The Wisconsin Badgers may be peaking at the right time, but it's worth wondering whether having momentum on your side is actually worth it when team health may have suffered because of it? After a brutal 3-8 stretch to close their regular season, the Badgers won three games in the Big Ten Tournament and come into the NCAA Tournament having won notched victories over both Northwestern and Purdue — two tourney teams — in the last week. But those two wins against Big Ten foes have put the Badgers in a position where one of their starters continues to deal with a nagging knee injury that puts his status in question for Wisconsin's opening round game versus James Madison on Friday night.
Wisconsin fifth-year senior forward Tyler Wahl continues to be hampered by a knee injury he initially suffered when he bumped knees with an opponent in the Badgers win versus Northwestern in quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament. The injury was so bad that Wahl has had to play with a sleeve on his knee since the collision, and was even listed as a game-time decision versus Purdue in a semifinals matchup that the Badgers won in overtime by the final score of 76-75. Wisconsin would go on to lose to Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament Final, and Wahl was limited to 7 points, 1 rebound and 3 assists in 22 minutes of action.
The good news for Wahl is that Wisconsin will be one of the last teams to take the floor in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, and Wahl himself has said that this scheduling break could put him in a position to play effectively and without restriction against a James Madison Dukes squad that has already upset a Big Ten opponent this year.
“I'm feeling good. Every day I'm feeling better and better. Not playing Friday until late night is a big plus for us. I'm just taking it day-by-day, getting better every single day,” Wahl said on Thursday, according to Mike McCleary of Badger Extra.
Tyler Wahl is third among Badgers in scoring (10.8 points), and second in both rebounding (5.4) and steals (1.1). He's one of five Wisconsin players — along with AJ Storr, Steven Crowl, Max Klesmit and Chucky Hepburn — averaging at least nine points per game, and all five of those players are either juniors or seniors. An experienced squad like this one is theoretically built for March, but it's been quite some time since Wisconsin has made a deep tournament run.
After missing the tournament last year, head coach Greg Gard is looking to bring the program back to the Bo Ryan days. Since taking over for Ryan in the middle of the 2015-16 season, Greg Gard has only led the Badgers past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament twice, and that came in each of his first two years with the program. Aside from those back-t0-back Sweet Sixteen runs, which came on the heels of two consecutive Final Four appearances, Gard has advanced past the 1st round only twice… the same number of times Wisconsin has missed the tournament altogether on his watch.
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