# 2015–16 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was Bo Ryan's 15th season as head coach at Wisconsin, before he resigned 12 games into the season. On December 15, 2015, Ryan announced he would retire effective immediately leaving associate head coach Greg Gard as interim head coach. The team played their home games at the Kohl Center and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 22–13, 12–6 in Big Ten play to finish in a four-way tie for third place in conference. Shortly after the regular season, Greg Gard had the interim tag removed as he was announced as the permanent head coach. The Badgers were upset by Nebraska in the second round of the Big Ten tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, their 18th straight appearance in the Tournament. They defeated Pittsburgh and Xavier to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the third consecutive year. In the Sweet Sixteen, they lost to Notre Dame.

## Previous season

The Badgers finished the 2014–15 season with a record of 36–4, 16–2 in Big Ten play to win the Big Ten regular season championship. They defeated Michigan, Purdue, and Michigan State to win the Big Ten tournament and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. This marked the Badgers' 17th straight trip to the Tournament. In the Tournament, they defeated Coastal Carolina and Oregon to advance to their second straight Sweet Sixteen. They defeated North Carolina and Arizona to reach the school's fourth Final Four. By upsetting unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Kentucky 71–64 in the Final Four in Indianapolis, the Badgers moved on to play Duke in the National Championship Game, going for their first title in 74 years. However, Wisconsin lost the game 68–63.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Traevon Jackson | 12 | G | 6'3" | 207 | Senior | Westerville, OH | Graduated/Signed by Washington Wizards |
| Duje Dukan | 13 | F | 6'10" | 218 | RS Senior | Deerfield, IL | Graduated/Signed by Sacramento Kings |
| Sam Dekker | 15 | F | 6'9" | 230 | Junior | Sheboygan, WI | Declared for NBA draft/Drafted 18th overall by Houston Rockets |
| Josh Gasser | 21 | G | 6'4" | 192 | RS Senior | Port Washington, WI | Graduated/Signed by Brooklyn Nets |
| Riley Dearring | 35 | G | 6'5" | 181 | RS Sophomore | Minnetonka, MN | Transferred (midseason) |
| Frank Kaminsky | 44 | F | 7'0" | 242 | Senior | Lisle, IL | Graduated/Drafted 9th overall by Charlotte Hornets |

## 2015 commitments

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Alex Illikainen SF | Grand Rapids, MN | Brewster Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 225 lb (102 kg) | Sep 21, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Brevin Pritzl SG | De Pere, WI | De Pere | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | May 22, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Charlie Thomas PF | Clarksville, MD | River Hill | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 245 lb (111 kg) | Oct 14, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Khalil Iverson SF | Delaware, OH | Rutherford B. Hayes | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Feb 12, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Andy Van Vliet PF | Belgium | Canarias Basketball Academy | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | May 11, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: 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: "2015 Wisconsin Commitments". Rivals.com. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. "ESPN- Wisconsin Badgers Men's Basketball Recruiting". ESPN.com. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Season news

The first major news of the 2015–16 season came on June 29, 2015, when head coach Bo Ryan announced he would retire at the end of the season. However, on August 13, he backed away from his previous announcement, saying he will make a final decision by the end of 2015. He also said that he could coach some more seasons. The 2015–16 season might not be his final year.
On December 15, 2015, following a win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi in Madison, Ryan announced he would be retiring effective immediately. Assistant Coach Greg Gard was named as interim head coach.

