Koenig and the Badgers halt the Hoosiers

By Marlon WhiteEagle



Bronson Koenig and the Wisconsin Badgers halted the Indiana Hoosiers, 65 to 60, at the Kohl Center in Madison on Feb. 5, 2017. The Badgers have won 7 straight games and 19 consecutive home games.
For Koenig, he reached 135 games as a Wisconsin Badger, only six other Badgers played in more games than him in school history.
Indiana came to Madison missing two of their major point contributors due to injuries: Junior Guard James Blackmon Jr. and Sophomore Forward OG Anunoby.
The Badgers and Hoosiers did not score until two minutes into the game, when Ethan Happ, the Badgers’ Sophomore Center who is a Player of the Year candidate and was recently named as a finalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar award, scored with a layup.
Wisconsin never looked back from that point on, growing their lead to as much as 12 points in the first half and never fell behind in the game.
The game was tied at 24-24 for a three minute stretch during first half.
Happ lead all scorers with 10 first half points. Hayes added 7 points and Koenig added 5 in the first half.
Koenig drove the lane for a layup and nailed a 3-pointer with under two minutes in the half for his 5 first half points. Bronson also pulled down 5 rebounds in the first half of play.
Koenig shot 50 percent from the field and 3-point range during the first half.
Indiana’s Sophomore Center Thomas Bryant led the Hoosiers with 9 points in the half.
Happ scored consistently, adding 10 points in the second half of play, and recording his fourth 20 point game of the season.
Badger fans got a good look at Redshirt Freshman Guard Brevin Pritzl during the second half.  Pritzl scored 6 points in twelve minutes of play.
Pritzl drove the lane for a baseline layup and went 4 of 4 from the free throw line. Pritzl also committed two fouls.
Koenig added 6 more points in the second half.  He hit another big 3-point shot, and went to the free throw line twice late in the game. Koenig went 3 of 4 from the free throw line.
Indiana’s Junior Guard josh Newkirk was the game high scorer with 22 points.  Newkirk was 3 for 3 from 3-point range and 4 for 4 from the free throw line in the second half of play.
Nigel Hayes finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Wisconsin Badgers. This was Hayes’ third double-double of the season.
Koenig finished with 11 points and 7 rebounds. With his 11 points, Bronson moved into the top 20 of UW’s all-time scorer list, with 1,259 career points.
Prior to the Sunday game against Indiana, Koenig had limited participation in the team’s Friday practice due to a sore left leg muscle.
The Wisconsin Badgers moved up the AP Rankings after the Indiana win from No. 10 to No. 7.
Up next for the Badgers, they go on the road to play the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and return home to play Northwestern Wildcats.




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