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Badgers fall to top-ranked Minnesota, split with the Gophers

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The 12th-ranked Wisconsin Badger men’s hockey team (6-6-0, 6-3-0-1 Big Ten) split its home series against No. 1 Minnesota (11-1-0, 9-1-0-0 Big Ten) after coming up short in Sunday’s matchup.  The Gophers claimed game two, 5-3, after the Badgers handed them their first loss of the season a day earlier.

After the Gophers scored the first goal of the game just 1:21 into the first period, the Badgers even the score when freshman Sam Stange scored on a deflection at the 13:41 mark.  It’s the fifth of the season for Stange, who leads all Badger freshmen in goals scored.

Brock Caufield gave the Badgers a 2-1 lead at 11:58 of the second period on assists to Roman Ahcan and Jesper Peltonen.  But the Gophers answered with a pair of goals to head into the locker room for the second intermission with a 3-2 lead.

The Gophers scored a power play goal early in the third to make it 4-2, but Wisconsin’s Cole Caufield made it 4-3 at 4:12 of the third on assists from Ty Pelton-Byce and Linus Weissbach.

The Gophers made it a two-goal lead at 17:43 of the third period and that’s the way the game would end.

Senior goaltender Robbie Beydoun finished with 19 saves in goal in taking the loss.

The Badgers remain home for a two-game series against Arizona State on Jan. 15-16 with both games facing off at 7 p.m. at LaBahn Arena.  It’ll be the second meeting between the two teams this season, with the Sun Devils sweeping the Badgers 8-5 and 3-1.

 

Badgers upset top-ranked Gophers in hockey series opener

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The Wisconsin men’s hockey team (6-5-0, 6-3-0-0-1-0 Big Ten) scored first and knocked off top-ranked Minnesota (10-1-0, 8-1-0-0-0-0 Big Ten), 3-1, on Saturday at LaBahn Arena, handing the Gophers their first loss of the season.

Linus Weissbach put the Badgers on the board midway through the second period at 10:44 on assists from Tarek Baker and Cole Caufield to make it 1-0 Wisconsin.

Baker put the Badgers up 2-0 just 1:59 into the third period, scoring his second goal of the season on a feed from Sam Stange and Ty Emberson.

The Gophers finally answered at 7:50 of the third period with a power-play goal from Sampo Ranta to make it 2-1 Wisconsin.

The Badgers closed out the scoring with a short-handed empty-net goal at 19:06 in the third period from Owen Lindmark to make it 3-1.

Badger goaltender Robbie Beydoun made 35 saves in goal to get the win for the Badgers.  Wisconsin has now won three straight games against Minnesota when the Gophers were No. 1, winning a pair of games on Feb. 6-7, 2014 at the Kohl Center.

The two teams close out the 2-game series on Sunday afternoon (4 p.m. CT / Fox Sports Wisconsin) at LaBahn Arena.

 

Badgers Offense Struggles Again In Loss At Iowa, Minnesota’s Next

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Paul Chryst

Another struggling offensive performance led to another Wisconsin defeat, 28-7 against the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday afternoon in Iowa City.

The Hawkeyes broke open a close game with a pair of long touchdown drives in the third quarter, handing the Badgers their third straight loss.  The Badgers failed to reach 10-points for the third straight game.

The Badgers (2-3) fell below the .500 mark for just the second time under head coach Paul Chryst.

The Badgers played again without their top two receivers, Danny Davis and Kendric Pryor due to injury.  They also played without their leading rusher, freshman Jalen Berger, who came in averaging 89 yards a game on the ground, but tested positive for the coronavirus.

As a result, the Badgers offense managed just 225 yards and a lone touchdown by running back Nakia Watson.  The Badgers finished with 56 rushing yards on 33 carries.  Redshirt freshman quarterback Graham Mertz finished with 169 yards and an interception.

