Badgers To Play Vanderbilt For Sweet 16 Spot

With their victory over Montana on Thursday, Wisconsin men’s basketball is now into the Round of 32 at the NCAA Tournament for the 10^th time in the past 11 seasons. Although it seems many Badger fans have begun to take tournament appearances and first round victories for granted, UW is in rarified air as the only school in the country to have as many second-round appearances during that span.

This time around the Badgers (25-9) face perhaps the hottest team in the country in 5^th seed Vanderbilt. The Commodores (25-10) swept through last weekend’s SEC Tournament in New Orleans, handing top-ranked Kentucky their first loss of the calendar year with a 71-64 win in Sunday’s championship game.

“I think momentum is really what carries you in the tournament,” Wisconsin junior forward Ryan Evans said. “You get a hot team and they can go win it all.”

Getting off to that hot start has been a key for the Badgers all season. Wisconsin is 21-2 this season when either leading or tied at the half. On the other hand, UW is just 3-7 when trailing at the midway point.

“I think it does help to be a hot team. If you get on a roll a little bit, sometimes guys are feeling good about their shot and they are playing with confidence…” UW junior forward Jared Berggren said. “But that can change within a game. If we get a good start and get them out of their rhythm at the start of the game, that can go away quick.”

While the NCAA Tournament is fraught with unfamiliar matchups, the Badgers should feel comfortable against a Vanderbilt team that looks like it would fit in perhaps even better in the Big Ten than it does in the SEC.

“I’d say they are kind of a Big Ten team in general with the way they are physical inside…” Evans said. “But every team has its own flaws.”

Though the Commodores get nearly 50% of their 73.1 points per game from the duo of junior guard John Jenkins and senior forward Jeffrey Taylor, it is the interior presence of senior Festus Ezeli that really makes Vanderbilt go.

“He is a big key to their offense,” UW senior guard Rob Wilson said. “He’s a physical guy who gets their shooters open a lot and gets rebounds on the glass. We just have to match his intensity.”

“I think Jared’s ready for it,” UW senior guard Jordan Taylor said of the matchup with Ezeli. “Ezeli’s a big guy and he’s deserved all the credit he’s garnered throughout his career. But Jared’s faced {OSU sophomore} Jared Sullinger and {Michigan State senior} Draymond Green throughout the year and they’re no slouches either.”

While Ezeli sets Vanderbilt’s offense up for success, it is Jenkins who is the threat to throw down a dagger. In Thursday’s win over Harvard, Jenkins did just that, scorching the Crimson for 27 points on 7-of-12 shooting. But this type of threat is far from foreign for UW, having faced prolific shooters throughout the Big Ten season.

“He’s definitely one of the best offensive players around,” Wisconsin sophomore guard Josh Gasser said. “But we’ve obviously faced tough players, so that’s definitely going to help going against him.”

“What a prolific scorer,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said of Jenkins. “When they use that term, Ive heard them use it about a lot of guys, but for him, if you looked it up, you’d see his picture.”

Unlike the Badgers, Vanderbilt is in unfamiliar territory, having just won a tournament game for the first time since 2008. While it is still about the game, there is definitely an advantage to having been in this position and knowing what to expect.

“Its real big,” Wilson said. “We know what to expect and we know its not going to be an easy game when you get this far in the year.”

Putting matchups and experience aside, the Badgers know that Saturday is about one thing and one thing only: winning.

“Whatever it is, there are people who try to figure out ways to be successful. And there’s a lot of different ways to do it…” Ryan said. “What you have to do is figure out the best way for your team to come out on the left-hand side.”