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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.).

 

Wisconsin sweeps Minnesota, sits along atop the Big Ten

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Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield

With the top spot in the Big Ten Conference on the line, number seven Wisconsin swept number six Minnesota in a battle for the top spot in the league on Sunday.

The Badgers swept the Gophers, 25-18, 25-15, 25-20, to earn its third straight sweep, its third win over a top-10 team in its last four matches, and its first Border Battle win since 2014 – also when it won its last Big Ten Championship.

The Badgers held Minnesota to a .188 hitting percentage (31 kills – 12 errors – 101 attempts).  Senior libero Tiffany Clark totaled a match-high 14 digs, and Madison Duello and Danielle Hart finished with three blocks each, holding down the front line.

Offensively, junior Dana Rettke finished with a match-high 16 kills, hitting an even .500 (16-2-28) on the day.  Molly Haggerty added 12 kills for the Badgers. [Read more…]

Badger women’s hockey advances to NCAA title game

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Annie Pankowski – File Photo by David Stluka)

The top-ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team advanced to the NCAA Frozen four championship game.  The Badgers routed Clarkson, 5-0, in Friday’s Frozen Four semifinals in Hamden, Connecticut.

Annie Pankowski scored two goals for the Badgers (34-4-2), who advance to play Minnesota (32-5-1) in Sunday’s championship game (1:30 p.m.).

The game was close until the Badgers scored four goals in the final period to break it open.  Pankowski scored both of her goals in the final period.

Minnesota blanked Cornell 2-0 in the first semifinal contest, setting up a rematch with the Badgers, who beat the Gophers in the WCHA Championship game.

The Badgers will play in their 8th NCAA Frozen Four Championship game and their second in the last three years.

 

Badgers avenge January loss to Gophers

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Ethan Happ

It was far from perfect, but the 19th ranked Wisconsin Badgers aren’t interested in style points at this stage of the season.  After falling to Minnesota at the Kohl Center on January 3, the Badgers returned the favor, pulling out a 56-51 win on Wednesday night at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

The Badgers missed a number of shots in the lane in the first half but settled down in the second half to pull out the win.

The Badgers (17-6, 9-3 Big Ten) extended their win streak to six games and moved into a third place tie with Michigan State in the Big Ten race.  Wisconsin is a half game behind Purdue and a game behind front running Michigan and will face the Wolverines on Saturday in Ann Arbor.

The Badgers got 15 points and 13 rebounds from Ethan Happ as they won on the road for the seventh time in the last eight games.  Guard Brad Davison added 10 points, although hit just 2 of 12 from the field. [Read more…]

Hockey Badgers drop series opener at Minnesota

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The Wisconsin Badgers trailed go a goal late in the third period, but the Minnesota Gophers scored four goals in four minutes to come away with a 9-4 victory at Mariucci Arena.

Freshman center Mick Messner scored in the second period and forward Brock Caufield, Jack Gorniak and Seamus Malone each lit the lamp in the third period to make it a 5-4 game in favor of Minnesota (10-10-4, 7-5-3-0 Big Ten).  But the Gophers then rattled off four unanswered goals with under five minutes to play, putting the game out of Wisconsin’s (8-11-4, 4-5-4-1 Big Ten) reach.

The Badgers outshot the Gophers 46-28, but Minnesota’s success on the power play and an early 3-0 lead in the first period were enough to doom the Badgers.

“For 55 minutes, we played good hockey, but you can’t play a 55-minute game”, said Badger coach Tony Granato.  “Minnesota is a team where if they see weakness or they see us on our heels, they take advantage of it and that’s what happened.  Every time we let off the gas, they made a play and were able to pull away from us.”

The two teams wrap up the 2-game series on Saturday night.

Badgers fall victim to the Gophers and some cold shooting

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The Wisconsin Badgers shot just 26% from the field in the first half and dug too big of a hole to get out of, falling to the rival Minnesota Gophers 59-52 on Thursday night at the Kohl Center.

The Badgers made just 2 of 14 three-pointers (14.3 percent) and 6 of 26 field goals overall in the first half, trailing 29-14 at the break.

Wisconsin (10-4, 2-1 Big Ten) shot 63% from the field in the second half and pulled to within 49-47 with just over two minutes left before committing three straight turnovers.  That allowed the Gophers to pull away for the victory, ending the Badgers seven game win streak over Minnesota at the Kohl Center.  The Gophers last win at the Kohl Center came on January 15, 2009.

Ethan Happ had 17 points and eight rebounds and played well in the second half.  But he also made just 1 of 7 free throws as UW finished 7 of 17 from the stripe.

D’Mitric Trice finished with just eight points, hitting just 2 of 7 from three-point distance and 3 of 10 shots overall.  He also committed four costly turnovers. [Read more…]

Badgers end regular season with loss to Gophers

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After maintaining possession of Paul Bunyan’s Axe for 14 straight seasons, the Wisconsin Badgers allowed the Minnesota Gophers to reclaim it.  The Badgers couldn’t get anything going and fell to the Gophers 37-15 on Senior Day at Camp Randall Stadium.

The Badgers were once projected to win the Big Ten West and compete for the Big Ten Championship.  Instead, they lost for the fifth time (7-5, 5-4 Big Ten) this season and fourth time in Big Ten play.

The Badgers lost to the Gophers for the first time since 2003 and the first time at home since 1994.

Minnesota (6-6, 3-6) became bowl eligible with the victory.

Alex Hornibrook returned to the Wisconsin lineup after leaving the Rutgers game on November 3 with his second concussion of the season.  Hornibrook started fast but couldn’t keep it going, completing 22 of 33 for 189 yards, 2 TD’s and 3 interceptions.  He also lost a fumble. [Read more…]

Wisconsin falls to Minnesota in Big Ten Volleyball

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The fifth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball dropped its first Big Ten match of the season, falling to sixth-ranked Minnesota on Wednesday night in three sets, 25-17, 25-21, 25-15.

Wisconsin (9-2 overall, 2-1 BIG) hit .221 (39-14-11) for the match but could not slow Minnesota (9-2, 3-0), who hit .386 (46-7-101).

Sophomore Dana Rettke earned a team-best 12 kills while adding three digs, an ace and a block.  Grace Loberg and Tionna Williams combined for three blocks as the Badgers earned a slight 4-3 advantage at the net.

Libero Tiffany Clark earned a match-high 16 digs in tonight’s effort.  Minnesota out dug UW, 50-41.

The Badgers are back on the road this weekend, traveling to West Lafayette, Indiana, on Saturday for a 6 p.m. match against Purdue.