The Badgers will try to finish the season on a positive note and climb back to .500 when they host rival Minnesota at 3 p.m. on Saturday [Read more…]

COVID cancels longtime rivalry between Wisconsin and Minnesota

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As the week began, the possibility was growing that the Badgers wouldn’t be able to play their Saturday home game against the Minnesota Gophers because of rising COVID numbers in the Minnesota football program.  That became reality on Tuesday when the school’s athletic department paused all football team related activities  because of positive coronavirus cases within the program.

The decision was made by Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle, along with university President Joan Gabel and athletics’ medical director Brad Nelson.  The program will now focus on stopping the spread of the virus.

It’s the same decision that the University of Wisconsin was forced into earlier this season when they had to cancel games against Nebraska and Purdue.  It’s the third time in this abbreviated season that the Badgers will lose a game to COVID and now will most likely be ineligible for any shot at the Big Ten title game.

According to Big Ten rules, teams must play at least six games to qualify for the title game.  The Badgers will fall short of that.

The Badgers won last year’s matchup, 38-17 in Minneapolis, securing possession of Paul Bunyan’s Axe.  That trophy will now stay in Wisconsin’s trophy case for another year until the teams meet next season.

 

Badgers rank #12 in A.P. Top 25 College Football Preseason Poll

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Despite the Big Ten Conference not playing football this fall, six of the conference’s teams showed up today in the Associated Press Top 25 Preseason Poll.

Paul Chryst’s Wisconsin Badgers showed up at number-12, third among the six Big Ten teams in the poll.  It’s the fourth straight season the Badgers have been ranked in the preseason.

Ohio State checks in at number-2, behind preseason number-1 Clemson.  Alabama, Georgia and Oklahoma round out the top five.

Penn State checks in at number-7.  Michigan is 16th, Minnesota 19th and Iowa is ranked 24th.

All Division-1 teams were considered for the preseason poll, regardless of whether or not they’re set to play games this fall.  Both the Big Ten and Pac 12 are among the conferences that have postponed their fall seasons.

Once games begin this fall, voters in the A.P. Poll will only consider the teams currently playing.  As of Monday, 67 of the 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams are playing this fall.

 

Davison takes his turn as Badgers hold off Gophers

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Brad Davison (Photo by David Stluka)

The Wisconsin Badgers ran their win streak to six-straight games, holding off the rival Minnesota Gophers 71-69 on Sunday night at the Kohl Center.

Minnesota native Brad Davison scored 20 points and added seven rebounds and five assists for the Badgers.  Davison took his turn in a lineup that has featured five different top point producers during the winning streak.

Senior Brevin Pritzl, who scored 15 points on Sunday, started the winning streak by leading the Badgers with 19 points against Ohio State.  Davison followed that with a 30 point performance against Nebraska.  Aleem Ford led the way with 19 against Purdue.  Micah Potter took his turn with 18 points against Rutgers.  D’Mitrik Trice, who managed just four points on Sunday, scored 28 in a win over Michigan and Davison bounced back with 20 against the Gophers.  That’s five different top scorers during the six-game stretch. [Read more…]

Badgers fall to rival Gophers

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Greg Gard

The Wisconsin Badgers were riding high after last week’s upset victory over Michigan State, but the momentum from that win didn’t carry over to last night.  Wisconsin traveled to Minneapolis and fell to the Minnesota Gophers 70-52 at Williams Arena.

The Badgers the Gophers both came out of the gates shooting well, but only the Gophers continued that trend while the Badgers cooled off considerably.

Wisconsin (13-10, 6-6 Big Ten) shot just 28% from the field (19-67), and 24% from three-point range (7-29), including a 1 for 16 effort in the second half.  The loss drops the Badgers into a tie with Minnesota (12-10, 6-6) and Purdue (13-10, 6-6).  The Boilermakers crushed visiting Iowa Wednesday night 104-68.

The Gophers had four players score in double figures, led by Payton Willis, who had 21 points.  Forward Daniel Oturu also added 17 points and 14 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season.

