Badgers Basketball: Wisconsin Resilient Since Maui Invite Blowout

Coming off a blowout loss to North Carolina in the Maui Invitational championship, the Wisconsin Badgers have rebounded nicely and are currently in a six-game winning streak.

The true test of a team throughout the college basketball season is not so much how they win, it’s how they bounce back after a tough or embarrassing defeat. For the Wisconsin Badgers, that such loss came in the championship game of the Maui Invite, where they were blown out 71-56 by North Carolina. The Badgers were never in the game since the opening tip. But in the following weeks and games, Wisconsin has shown its true toughness.

It was a marquee game that many were looking forward to, one that might have been a precursor to the Final Four in April. What fans got, however, was a beat down by the Tar Heels and the Badgers left to figure out how they bounce back and move on.

Head coach Greg Gard made sure Wisconsin rebounded from that loss and they have been impressive in doing so. The Badgers are currently riding a six-game winning streak that includes victories over then 22nd-ranked Syracuse and Oklahoma at home, a tough Marquette team on the road, and UW-Green Bay at the Kohl Center.

And they’ve been scoring a ton of points and winning big in these six victories.

During this win streak, the Badgers are averaging 84.3 points per game and have scored 90 or more points three times. In fact, they have not scored less than 73 points in the past month and the average margin of victory during these six games has been 23.2 points.

Rewind back to the North Carolina game. Just two players for Wisconsin scored in double-figures; Vitto Brown led the Badgers with 15 points and Ethan Happ added 13 points and six rebounds. Nigel Hayes was just 3-of-11 from the floor, 1-7 from the three-point line, and scored eight points. Bronson Koenig failed to show up completely, hit just one shot from the floor, and scored only two points.

Snap back to reality as both Hayes and Koenig themselves have seemed to rebound nicely from the Maui Invitational championship game. Hayes is averaging 17.7 points per game during the current win streak, and Koenig, Wisconsin’s leading scorer on the season thus far, is averaging 15.3 per game. Happ is the one that is shining right now. While averaging nearly a double-double on the season, the last six games he has averaged 14.8 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per game.

Good teams go through adversity during the course of a season. Great teams bounce back from adversity, learn from it, grow, and become successful. Right now, that is the course the Badgers are on. Will they go through another tough game or even tough stretch during conference play? Absolutely. But going through that embarrassing loss and bouncing back the way they have gives no cause for concern heading towards March Madness.

Wisconsin plays host to the Florida A&M Rattlers Friday night at the Kohl Center in their final tune-up before Big Ten play begins. The game can be seen on the Big Ten Network.