## Schedule and results

Source
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| Nov 4* 7:00 pm | No. 17 | UW–River Falls | W 101–46 | – | 16 – Tied | 10 – Happ | 6 – Hayes | Kohl Center (17,213) Madison, WI |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| Nov 13* 8:00 pm, BTN | No. 17 | Western Illinois | L 67–69 | 0–1 | 17 – Tied | 7 – Iverson | 4 – Hayes | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Nov 15* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 17 | Siena 2K Sports Classic | W 92–65 | 1–1 | 23 – Koenig | 7 – Brown | 4 – Tied | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Nov 17* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | North Dakota | W 78–64 | 2–1 | 17 – Tied | 7 – Happ | 7 – Hayes | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Nov 20* 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Georgetown 2K Sports Classic semifinals | L 61–71 | 2–2 | 22 – Hayes | 10 – Happ | 3 – Tied | Madison Square Garden (N/A) New York City, NY |
| Nov 22* 2:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. VCU 2K Sports Classic third place game | W 74–73 | 3–2 | 22 – Koenig | 10 – Happ | 6 – Showalter | Madison Square Garden (17,287) New York City, NY |
| Nov 25* 7:00 pm, BTN | | Prairie View A&M | W 85–67 | 4–2 | 16 – Koenig | 8 – Happ | 7 – Hayes | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Nov 29* 1:30 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 7 Oklahoma | L 48–65 | 4–3 | 20 – Hayes | 11 – Hayes | 4 – Hayes | Lloyd Noble Center (8,988) Norman, OK |
| Dec 2* 6:15 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 14 Syracuse ACC–Big Ten Challenge | W 66–58 $^{OT}$ | 5–3 | 18 – Happ | 15 – Happ | 6 – Hayes | Carrier Dome (22,360) Syracuse, NY |
| Dec 5* 11:30 am, CBS | | Temple | W 76–60 | 6–3 | 18 – Hayes | 12 – Hayes | 3 – Tied | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Dec 9* 8:00 pm, BTN | | Milwaukee | L 67–68 | 6–4 | 32 – Hayes | 15 – Happ | 4 – Showalter | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Dec 12* 12:30 pm, ESPN2 | | Marquette Rivalry | L 55–57 | 6–5 | 15 – Brown | 10 – Showalter | 6 – Hayes | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Dec 15* 8:00 pm, BTN | | Texas A&M Corpus Christi | W 64–49 | 7–5 | 15 – Tied | 16 – Brown | 6 – Hayes | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Dec 23* 8:00 pm, BTN | | Green Bay | W 84–79 | 8–5 | 24 – Hayes | 9 – Brown | 4 – Tied | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Big Ten regular season |||||||||
| Dec 29 6:00 pm, BTN | | No. 14 Purdue | L 55–61 | 8–6 (0–1) | 17 – Hayes | 7 – Hayes | 3 – Koenig | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Jan 2 1:00 pm, BTN | | Rutgers | W 79–57 | 9–6 (1–1) | 21 – Showalter | 10 – Happ | 4 – Koenig | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Jan 5 6:00 pm, ESPN | | at Indiana | L 58–59 | 9–7 (1–2) | 15 – Tied | 8 – Happ | 2 – Koenig | Assembly Hall (14,098) Bloomington, IN |
| Jan 9 12:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 3 Maryland | L 60–63 | 9–8 (1–3) | 17 – Hayes | 11 – Happ | 3 – Koenig | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Jan 12 6:00 pm, BTN | | at Northwestern | L 65–70 | 9–9 (1–4) | 17 – Hayes | 6 – Hayes | 7 – Showalter | Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,264) Evanston, IL |
| Jan 17 12:30 pm, CBS | | No. 4 Michigan State | W 77–76 | 10–9 (2–4) | 27 – Koenig | 8 – Happ | 4 – Koenig | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Jan 21 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Penn State | W 66–60 | 11–9 (3–4) | 20 – Happ | 11 – Happ | 5 – Hayes | Bryce Jordan Center (7,145) University Park, PA |
| Jan 26 6:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 19 Indiana | W 82–79 $^{OT}$ | 12–9 (4–4) | 31 – Hayes | 8 – Happ | 2 – Hayes | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Jan 31 6:30 pm, BTN | | at Illinois | W 63–55 | 13–9 (5–4) | 17 – Hayes | 9 – Happ | 2 – Tied | State Farm Center (13,609) Champaign, IL |
| Feb 4 6:00 pm, ESPN | | Ohio State | W 79–68 | 14–9 (6–4) | 21 – Hayes | 7 – Hayes | 4 – Showalter | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Feb 10 6:00 pm, BTN | | Nebraska | W 72–61 | 15–9 (7–4) | 20 – Hayes | 5 – Tied | 3 – Tied | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Feb 13 5:30 pm, ESPN | | at No. 2 Maryland | W 70–57 | 16–9 (8–4) | 21 – Brown | 10 – Happ | 5 – Koenig | Xfinity Center (17,950) College Park, MD |
| Feb 18 8:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 8 Michigan State | L 57–69 | 16–10 (8–5) | 18 – Happ | 8 – Brown | 2 – Tied | Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 21 6:30 pm, BTN | | Illinois | W 69–60 | 17–10 (9–5) | 20 – Happ | 12 – Happ | 5 – Showalter | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Feb 24 8:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 8 Iowa | W 67–59 | 18–10 (10–5) | 15 – Koenig | 6 – Tied | 4 – Tied | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,400) Iowa City, IA |
| Feb 28 5:00 pm, BTN | | Michigan | W 68–57 | 19–10 (11–5) | 19 – Koenig | 7 – Hayes | 4 – Hayes | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Mar 2 8:00 pm, BTN | | at Minnesota | W 62–49 | 20–10 (12–5) | 14 – Koenig | 10 – Happ | 6 – Koenig | Williams Arena (12,275) Minneapolis, MN |
| Mar 6 6:30 pm, BTN | | at No. 15 Purdue | L 80–91 | 20–11 (12–6) | 30 – Hayes | 8 – Hayes | 4 – Koenig | Mackey Arena (14,846) West Lafayette, IN |
| Big Ten tournament |||||||||
| Mar 10 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | (6) | vs. (11) Nebraska Second Round | L 58–70 | 20–12 | 17 – Happ | 8 – Brown | 4 – Koenig | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (15,571) Indianapolis, IN |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| Mar 18* 5:50 pm, TNT | (7 E) | vs. (10 E) Pittsburgh First Round | W 47–43 | 21–12 | 15 – Happ | 9 – Happ | 3 – Happ | Scottrade Center (14,425) St. Louis, MO |
| Mar 20* 7:40 pm, TNT | (7 E) | vs. (2 E) No. 9 Xavier Second Round | W 66–63 | 22–12 | 20 – Koenig | 8 – Hayes | 3 – Tied | Scottrade Center (15,169) St. Louis, MO |
| Mar 25* 6:27 pm, TBS | (7 E) | vs. (6 E) Notre Dame Sweet Sixteen | L 56–61 | 22–13 | 14 – Happ | 12 – Happ | 3 – Tied | Wells Fargo Center (20,686) Philadelphia, PA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East Region. 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 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | 17 | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | N/A |
| Coaches | 17 | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | 25 | RV | 23 |

