It will be a sprint to the finish line
Badgers are closing in on Maryland
MADISON – After suffering an 18point loss Feb. 5 at Minnesota, Wisconsin was tied for seventh in the Big Ten with a 6-6 mark and just 13-10 overall.
Now after reeling off six consecutive victories, UW (19-10, 12-6 Big Ten) enters the final week of the reggames ular season tied for second in the league with Michigan State (20-9, 12-6) and Illinois (20-9, 12-6) with two games remaining.
All three teams are chasing Maryland (23-6, 13-5).
Penn State (21-8, 11-7) and Iowa (20-9, 11-7) are two games off the lead.
Redshirt junior Micah Potter, who contributed 10 points and six rebounds Sunday in UW's 71-69 victory over the Gophers, didn't hesitate when asked what UW must do this week.
“Just win games,” he said. “Win and hope that everything else outside of our control works out in our favor. All we can do is control what we can control. We all know where we're at in the standings. But like I said, all we can do is control what we can control.”
On Monday, Wisconsin cracked The Associated Press poll, at No. 24, for the first time this season.
Here is a look at the remaining games of the top six teams.
Maryland: Tuesday at Rutgers; Sunday vs. visiting Michigan.
Michigan State: Tuesday at Penn State; Sunday vs. visiting Ohio State.
UW: Wednesday vs. visiting Northwestern and Saturday at Indiana.
Illinois: Thursday at Ohio State; Sunday vs. visiting Iowa.
Penn State: Tuesday vs. visiting Michigan State; Saturday at Northwestern.
Iowa: Tuesday vs. visiting Purdue; Sunday at Illinois.
“We have to win against Northwestern and win at IU,” Potter said. “We've just got to make sure we're prepared for those games.”
A victory over Northwestern (7-21, 216) would clinch a top-four finish for the Badgers.
The No. 1 goal of the players is to win at least a share of the regular-season title, the program's first since 2015.
“They're sitting still with a shot, with a chance to get a piece of this,” head coach Greg Gard said.
Maryland can clinch the title outright
Brad Davison, Aleem Ford and the Badgers host Northwestern on Wednesday and play at Indiana on Saturday.
with victories over Rutgers and Michigan.
If the Terrapins split or go 0-2, they open the door for UW, Michigan State,
Illinois, Penn State and Iowa to secure a piece of the title.
With two games left, a six-way tie for the league title at 13-7 is possible. How?
Here is the scenario: Maryland loses its last two games; UW, Michigan State and Illinois finish 1-1; Penn State and Iowa finish 2-0.
That would leave Iowa seeded No. 1 for the league tournament, followed by Penn State at No. 2, Michigan State at No. 3, UW at No. 4, Maryland at No. 5 and Illinois at No. 6.
The relevant tie-breakers for that scenario:
Iowa would have a 5-3 record against the other tied teams. Penn State would have a 4-3 record (.571 winning percentage) against the other tied teams. Michigan State would have a 5-4 record (.556 winning percentage) against the other tied teams.
UW and Maryland would finish 3-3 and 4-4, respectively, against the other tied teams. UW would win a tie-breaker over Maryland based on its record against the No. 7 team/teams.
Guard Brad Davison, who scored 20 points in the victory over Minnesota, was asked if he was surprised to see UW in the hunt for the title in the final week.
“We knew we had it in us,” Davison said. “Coaches had confidence that we had it in us."