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Bucks announce 2014 Summer League roster

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The Milwaukee Bucks announced their 2014 NBA Summer League roster on Thursday.  They’ll open Summer League action in Las Vegas a

Ben Brust

Ben Brust

week from today against Cleveland.

Current Bucks players, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nate Wolters and Chris Wright will lead this year’s squad that is headlined by the second-overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, Jabari Parker.

One of Milwaukee’s second-round picks in this year’s draft, Johnny O’Bryant (38th overall) will also be on the team, along with former Badgers Ben Brust and Jordan Taylor.

AUDIO: Ben Brust is excited to get the opportunity :15

Next Friday’s Summer League opening matchup against Cleveland will feature a matchup of the top two picks in the draft, Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker.

The Bucks will continue their opening round with games against Phoenix on Sunday, July 13th and Utah on Monday, July 14th.  Following the opening three games, the participating teams will be seeded for the single-elimination tournament that will culminate in a championship game on July 21.  A consolation round will be held for teams failing to advance, ensuring that each team is guaranteed to play as least five games.

The Bucks will hold three days of practice, July 8, 9 and 10 before taking off for Las Vegas.

Brust, Thomas in for pre-draft workout with Bucks

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As the Milwaukee Bucks get ready for the 2014 NBA Draft, they held their first draft prospect workout today at the team’s training

Ben Brust

Ben Brust

center in St. Francis.

Four prospects were scheduled to workout, including former Wisconsin Badger guard Ben Brust and former Marquette guard Jake Thomas.  Also in attendance was forward Taylor Braun from North Dakota State and Oregon forward Mike Moser.

The Bucks own the best odds (25.0%) of landing the top overall draft pick at the 2014 NBA Draft Lottery to be held on Tuesday, May 20.  Milwaukee also owns the 31st, 36th and 48th picks in the second round of the draft.

Badgers fall to Kentucky on late three

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Kentucky freshman guard Aaron Harrison has been there before.  He nailed a last second three-point basket in the Elite 8

AT&T Stadium

AT&T Stadium

matchup against Michigan to give the Wildcats a 75-72 win over the Wolverines.  Saturday night, Harrison did it again, this time with Kentucky trailing Wisconsin by two points.  His three gave the Wildcats a 1-point lead with 5.7 seconds left to play and an eventual 74-73 victory over the Badgers and a spot in Monday night’s championship game against Connecticut.

The Badgers had a chance to win it after a timeout.  The inbound pass went to Traevon Jackson who rushed up court and got a shot off from about 17 feet on the left-wing.  It was just off the mark and sent the Wildcats into celebration mode.

For the Badgers (30-8), their dream of an NCAA Championship was gone.  They struggled stopping Kentucky when the Wildcats took the ball to the basket.  They gave up penetration and then second chances.  Yet Wisconsin was right in the thick of things.

Wisconsin led much of the way, thanks to near perfect free throw shooting (19-20) and the solid bench contributions from freshman Bronson Koenig  (11 pts) and junior forward Duje Dukan (8 pts).

Koenig’s play was especially big when Traevon Jackson picked up his second foul with nearly 12-minutes left in the first half.  Koenig played the rest of the first half and more than held his own against the high-flying Kentucky Wildcats.

James Young scored 17 points and Julius Randle 16 for Kentucky (29-10).  Sam Dekker and Ben Brust had 15 points each to lead the Badgers.

Junior forward Frank Kaminsky was held to two points in the first half, but the rest of the Badger rotation picked up the slack.  Wisconsin took a 40-36 lead into the locker room at halftime.  After Sam Dekker opened the second half with a three-pointer to give the Badgers a 43-36 lead, Kentucky went on a 15-0 run.  It was literally the only point in the game where Kentucky’s bigger, stronger interior players looked as if they would take over and not give in.

But the Badgers answered with a 15-4 run of their own, led by the play of Duje Dukan.

Wisconsin had a couple of costly turnovers down the stretch and it may have prevented them from being the team getting ready to face U-Conn on Monday night.  But Wisconsin’s run will still be one that will be remembered.  And with Ben Brust being the only significant contributor that will depart because of graduation, Badger fans are already looking forward to seeing what Bo Ryan and company can do next season.  The future certainly looks bright.

Badgers return to the big stage tonight

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It’s been 14 years since the Wisconsin Badgers last appeared in the Final Four.  The last time they won a National Title was all the

Frank Kaminsky

Frank Kaminsky

way back in 1941.

Even though Kentucky, with their one and done player philosophy, is playing as well as any team in the tournament, the Badgers believe they have what it takes to win college basketball’s top prize.

Just to have the right to play for the title, Bucky needs to beat the Wildcats tonight at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

It’s the veteran Badger team taking on a young Kentucky team that win or lose, will break up and head for the riches of the NBA.

Kentucky was a preseason number one, but things certainly didn’t play out that way for a good portion of the season.  The freshmen group struggled to mesh and quite frankly, played like freshmen.  Then, as the regular season wound down, they started to come together, started to play as a team.  While they were an 8-seed going into the tournament, most observers felt the Wildcats would be a potential dark horse and it has played out that way.

The Badgers started the season by winning their first 16 games, then hit the skids.  Their normally strong defense was far from the standard that has been expected from Wisconsin teams and the Badgers lost 5 of the next 6.  Head coach Bo Ryan knew things needed to change, or his Badgers wouldn’t have any chance at a deep run in the post season. [Read more…]

Badgers headed to the Elite 8 (Video)

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The Wisconsin Badgers are in the Elite 8 for the third time in school history and the second time under Bo Ryan after knocking off Baylor 69-52 in Anaheim on Thursday night.