## Player statistics

Individual player statistics :
| | | | 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 | TO | Blk | Stl |
| Bax, Jackson | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brown, Vitto | 35 | 35 | 888 | 25.4 | 340 | 9.7 | 130 | 292 | .445 | 38 | 95 | .400 | 42 | 55 | .764 | 60 | 114 | 174 | 5.0 | 29 | 40 | 19 | 19 |
| Dearring, Riley | 3 | 0 | 6 | 2.0 | 2 | 0.7 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Decorah, Will | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Happ, Ethan | 35 | 35 | 982 | 28.1 | 434 | 12.4 | 163 | 303 | .538 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 108 | 168 | .643 | 88 | 190 | 278 | 7.9 | 44 | 76 | 32 | 63 |
| Hayes, Nigel | 35 | 35 | 1267 | 36.2 | 551 | 15.7 | 161 | 438 | .368 | 39 | 133 | .293 | 190 | 258 | .736 | 69 | 135 | 205 | 5.8 | 104 | 79 | 14 | 39 |
| Hill, Jordan | 30 | 1 | 467 | 15.6 | 87 | 2.9 | 33 | 87 | .379 | 17 | 51 | .333 | 4 | 6 | .667 | 14 | 28 | 42 | 1.4 | 24 | 19 | 1 | 9 |
| Illikainen, Alex | 33 | 0 | 324 | 9.8 | 71 | 2.2 | 26 | 63 | .413 | 9 | 28 | .321 | 10 | 15 | .667 | 16 | 33 | 49 | 1.5 | 13 | 11 | 3 | 6 |
| Iverson, Khalil | 34 | 0 | 443 | 13.0 | 87 | 2.6 | 33 | 70 | .471 | 2 | 12 | .167 | 19 | 36 | .528 | 24 | 39 | 63 | 1.9 | 21 | 31 | 20 | 12 |
| Koenig, Bronson | 35 | 35 | 1222 | 34.9 | 459 | 13.1 | 151 | 385 | .392 | 83 | 213 | .390 | 74 | 97 | .763 | 13 | 84 | 97 | 2.8 | 84 | 52 | 6 | 14 |
| Moesch, Aaron | 16 | 0 | 48 | 3.0 | 4 | 0.3 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0.3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Pritzl, Brevin | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Schlundt, T.J. | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Showalter, Zak | 35 | 35 | 1099 | 31.4 | 262 | 7.5 | 90 | 198 | .455 | 37 | 107 | .346 | 45 | 56 | .804 | 26 | 108 | 134 | 3.8 | 76 | 48 | 7 | 36 |
| Smith, Jordan | 8 | 0 | 9 | 1.1 | 4 | 0.5 | 1 | 3 | .333 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 2 | 3 | .667 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Thomas, Charlie | 31 | 0 | 282 | 9.1 | 72 | 2.3 | 27 | 73 | .370 | 4 | 15 | .267 | 14 | 30 | .467 | 21 | 42 | 63 | 2.0 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 5 |
| Team | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 63 | 51 | 114 | 3.2 | | 19 | | |
| Total | 35 | | 7050 | | 2373 | 67.8 | 816 | 1917 | .426 | 229 | 656 | .349 | 512 | 728 | .703 | 398 | 830 | 1228 | 35.1 | 400 | 386 | 114 | 205 |
| Opponents | 35 | | 7050 | | 2233 | 63.8 | 794 | 1862 | .426 | 201 | 539 | .373 | 444 | 626 | .709 | 318 | 803 | 1121 | 32.0 | 371 | 419 | 116 | 190 |

## Season highs

| | | Player | Game | