# 2019–20 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Badgers were led by fifth-year head coach Greg Gard and played their home games at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin as members of the Big Ten Conference.
With a win over Indiana on March 7, 2020, the Badgers earned a share of the Big Ten regular season championship. They finished the season 21–10, 14–6 in Big Ten play to finish in a three-way tie for first place. Their season ended following the cancellation of postseason tournaments due to the coronavirus pandemic.

## Previous season

The Badgers finished the 2018–19 season 23–11, 14–6 in Big Ten play to finish in fourth place. In the Big Ten tournament, the Badgers defeated Nebraska in the quarterfinals before losing to Michigan State in the semifinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 5 seed in the South Region, their 24th trip to the NCAA Tournament. They were upset in the First Round by No. 12-seeded Oregon.

## Offseason
### Moore family car accident

In the early morning hours of May 25, 2019, assistant coach Howard Moore and his family were involved in a car accident near Ann Arbor, Michigan that claimed the lives of his wife Jennifer and daughter Jaidyn. Moore was hospitalized for several weeks with severe burns while his son Jerell escaped with minor injuries. After a setback in his home and subsequent stint in the ICU, 46-year-old Moore was moved to a long-term care and rehab facility in July.
On July 31, 2019, Wisconsin named all-time leading scorer Alando Tucker an interim assistant coach to fulfill Moore's coaching duties for the 2019–20 season. Tucker had been serving as the athletic department's director of student-athlete engagement. "Do Moore. Be Moore. 4 Moore" became the 2019–20 team's motto.

### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Tai Strickland | 13 | G | 6'2" | 172 | Freshman | Tampa, FL | Transferred to Temple |
| Charles Thomas IV | 15 | F | 6'8" | 250 | Senior | Highland, MD | Graduated |
| Khalil Iverson | 21 | G/F | 6'5" | 217 | Senior | Delaware, OH | Graduated |
| Ethan Happ | 22 | F | 6'8" | 237 | RS Senior | Milan, IL | Graduated/Undrafted 2019 NBA draft |
| Taylor Currie | 33 | F | 6'8" | 226 | Freshman | Clarktson, MI | Transferred to Mott CC |

### 2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Tyler Wahl SF | Lakeville, MN | Lakeville North High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Jun 21, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Wisconsin Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 5, 2018. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved September 5, 2018. "ESPN- Wisconsin Badgers Men's Basketball Recruiting". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 5, 2018. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved September 5, 2018. "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 5, 2018. ||||||

### 2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2020 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Lorne Bowman PG | Detroit, MI | St. Mary's Preparatory | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Nov 16, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 81 |||||||
| Johnny Davis SG | La Crosse, WI | La Crosse Central High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 188 lb (85 kg) | Jun 15, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 79 |||||||
| Jordan Davis SF | La Crosse, WI | La Crosse Central High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Jun 15, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: N/A |||||||
| Steven Crowl C | Eagan, MN | Eastview High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Sep 17, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: N/A |||||||
| Ben Carlson PF | Woodbury, MN | East Ridge High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Sep 18, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: N/A |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2020 Wisconsin Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019. "ESPN- Wisconsin Badgers Men's Basketball Recruiting". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019. |||||||

## Season Notes
### Micah Potter's eligibility

A month before the season opener, the NCAA denied Wisconsin's waiver request to allow Micah Potter to compete during the fall semester, arguing he had not sat out a full year after enrolling at Wisconsin. Potter did not play during the 2018–19 season, but stayed in classes at Ohio State before transferring to Wisconsin for the spring 2019 semester.
"I don't understand why I am being punished additionally for doing what is encouraged of a student-athlete," Potter said in a statement released by UW. "The penalty of a third semester to what I have already sat out seems unjust."
Wisconsin continued to appeal Potter's case throughout November. After the final denial, Gard called the situation "unprecedented" and expressed frustration with the NCAA's inconsistency on transfer rulings. "I was hoping common sense would prevail in this," Gard said. "Unfortunately, it didn’t."
Potter made his Badger debut on December 21, 2019, against Wisconsin-Milwaukee after missing the first 10 games of the season.