Frank Kaminsky scored 19 points and added 4 rebounds and 6 blocked shots, while senior guard Ben Brust added 14 points to put the Badgers into the NCAA Regional final for the first time since 2005.  That year, the Badgers lost to eventual national champion North Carolina 88-82, in Syracuse, New York.

For just the third time in school history, the Badgers have made better than 50-percent of their shots in an NCAA Tournament game.  Wisconsin hit 26 of 51 (51%) in the victory. [Read more…]

Badgers to face Baylor in Sweet 16

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The Wisconsin Badger men’s basketball team will square off against Baylor in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA men’s basketball

Frank Kaminsky

Frank Kaminsky

tournament.

The 6th seeded Bears (26-11) crushed Creighton 85-55 on Sunday night in San Antonio to advance to Thursday’s matchup with the Badgers in Anaheim, California (6:47pm).  The game will be televised on TBS.

Baylor shot 61% from three-point range (11 of 18) and 63% overall from the field (30 of 47) in their win over the Blue Jays.

Baylor’s zone defense held Creighton’s Doug McDermott to 15 points, 12 below his season average.

The Bears have held opponents to 57.5 points a game in their first two NCAA wins.  They beat Nebraska in the second round, 74-60, holding the Cornhuskers to 19% from three-point range and 42.6% overall.

The Badgers rallied in their game Saturday night, coming from 12-points down at halftime to beat Oregon, 85-77 at the Bradley Center.

Frank Kaminsky scored 19 points to lead all five Badger starters in double figures.  Traevon Jackson added 16 points, including 8 of 10 from the free throw line.  Josh Gasser hit 3 of 5 from distance and finished with 13 points.  Ben Brust had 12 points, hitting 4 of 8 from three-point distance.  Wisconsin’s fifth starter, Sam Dekker added 12 points.

The Badgers are in the NCAA’s Sweet 16 for the 3rd time in the last four years.

AUDIO: Frank Kaminsky on the physical game on Saturday night :15

Badgers face Michigan State in Big Ten semifinals today

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The second-seeded Wisconsin Badgers knocked off the Minnesota Gophers 83-57 on Friday night, advancing to the Big Ten

Ben Brust

Ben Brust

Tournament Semifinals this afternoon against the Michigan State Spartans.

Ben Brust poured in a career high 29 points to lead the Badgers.  Brust hit 8 of 15 from the field, 4 of 10 from three-point distance and 9 of 9 from the free throw line.

Sam Dekker added 10 points and freshmen Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig combined for 29 points on 11 of 14 shooting.

The Badgers gave coach Bo Ryan his 700th coaching victory (700-222), improving to 26-6 on the season.

Wisconsin beat Michigan State (24-8) in their only meeting this season at the Bradley Center, 60-58 at the Kohl Center when Traevon Jackson won it on a last second jumper.

Michigan State knocked off Northwestern 67-51 to advance.

Top-seeded Michigan (24-7) faces 5th seeded Ohio State (25-8) in the other semifinals in Indianapolis.

Badgers capture 8th straight in win over Purdue

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The 9th ranked Wisconsin Badgers wrapped up the home portion of their

Frank Kaminsky

Frank Kaminsky

schedule with a 76-70 win over the Purdue Boilermakers in Big Ten action at the Kohl Center on Wednesday night.

The Badgers (25-5, 12-5 Big Ten) extended their win streak to eight-straight games as Junior center Frank Kaminsky poured in 22 points and Traevon Jackson added 14, sending seniors Ben Brust and Zach Bohannon and red shirt junior Evan Anderson out with a win in their final home game as Badgers.

Kaminsky hit 5 of 6 field-goal attempts in the opening half.  He hit his first 4 three-pointers and finished 4 of 5 from three-point range and 8 of 11 overall.  He also had two blocks and two steals.

AUDIO: Ben Brust on what Frank Kaminsky means to the Badgers :11

AUDIO: Traevon Jackson is unstoppable when he’s aggressive :20

Josh Gasser added 11 of his 13 in the second half, including 9 of 10 at the free throw line.  The Badgers hit 14 of their last 15 free throws in the final 4:28 to hold off Purdue’s late rally. [Read more…]

Badgers continue their late season roll

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The 14th ranked Wisconsin Badgers set a program record by winning their

Josh Gasser

Josh Gasser

11th road game of the season (11-2), knocking off Penn State 71-66 in State College, Pennsylvania.

The Badgers (24-5, 11-5 Big Ten) hit 13 of 14 free throws over the final 3:45 to win its fifth straight road game and seventh overall.

Josh Gasser had 15 points, hitting 3 of 6 from distance and 4 of 5 at the free throw line.  The Badgers hit 19 of 24 free throws overall. [Read more…]

Badgers overcome slow start to beat Indiana

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Sam Dekker scored 16 points and the 14th ranked Wisconsin Badgers came

Bo Ryan

Bo Ryan

from behind to beat Indiana 69-58 at the Kohl Center on Tuesday night.

The Badgers (23-5, 10-5 Big Ten) shot just 26% from the field in the first half and trailed at the break 29-19.  But they started the second half on a 9-2 run to climb right back in the game and eventually pull out the victory.

The win extended the Badgers win streak to six games as they knocked off the Hoosiers for the 12th straight time at the Kohl Center.  The win also kept the Badgers in third place in the Big Ten, a game behind Michigan State and 1 1/2 behind Michigan with three games left to play.

The Badgers turned the tables in the second half by hitting 54% of its shots from distance and 61% overall from the field. [Read more…]