College Basketball Power 10: Seven of Top 10 Went Down Last Week
By Jeremy Karll
8. Wisconsin (18-3)
Wisconsin has quietly been waiting to crack the top 10 for several weeks now. Their three losses of the season have come against ranked teams in Creighton, North Carolina and Purdue, and the Badgers lead the Big Ten with a 7-1 conference record.
Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig are huge contributors to Wisconsin’s success this season, but Ethan Happ is the star player in their Big Three. In their brutal 61-54 overtime win over Rutgers last week, Happ scored 32 points on 12-of-16 shooting.
It’s the second time in the past three games Happ has scored at least 28 points and led to him being named the Big Ten’s Player of the Week for a second straight week.
He’s one of the best post players in the nation, which complements the perimeter games of Hayes, Koenig and Vitto Brown. Also, Happ leads the Big Ten’s best defensive team with two steals and one block per game.
In Big Ten play, Wisconsin leads the conference in almost every defensive statistic. Wisconsin only allows 62.6 points per game in conference play and holds teams to 42.2 percent shooting, both lead the Big Ten.
Wisconsin still has a lot of their Final Four team from a couple of years ago, and that makes them a potential threat to get back there this year.
Wisconsin travels to Illinois and hosts Indiana this week.