### Circumstances surrounding Kobe King transfer

On January 25, 2020, the day after a humbling loss to Purdue in which he was held scoreless, sophomore Kobe King informed coaches and teammates via text message that he intended to leave the team. At the time, King was Wisconsin's leading scorer (12.6 ppg) and second in minutes (28.9 mpg) in Big Ten games. King did not travel with the Badgers to Iowa City for the team's next game and publicly announced his decision to transfer two days later, citing unhappiness with the program. King originally committed to Bo Ryan and Wisconsin on September 16, 2015, and reaffirmed his commitment after Gard was hired.
In the aftermath of King's announcement, strength and conditioning coach Erik Helland self-reported an incident in which he repeated a "repugnant word" in front of several players while telling a story from his days on the Chicago Bulls training staff. King admitted mentioning the incident with UW officials during a January 31 meeting. Helland resigned on January 6, 2020, after an investigation by the university.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 1, 2019* 7:00 p.m., BTN Plus | | Wisconsin–La Crosse | W 82–53 | | 15 – Reuvers | 8 – King | 5 – King | Kohl Center (17,147) Madison, WI |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 5, 2019* 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | vs. No. 20 Saint Mary's Sioux Falls Showcase | L 63–65 $^{OT}$ | 0–1 | 22 – Reuvers | 6 – Reuvers | 3 – Trice | Sanford Pentagon (3,301) Sioux Falls, SD |
| November 8, 2019* 7:00 p.m., BTN Plus | | Eastern Illinois | W 65–52 | 1–1 | 18 – King | 14 – Reuvers | 4 – Davison | Kohl Center (17,106) Madison, WI |
| November 13, 2019* 6:00 p.m., BTN | | McNeese State Legends Classic campus-site game | W 83–63 | 2–1 | 24 – Davison | 4 – Reuvers | 4 – Anderson | Kohl Center (16,816) Madison, WI |
| November 17, 2019* 12:00 p.m., FS1 | | Marquette Rivalry | W 77–61 | 3–1 | 15 – Tied | 13 – Pritzl | 4 – King | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| November 21, 2019* 8:00 p.m., BTN | | Green Bay Legends Classic campus-site game | W 88–70 | 4–1 | 19 – Reuvers | 8 – Trice | 7 – Trice | Kohl Center (16,837) Madison, WI |
| November 25, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Richmond Legends Classic semifinals | L 52–62 | 4–2 | 17 – Reuvers | 7 – Tied | 5 – Trice | Barclays Center (6,812) Brooklyn, NY |
| November 26, 2019* 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. New Mexico Legends Classic | L 50–59 | 4–3 | 16 – Reuvers | 7 – Trice | 2 – Tied | Barclays Center (6,420) Brooklyn, NY |
| December 4, 2019* 9:15 p.m., ESPN2 | | at NC State ACC–Big Ten Challenge | L 54–69 | 4–4 | 13 – Ford | 8 – Wahl | 4 – Trice | PNC Arena (16,035) Raleigh, NC |
| December 7, 2019 3:30 p.m., BTN | | Indiana | W 84–64 | 5–4 (1–0) | 24 – King | 5 – Tied | 4 – Trice | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| December 11, 2019 6:00 p.m., BTN | | at Rutgers | L 65–72 | 5–5 (1–1) | 18 – King | 5 – Tied | 3 – King | Louis Brown Athletic Center (6,361) Piscataway, NJ |
| December 21, 2019* 4:00 p.m., BTN | | Milwaukee | W 83–64 | 6–5 | 31 – Trice | 5 – Tied | 5 – Davison | Kohl Center (17,030) Madison, WI |
| December 28, 2019* 12:30 p.m., CBS | | at Tennessee | W 68–48 | 7–5 | 21 – Trice | 7 – Reuvers | 3 – Tied | Thompson–Boling Arena (21,678) Knoxville, TN |
