MOVIN' ON
With an 84-74 win over No. 9 Virginia Tech, 8th-seeded Wisconsin advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the 4th consecutive season and the 10th time in the last 11 years. UW has won at least 1 NCAA tournament game in 18 of its 23 appearances. Wisconsin has won 12 NCAA tournament games over the last 4 seasons, the most of any team in the nation.
With Thursday night's win, the Badgers earned a date with No. 1 overall seed Villanova on Saturday at 1:40 p.m. (CT) on CBS.
WISCONSIN ON TO ROUND OF 32
- With an 84-74 win over No. 9 Virginia Tech, 8th-seeded Wisconsin advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the 4th consecutive season and the 10th time in the last 11 years. UW has won at least 1 NCAA tournament game in 18 of its 23 appearances.
- Wisconsin has won 12 NCAA tournament games over the last 4 seasons, the most of any team in the nation.
-Â Wisconsin is looking to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 4th consecutive season. No other team in the nation has been to each of the last 3 Sweet 16s. The last teams to make the Sweet 16 in four consecutive seasons were Louisville and Michigan State, who both went to 4 straight from 2012-15. The Badgers are also seeking their 5th Sweet 16 in the last 6 years.
- Over the last 4 seasons, Wisconsin has posted a record of 24-7 (.774) during the month of March. That is the best winning percentage and most wins among Big Ten teams. That includes a mark of 18-6 (.750) in postseason games.
- With 26 wins on the year, Wisconsin has equaled the 5th-highest single-season win total in school history. All 6 seasons with 26+ wins have come since 2007.
- Greg Gard is now 3-1 in NCAA tournament games as Wisconsin's head coach. Overall since arriving at UW during the 2001-02 season, Gard has helped the Badgers go 28-15 (.651) in the tourney. That is the 7th-highest win total in the nation over that span.
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT
- With Thursday's win, Wisconsin seniors
Nigel Hayes and
Bronson Koenig played in their 15th NCAA tournament game and improved to 12-3 in the Big Dance. Hayes also appeared in his 148th game overall, tying Josh Gasser for the most in UW history.
- Wisconsin's second-round match-up with Villanova will feature 4 of the nation's top NCAA tournament scorers. The Badgers' duo of Hayes and Koenig rank 1st and 2nd among all active players with 147 and 142 points scored in NCAA tournament games, respectively. Villanova's duo of Kris Jenkins and Josh Hart are tied for 4th among active players.
ALL-TIME VS. VILLANOVA
Wisconsin and Villanova will play for just the 2nd time and their first meeting in the postseason.
- Villanova won the only previous meeting, a 66-58 victory in the 1996 Maui Invitational. The Wildcats were ranked No. 3 in the nation at the time and the game served as Dick's Bennett's first as head coach at Wisconsin.
- Wisconsin is 97-86 all-time against current members of the Big East. This season, the Badgers are 2-1 against Big East teams, defeating Marquette and Georgetown and falling to Creighton. Villanova went 6-1 against those teams. The Wildcats also won at Purdue this season.
TAKING ON NO. 1
- Wisconsin will be facing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament for the 9th time. The Badgers are 3-6 all-time against top-seeded teams, with one of those wins coming as an 8th seed in 2000.
-Â When the Badgers take on Villanova, they will also be facing the No. 1 ranked team in the AP poll. Wisconsin is 3-19 all-time against teams ranked No. 1 in the AP poll.
LAST TIME OUT
-Â Wisconsin scored its most points since Jan. 24 and posted the 5th-highest scoring NCAA tournament game in school history with an 84-74 win over Virginia Tech on Thursday.
- UW went 13-for-31 from 3-point range, equaling a season high for made triples. The 13 3FGs is Wisconsin's 3rd-highest total for an NCAA tournament game. The Badgers have hit double-digit 3-pointers in 4 of the last 5 games, going 4-0 in such contests. UW is 10-2 on the year when hitting at least 10 3-pointers in a game.
- The Badgers out-rebounded the Hokies, 37-25, including a 17-6 edge on the offensive glass. UW's 17 offensive boards led to 18 second-chance points. This marks the Badgers' 7th-consecutive game with double-digit second-chance points.
- Wisconsin went 19-for-25 (76.0%) at the free throw line, the team's highest FT% (min. 10 FTAs) since Dec. 23 when the team went 10-for-11 against Florida A&M. The Badgers are 14-1 on the season when attempting at least 20 free throws.
- The Badgers dished out 19 assists with just 8 turnovers. The 19 assists equaled a UW NCAA tournament game record. UW has now had single-digit turnovers in 6 of the last 9 games.
- Senior
Bronson Koenig scored a career-high 28 points and set a school record with 8 3-pointers, going 8-for-17 from downtown. Koenig's 28-point performance equaled UW's 3rd-highest scoring output in an NCAA tournament game. It was the most points scored in an NCAA tourney game since Frank Kaminsky had 29 vs. Arizona in the 2015 Elite Eight. Koenig's 28 points also tied as the 2nd-highest single-game total of the NCAA tournament through March 16. Over the last 5 years, only 3 players have hit at least 8 triples in an NCAA tournament game.
