After two victories, Wisconsin jumps to No. 6 in both men's basketball top-25 polls
MADISON – After going 2-0 in Big Ten play last week, Wisconsin was rewarded by moving up to No. 6 in both major top 25 men's basketball polls Monday.
The Badgers (15-4, 8-1 Big Ten) moved up seven spots in The Associated Press poll and four spots in the USA Today coaches poll.
UW has two games this week – Thursday at Nebraska (15-6, 5-5) and Sunday against visiting Purdue (19-2, 8-2).
The Boilermakers, ranked No. 2 in both polls, host Northwestern on Wednesday before facing UW.
Tom Izzo looks at Chucky Hepburn and sees one of his former players – Mateen Cleaves
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo lauded the play of UW point guard Chucky Hepburn after the Spartans’ 81-66 loss to UW on Friday.
Izzo noted that because Hepburn doesn’t have to score as much this season, his overall game has blossomed. That development reminded him of the growth Mateen Cleaves displayed in leading the Spartans to the national title in 2000.
“He is a coach’s dream,” Izzo said of Hepburn. “He runs the team. He checks the best player. He is never, ever out of control. …It seems like he runs the thing until the right guys get the shot.”
Fewer tight games allow for more time for UW players to exhale
A whopping 21 of UW's 35 games last season were decided by five points or fewer. UW went 13-8 in those games.
This season? Only two of the Badgers’ 19 games have been decided by five points or fewer. UW lost at Penn State and won at Minnesota.
The Badgers have won 13 games by 10 or more points this season That is six more than all of last season.
“The stress of being in those late-game situations,” forward Steven Crowl said, “when you are up by 10 and there’s two minutes left you can take a deep breath and say: ‘OK, we’ve got this.’
“Every game was tight last year. This year has been nice for all of us.”
Greg Gard's team continues to show it has plenty of fuel, firepower in reserve
The Badgers’ top five reserves this season, based on minutes played: John Blackwell, Carter Gilmore, Nolan Winter, Connor Essegian and Kamari McGee.
McGee has missed the last two games because of an injury (broken toe) suffered against Indiana. Nevertheless, the graduate of Racine St. Catherine’s had been playing well.
That quintet has combined to average 18.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. They are shooting 37.2% from three-point range (42 of 113), 47.1% overall (120 of 255) and 80.4% from the free-throw line (82 of 102).
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin No. 6 in both top-25 men's basketball polls