| December 31, 2019* 6:00 p.m., BTN | | Rider | W 65–37 | 8–5 | 15 – Reuvers | 7 – Potter | 7 – Trice | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| January 3, 2020 6:00 p.m., FS1 | | at No. 5 Ohio State | W 61–57 | 9–5 (2–1) | 17 – Reuvers | 9 – Reuvers | 2 – Tied | Value City Arena (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| January 8, 2020 8:00 p.m., BTN | | Illinois | L 70–71 | 9–6 (2–2) | 21 – King | 9 – Potter | 4 – Trice | Kohl Center (16,108) Madison, WI |
| January 11, 2020 1:15 p.m., BTN | | at No. 20 Penn State | W 58–49 | 10–6 (3–2) | 24 – Potter | 13 – Tied | 4 – King | Bryce Jordan Center (10,139) University Park, PA |
| January 14, 2020 8:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | No. 17 Maryland | W 56–54 | 11–6 (4–2) | 17 – Reuvers | 5 – Reuvers | 4 – Trice | Kohl Center (16,157) Madison, WI |
| January 17, 2020 6:00 p.m., FS1 | | at No. 15 Michigan State | L 55–67 | 11–7 (4–3) | 19 – Reuvers | 7 – Reuvers | 4 – Tied | Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| January 21, 2020 8:00 p.m., BTN | | Nebraska | W 82–68 | 12–7 (5–3) | 14 – Davison | 10 – Trice | 7 – Trice | Kohl Center (16,856) Madison, WI |
| January 24, 2020 6:00 p.m., FS1 | | at Purdue | L 51–70 | 12–8 (5–4) | 11 – Potter | 4 – Davison | 4 – King | Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN |
| January 27, 2020 7:30 p.m., BTN | | at No. 18 Iowa | L 62–68 | 12–9 (5–5) | 16 – Trice | 9 – Trice | 6 – Trice | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (12,566) Iowa City, IA |
| February 1, 2020 12:00 p.m., FOX | | No. 14 Michigan State | W 64–63 | 13–9 (6–5) | 15 – Reuvers | 7 – Pritzl | 5 – Trice | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| February 5, 2020 8:00 p.m., BTN | | at Minnesota | L 52–70 | 13–10 (6–6) | 14 – Reuvers | 15 – Potter | 6 – Trice | Williams Arena (11,389) Minneapolis, MN |
| February 9, 2020 12:00 p.m., CBS | | Ohio State | W 70–57 | 14–10 (7–6) | 19 – Pritzl | 9 – Ford | 8 – Trice | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| February 15, 2020 1:15 p.m., BTN | | at Nebraska | W 81–64 | 15–10 (8–6) | 30 – Davison | 10 – Ford | 5 – Trice | Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,864) Lincoln, NE |
| February 18, 2020 6:00 p.m., ESPN | | Purdue | W 69–65 | 16–10 (9–6) | 19 – Ford | 7 – Ford | 5 – Trice | Kohl Center (17,042) Madison, WI |
| February 23, 2020 12:00 p.m., BTN | | Rutgers | W 79–71 | 17–10 (10–6) | 18 – Potter | 9 – Potter | 9 – Trice | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| February 27, 2020 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at No. 19 Michigan | W 81–74 | 18–10 (11–6) | 28 – Trice | 8 – Ford | 4 – Tied | Crisler Center (12,707) Ann Arbor, MI |
| March 1, 2020 5:30 p.m., BTN | | Minnesota | W 71–69 | 19–10 (12–6) | 20 – Davison | 7 – Davison | 6 – Trice | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| March 4, 2020 8:00 p.m., BTN | No. 24 | Northwestern | W 63–48 | 20–10 (13–6) | 11 – Reuvers | 8 – Tied | 4 – Trice | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| March 7, 2020 11:00 a.m., ESPN | No. 24 | at Indiana | W 60–56 | 21–10 (14–6) | 17 – Reuvers | 11 – Potter | 5 – Trice | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222) Bloomington, IN |
| Big Ten tournament |||||||||
| Canceled |||||||||
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| Canceled |||||||||
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | — | — | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | RV | 24 | 18 | 17 |
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | — | RV | — | RV | RV | 24 | 19 | 19 |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings

