In this series, I want to look back on the memorable moments that defined the 2019-20 Badgers. This will not be a top-10 ranking of the best moments of the season from 10-1. Instead, I will go chronologically through the year and find ten moments that made 2019-20 unforgettable for Wisconsin basketball. Each moment will be accompanied by a word that describes this 2019-20 Badger basketball team, and in this fourth installment, that adjective is adversity.
February 1st looked like a completely different world for Wisconsin basketball when comparing to March 1st. The magical ride that February turned out to be for this team carried into what little of March we actually got to enjoy. The first day of the month, Wisconsin played host to Michigan State at a time when even just the Badgers NCAA Tournament hopes were still up in the air. There was added adversity, however, as UW had just found out that second-leading scorer Kobe King was entering the transfer portal mid-season. With the players and coaches scrambling to replace arguably Wisconsin’s best one-on-one scorer, the Badgers had a massive game to play against the best team in the conference.
The first half of that Saturday matinee was the stuff of dreams for Wisconsin fans. The Badgers led 43-27 after a shooting clinic and limiting every Spartan on offense not named Cassius Winston. As the second half wore on, it became apparent that Michigan State had a few punches left for the Badgers, despite being cornered in the first twenty minutes. The Spartans, led by their national player of the year candidate Winston, came out firing, and had things within one possession through the first ten minutes of the second half.
After Wisconsin bounced back through timely buckets from Brevin Pritzl, Nate Reuvers, and D’Mitrik Trice, they finished the game off at the defensive end. Their 64-63 win, that in reality did not come down to a final possession as the Spartans hit a meaningless three as time expired, set the blueprint for how the Badgers went on an eight-game winning streak. In the face of adversity due to losing King, UW used each other on offense and had balanced scoring that day and throughout February. The true identity for this team was at the defensive end of the floor, where they stalled any Spartan hopes of a comeback victory down the stretch.
The Badgers improved to 13-9 following the win, and from that moment on you felt that this team had a clear path towards the NCAA Tournament.