Sports
weekend march 15-17, 2013 DailyCardinal.com
Men’s Basketball
Men’s Hockey
Badgers play host to Minnesota-Duluth in WCHA playoff opener By Matt Masterson The daily cardinal
abigail waldo/cardinal file photo
Junior guard Ben Brust will look to build upon his 14 point performance against Michigan earlier this season when the Badgers play the Wolverines in the Big Ten tournament.
Badgers prepare for rematch with Michigan 83-66 win. Wisconsin would have met Wisconsin arguably ben- the Nittany Lions if Michigan efited the most from the Big hadn’t blown a five-point lead Ten’s single-play cycling in the final minute of its showschedule this season, drawing down with Indiana Sunday, both Indiana and Michigan but the Wolverines’ loss gave only once during the regular UW the first-round bye. season slate. “I’ll definitely take advanWith Nebraska’s addition tage of [the first-round bye],” to the conference last sea- said sophomore guard Traevon son, everyone in the Big Ten Jackson. “That’s an extra day of matches up with seven league rest, an extra day of preparation opponents twice per season and getting shots up.” and plays the other four teams While Brust said UW will be one time. prepared for tip-off Friday, he also Wisconsin certainly made acknowledged Michigan could the most of their matchups with benefit from having a game under the Hoosiers and Wolverines. their belt at the United Center. The Wisconsin beat IU Wolverines could at Assembly Hall gain momentum or and knocked off develop fatigue from Michigan in what the extra 40 minutes was perhaps colof basketball. lege basketball’s “It could go best game this seaeither way, to be Points scored by Wisconsin in its son, with junior honest,” Brust previous meeting guard Ben Brust’s said. “You never with Michigan. half-court heave know, and that’s as time expired how it is in the sending the conseason—teams Average points per test into overtime. come off wins or game scored by Wisconsin went on come off losses, Michigan sophomore to edge Michigan, so you’ve got to be guard Trey Burke. 65-62, in the extra ready at all times five-minute frame. for anything.” The Badgers One would (12-6 Big Ten, 21-10 overall) think a significant portion will meet the Wolverines (12-6, of Wisconsin’s preparation, 26-6) once again Friday at the especially for Jackson, would United Center in Chicago for be spent focusing on Michigan a quarterfinal game in the Big sophomore guard Trey Burke, Ten tournament. who was named the Big Ten’s While UW earned a Player of the Year this week. first-round bye, Michigan Jackson, who grew up in had to defeat the Nittany Westerville, Ohio, and played Lions Thursday to set up a with Burke, said the conferrematch with the Badgers. The ence’s top player is especialWolverines held just a two- ly difficult to scout. Because point edge over No. 12-seeded of Burke’s ability to create Penn State at halftime, but opportunities for himself and they went on to cruise to a his teammates offensively,
By Vince Huth the daily cardinal
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Jackson said it will take a joint defensive effort to slow him down.
“Teams come off wins or come off losses, so you’ve got to be ready at all times for anything.” Ben Brust junior guard Wisconsin men’s basketball
“He’s such a reactionary player. He doesn’t have too many weaknesses, so with him, you just have to get a hand up and hope the ball doesn’t go in,” Jackson said. “You can make him take tough shots, but he’s made so many tough shots already it’s just become natural to him.” Associate head coach Greg Gard said he was pleased with the way Wisconsin made Burke take tough shots when the Wolverines came to the Kohl Center last month. However, the Badgers allowed Burke to get into a rhythm in the second half of that contest. “[Burke] was able to get into the paint on us, so we’ll have to be better off ball screens,” Gard said. “Trey’s really done a great job of learning how to create on his own shot. You can guard him perfectly and he’ll still create separation and be able to get a shot off.” Tip-off for the WisconsinMichigan showdown Friday is set for 25 minutes after completion of the Illinois-Indiana matchup, which will start at 11 a.m. The winners of those two games will meet in the semifinal round Saturday.
After earning a win last weekend when it mattered the most, the No. 14 Wisconsin men’s hockey team will host MinnesotaDuluth in a best-of-three series at the Kohl Center this weekend. The Badgers (13-8-7 WCHA, 17-12-7 overall) defeated No. 8 St Cloud State—the top-seeded team in the WCHA—Saturday 3-2 to earn the No. 4 seed and home-ice advantage, as well as a chance to host the Bulldogs (1013-5, 14-17-5) in the first round of the conference playoffs. “It’s really nice, you don’t need to worry about sleeping in some hotel room,” sophomore defenseman Jake McCabe said of playing at home. “To be around these settings—it’s home for us— so its always an advantage. We hope all the fans come out and really pack this place and if that happens, this place should be a fun environment.” In the first round of the 2010’11 WCHA playoffs, UW took game one on the road against Colorado College, but dropped the next two to lose the series and ultimately have their season ended. That mirrored the following season when the Badgers also took game one in Denver before again dropping the final two games to lose the series. McCabe said that getting off to a good start in the season is key, but even that may not be enough. “A lot of us have been in this situation before in the past couple years and we’re not very happy with the result,” he said. “You can’t look at it as a threegame series, you have to take it one game at a time. From here on out we have to win out. That’s
our mindset; you have to win hockey games from here on out to keep playing.” Back in October, Wisconsin and Duluth faced off in their regular season series. Sophomore goaltender Joel Rumpel made 29 saves to lead the Badgers to a 2-0 victory in game one before the teams skated to a 2-2 tie in game two. Coming of an eight-game winless streak, the Bulldogs have put together four straight wins with series sweeps over Alabama-Huntsville and Nebraska-Omaha.
“A lot of us have been in this situation in the past couple years and we’re not very happy with the result.” Jake McCabe sophomore defenseman Wisconsin men’s hockey
Duluth is a team that has relied heavily on their young talent this season. Freshmen forwards Austin Farley and Tony Cameranesi lead the team with 34 points, and freshman goaltender Matt McNeely has earned a team-high 24 starts and 10 wins for Duluth. While the Bulldogs are carried by younger talent, the Badgers are a veteran team that is supported by their more experienced core of players. “I think [we can], especially the way we have been playing here the last couple months— hard nosed hockey,” McCabe said. “We’ve been playing hard
playoffs page 7
shoaib altaf/cardinal file photo
Freshman forward Nic Kerdiles and the Badgers will try to make it past the first round of the WCHA playoffs for the first time since 2010.