## Player statistics

Individual player statistics (through 3/07/2020) :
| | | | Minutes | Minutes | Scoring | Scoring | Total FGs | Total FGs | Total FGs | 3-point FGs | 3-point FGs | 3-point FGs | Free-Throws | Free-Throws | Free-Throws | Rebounds | Rebounds | Rebounds | Rebounds | | | | |
| Player | GP | GS | Tot | Avg | Pts | Avg | FG | FGA | Pct | 3FG | 3FA | Pct | FT | FTA | Pct | Off | Def | Tot | Avg | A | Stl | Blk | TO |
| Anderson, Trevor | 30 | 0 | 369 | 12.3 | 54 | 1.8 | 18 | 47 | .383 | 7 | 25 | .280 | 11 | 14 | .786 | 6 | 33 | 39 | 1.3 | 37 | 4 | 1 | 16 |
| Ballard, Michael | 10 | 0 | 10 | 1.0 | 4 | 0.4 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | - | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cuevas, Courtland | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1.0 | 1 | 0.2 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Davison, Brad | 29 | 29 | 893 | 30.8 | 290 | 10.0 | 90 | 225 | .400 | 45 | 124 | .363 | 65 | 77 | .844 | 15 | 109 | 124 | 4.3 | 55 | 23 | 0 | 25 |
| Ford, Aleem | 30 | 30 | 758 | 25.3 | 261 | 8.7 | 94 | 214 | .439 | 40 | 117 | .342 | 33 | 47 | .702 | 37 | 98 | 135 | 4.5 | 33 | 15 | 12 | 30 |
| Hedstrom, Joe | 6 | 0 | 14 | 2.3 | 2 | 0.3 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Higginbottom, Carter | 9 | 0 | 9 | 1.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| King, Kobe | 19 | 19 | 538 | 28.3 | 190 | 10.0 | 73 | 159 | .459 | 7 | 28 | .250 | 37 | 55 | .673 | 22 | 32 | 54 | 2.8 | 30 | 10 | 6 | 29 |
| McGrory, Walt | 14 | 0 | 59 | 4.2 | 15 | 1.1 | 5 | 13 | .385 | 2 | 7 | .286 | 3 | 4 | .750 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0.6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Potter, Micah | 20 | 3 | 359 | 18.0 | 205 | 10.3 | 73 | 137 | .533 | 23 | 49 | .469 | 36 | 42 | .857 | 30 | 95 | 125 | 6.3 | 7 | 7 | 19 | 32 |
| Pritzl, Brevin | 30 | 7 | 807 | 26.9 | 240 | 8.0 | 79 | 203 | .389 | 48 | 129 | .372 | 34 | 40 | .850 | 24 | 88 | 112 | 3.7 | 20 | 17 | 7 | 21 |
| Qawi, Samad | 7 | 0 | 7 | 1.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Reuvers, Nate | 30 | 30 | 783 | 26.1 | 392 | 13.1 | 141 | 313 | .450 | 30 | 87 | .345 | 80 | 100 | .800 | 34 | 103 | 137 | 4.6 | 18 | 15 | 56 | 46 |
| Trice, D'Mitrik | 30 | 30 | 960 | 32.0 | 289 | 9.6 | 99 | 264 | .375 | 53 | 143 | .371 | 38 | 51 | .745 | 7 | 109 | 116 | 3.9 | 125 | 23 | 4 | 52 |
| Wahl, Tyler | 30 | 2 | 453 | 15.1 | 77 | 2.6 | 32 | 73 | .438 | 6 | 26 | .231 | 7 | 17 | .412 | 32 | 43 | 75 | 2.5 | 31 | 20 | 5 | 31 |
| Total | 30 | - | 6025 | - | 2020 | 67.3 | 706 | 1654 | .427 | 261 | 736 | .355 | 347 | 451 | .769 | 242 | 769 | 1011 | 33.7 | 361 | 136 | 110 | 300 |
| Opponents | 30 | - | 6025 | - | 1859 | 62.0 | 697 | 1687 | .413 | 185 | 548 | .338 | 280 | 410 | .683 | 267 | 757 | 1024 | 34.1 | 333 | 152 | 85 | 333 |