for the Lakers put on a spectacular performance of two of the NBA’s best players. Giannis and Davis recorded 40 and 44 points respectively for their teams.
Khris Middleton added 17 points in 27 minutes for the Bucks.
Milwaukee plays again tonight at the Charlotte Hornets (7-15). You can watch the game at 5:00PM CST on Bally Sports Wisconsin. Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said tonight that his “guess is” Khris Middleton “will not play” in this matchup.
The game features Milwaukee’s defense, one of the best in the NBA, against Charlotte’s offense, one of the worst in the NBA. Charlotte ranks in the bottom five in the NBA in points per game, field goal percentage, three-pointers made per game, three-point shooting percentage, and free throw percentage.
Wisconsin volleyball dominates Quinnipiac to advance to second-round of the NCAA tournament against TCU
The #1 seed Wisconsin Badgers advanced to the second-round of the NCAA tournament with a straight-set victory (25-15, 25-9, 25-4) over the Quinnipiac Bobcats. Wisconsin will host a second-round NCAA tournament match tomorrow against TCU at 6:00PM CST. You can watch the match on ESPN+.
The Badgers dominated the Bobcats defensively by holding Quinnipiac to negative hitting at -.144. Wisconsin forced Quinnipiac to commit 25 errors to its 12 kills on the match. The Badgers out-blocked the Bobcats 10-0. The victory extended the Badgers’ winning-streak to 19-straight matches.
Wisconsin next faces a team with a winning streak of its own: the TCU Horned Frogs. TCU has won its last six matches and eight of its last nine. Wisconsin opened its season with a sweep over the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth, TX.
TCU advanced to the second-round by defeating the #8 seed Washington Huskies in four sets (25-18, 24-26, 25-20, 25-21). TCU’s season-leader in kills led its offensive efforts with 25 kills. The Horned Frogs also held the Huskies to just .183 hitting in the match. TCU finished the season third in the Big 12 conference behind Texas and Baylor.
If Wisconsin wins tomorrow, they will host regional semifinals and final matches at the UW Field House next weekend. The winner of Wisconsin and TCU will face the winner of #4 Penn State and #5 Central Florida. Penn State and Central Florida each won their first-round matches in straight-sets.
Wisconsin men’s hockey stuns #5 Michigan
Wisconsin (7-8-0, 1-6-0 Big Ten) fell behind early, but scored six of the last seven goals to defeat the #5 Michigan Wolverines (10-6-1, 2-5-0, Big Ten) by a score of 6-3.
Michigan led 2-0 following goals at the 10:58 and 14:01 mark in the first period by Rutger McGroarty and Luke Hughes. Wisconsin did not let the Wolverines take a lead into the locker room, however, as Charlie Stramel and Brock Caufield each scored in the final five minutes of the opening period to tie the game at two.
Wisconsin would add another two goals in the second period by Corson Ceulemans and Zach Urdahl before Michigan’s Adam Fantilli cut Wisconsin’s lead to 4-3 with just under 15 minutes remaining in regulation. Lucius Cruz scored with 8:42 remaining to give Wisconsin a 5-3 lead prompting the Wolverines to pull the goalie. Owen Lindmark added an empty net goal with 45 seconds remaining to give the Badgers a 6-3 victory.
Wisconsin and Michigan play again tomorrow evening at 4:00PM CST. You can catch the game on Bally Sports Wisconsin Extra.
What’s to watch for in tomorrow’s game? Penalties. Michigan and Wisconsin were called for eight and seven penalties respectively in the opening game of this series. Of particular note, Wisconsin’s Jack Gorniak and Michigan’s Nick Granowicz were each assessed minor penalties for roughing and game misconduct penalties for fighting with 22 seconds remaining in regulation. Michigan’s power play, a major driver of its offense this season, floundered yesterday as the Badgers held the Wolverines scoreless on all four power play opportunities.
#3 Wisconsin women’s hockey dominates Bemidji State
The Wisconsin Badgers (12-2-1, 9-1-1 WCHA) dominated the Bemidji State Beavers (4-14-1, 1-12-0 WCHA) in the first game of a two game series this weekend. The Badgers won by a score of 13-1. Wisconsin’s 13 goals were the second-most in a single game in school history per Wisconsin’s game notes.
You can watch the final game of the series today at 2:00PM CST on B1G+.
The Badgers scored early and often as they routed the Beavers by scoring the first ten goals of the game. Maddi Wheeler gave the Badgers a 1-0 lead just 1:06 into the first period. After just 13:08 played, Wisconsin held a 4-0 lead over Bemidji State and the game was effectively over just as quickly as it had started.
Wisconsin’s offense was relentless in this game outshooting Bemidji State 55-9 as multiple Badgers posted record days. Casey O’Brien recorded six points including four in the first period. According to Wisconsin’s game notes, four points in a single period ties the program record. Britta Curl scored three goals - her first hat trick.
Topping-off the six pack: covering Wisconsin QB commit Cole LaCrue in-person at the Colorado high school football championship
A trip to Denver, Colorado this weekend means I will have the privilege of attending the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 4A state championship. What do all those words mean? It means I will be in-person to watch Wisconsin football’s 3-star quarterback recruit, Cole LaCrue, compete for a state title.
Cole LaCrue from Broomfield high school committed to Wisconsin on November 7th, just one week after the Badgers offered him a scholarship. He took an unofficial visit to Wisconsin on the day of the Badgers’ game against Washington State in September.
LaCrue, following a phone call with head coach Luke Fickell, confirmed his commitment to Wisconsin per Evan Flood of 24/7 Sports.
Before getting to Madison, however, LaCrue has a job to finish. His Broomfield High School football team is 13-0 and facing Loveland (12-1) in the state championship today.
Loveland has a tenacious defense that could provide LaCrue’s greatest challenge yet. To end a season in which he has completed 64% of his passes for 2,415 yards and 26 touchdowns with just four interceptions, LaCrue faces a defense that has allowed less than nine points per game.
Loveland is seeking its third state title in five years. Broomfield has not won the championship since 1984.
For the latest updates on Wisconsin’s QB recruit during the game, follow me on Twitter for real-time coverage.
On, Wisconsin.