Nate Reuvers led the Badgers in scoring with 14 points,  Micah Potter added 11 points and 15 rebounds.

“I didn’t think we were physical enough in the paint,” Coach Greg Gard said.  “We got the ball in there and didn’t finish, didn’t get to the free-throw line as much as we needed to.

“We faded away too much, settled for jump shots at times.  It showed itself in some of the shooting percentages.”

The Badgers return home and will host Ohio State on Sunday.

 

Badgers claim Big Ten West, reclaim Paul Bunyan’s Axe

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The Minnesota Gophers had an outstanding season, but there will be no trip to the Big Ten title game and Paul Bunyan’s Axe is back in the Wisconsin Badgers trophy case, where it belongs.

The Gophers jumped out in front, but the Badgers dominated the rest of the way, pulling out a 38-17 win, capturing the Big Ten West division title.

The Badgers (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten), will return to the league title game at Lucas Oil Stadium for the third time under head coach Paul Chryst.  The Badgers will square off against Ohio State (12-0, 9-0) in a 7 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.  The Buckeyes cruised to a 38-7 win over the Badgers in Columbus in late October.

While Jonathan Taylor was held to 76 yards and two rushing touchdowns, Badger quarterback Jack Coan completed 15 of 21 for 280 yards and two touchdowns.  It was arguably Coan’s best game as a Badger.

Quintez Cephus had five catches for 114 yards and a touchdown.

Gopher quarterback Tanner Morgan completed 20 of 37 for 292 yards and two touchdowns.  But he also threw an interception and lost a fumble, which the Badgers turned into 10 points.

Linebacker Zach Baun had a big day for the defense with nine tackles and two sacks.  The Badgers registered five sacks in all, giving them 44 for the season.

 

Badgers earn the right to play for Big Ten West title

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The 14th ranked Wisconsin Badgers had a hard time shaking the Purdue Boilermakers early, but pulled away for a 45-24 win at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday.

The win allows the Badgers (9-2, 6-2 Big Ten) an opportunity to play border rival Minnesota (10-1, 7-1) for the Big Ten West Division title and the right to face Ohio State for the Big Ten Championship.

Saturday’s match-up at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis will be the 129th meeting in the long rivalry with Paul Bunyan’s axe on the line.  The Badgers lost the axe last season in a 37-15 loss to the Gophers at Camp Randall.  It ended a streak of 14-straight Badger wins in the series.

The Badgers extended their win streak to 14 games with the victory.  Running back Jonathan Taylor rushed 28 times for 222 yards and a touchdown.  Taylor topped 200 yards for the 12th time in his career.

As a team, the Badgers rushed for 403 yards on 55 carries.

Quarterback Jack Coan completed 15 of 19 for 203 yards, one touchdown and one interception. [Read more…]

Badger volleyball team grabs sole possession of first place

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Molly Haggerty

The 7th-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team grabbed sole possession of first place in the Big Ten with a four set (25-22, 23-25, 30-28, 29-27) win over the Minnesota Gophers on Thursday night.

The Badgers (18-5, 14-1) won their second straight Border Battle match and notched their first win in the Maturi Pavillion since 2014.

The Badgers were led by Molly Haggerty with a season-high 24 kills.  Dana Rettke followed with 21 kills and Grace Loberg pitched in with 19 as Wisconsin hit .313 (82 kills – 21 errors – 195 attempts) while holding Minnesota to .284 (64 – 16 – 169).

The lone blemish on the match for Wisconsin was a 13-4 tally in service errors, but the impressive offensive attack was enough to push the Badgers past the Gophers into sole possession of the Big Ten’s top spot.

The Badgers swept the Gophers for the first time since 2014, when UW won its last Big Ten Championship.

Wisconsin will look to maintain the Big Ten’s top spot as Michigan State comes to the UW Field House on Saturday (7 p.m.).