- Koenig also broke the record for career NCAA tournament 3-pointers in Wisconsin history. He has now hit 28, surpassing 24 by Ben Brust (2011-14). The Wisconsin record-holder for 3FGs, Koenig now ranks 22nd all-time in Big Ten history with 264 career 3-pointers. He is 2 away from passing MSU's Denzel Valentine (265) and needs 5 to pass Michigan's Dion Harris (268) for 20th in Big Ten annals.
- Koenig is averaging 9.5 ppg in 15 career NCAA tournament games, going 28-73 (.384) from 3-point range.
- With 1,429 career points, Koenig pass Devin Harris (1,425) for 12th on Wisconsin's all-time scoring chart. He needs 26 points to pass Kirk Penney (1,454) for 11th place.
- Senior
Nigel Hayes posted a double-double for the third-consecutive game and his first in an NCAA tournament game, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds (6 offensive). Hayes went 8-for-9 at the free throw line, hitting his final 8 shots from the charity stripe.
- Hayes appeared in his 148th career game, equaling Josh Gasser for the most in Wisconsin history. He has also now played in 114 career wins, tying Frank Kaminsky for the 2nd-highest total in UW annals (Josh Gasser appeared in 117 wins). With 147 career points in the NCAA tournament, Hayes is just 1 point shy of Mike Wilkinson (2002-05) for 4th in UW history and 7 points behind Alando Tucker (2003-07) for 3rd. Hayes is averaging 9.8 ppg in his NCAA tournament career. Hayes now owns 71 career rebounds in the NCAA tournament, the 2nd-highest total in school history. He trails only Frank Kaminsky, who grabbed 92 boards from 2012-15.
- Sophomore
Ethan Happ tallied 10 points with 8 rebounds and 3 blocks. He has averaged 14.3 ppg and 9.0 rpg in 4 career NCAA tournament games.
- Sophomore
Khalil Iverson contributed 11 points and matched career highs with 7 rebounds and 3 assists in 21 minutes off the bench. The 11 points marked his highest scoring effort since scoring 16 points at Marquette on Dec. 10, 2016. Iverson went 7-for-10 from the free throw line, setting career highs in both free throws made and attempted (previous high was 5-7 at Marquette on Dec. 10, 2016).
WISCONSIN IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
UW is making its 23rd appearance in the NCAA tournament. The Badgers are 36-21 (.632) all-time in the Big Dance, advancing to 4 Final Fours and winning the 1941 NCAA title.
- The Badgers earned a No. 8 seed in the East Region. UW has been seeded 8th or higher in 10 of the last 11 years.
- Wisconsin is 5-2 all-time as a No. 8 seed. The Badgers advanced all the way to the 2000 Final Four as a No. 8 seed, knocking off No. 9 Fresno State, No. 1 Arizona, No. 4 LSU and No. 6 Purdue. UW also went 1-1 as a No. 8 seed in 2002, beating No. 9 St. John's before falling to eventual national champion, No. 1 seeded Maryland.
- Since 2002, the Badgers have gone 13-2 in opening round NCAA tournament games. UW's only two first-round losses came as a No. 9 seed in 2006 and a No. 5 seed in 2013.
- The Badgers are 2-1 in the NCAA tournament under head coach
Greg Gard. Last season, in Gard's first year, 7th-seeded UW defeated No. 10 Pitt and No. 2 Xavier to advance to the Sweet 16. The Badgers eventually fell to No. 6 Notre Dame.
- UW has won 10 of its last 11 NCAA tournament games played in the month of March.
- This marks the 10th time UW has been in the East Region, most recently advancing to the Sweet 16 in Philadelphia last season. The Badgers' only national championship came out of the East Region
in 1941.
- Wisconsin has qualified for each of the last 19 consecutive NCAA tournaments, the 5th-longest streak in NCAA history.
- UW's 19 consecutive NCAA tournaments is also tied as the 2nd-longest streak in Big Ten history. Only MSU's active streak of 20 consecutive is longer.
- The Badgers have been to the NCAA tournament in all 16 seasons
Greg Gard has been on the bench. In the first 15 appearances, UW owns a 27-15 (.642) record and has advanced to 8 Sweet 16s, 3 Elite Eights and the 2014 and 2015 Final Four.
- Wisconsin's 27 NCAA tourney wins since 2001-02 (
Bo Ryan/
Greg Gard era) rank 7th in the nation and 2nd among Big Ten teams (Michigan St., 30).
- What
Bo Ryan/
Greg Gard have accomplished at Wisconsin is impressive for any school, but considering UW's NCAA tournament history prior to 2002, it is particularly staggering.
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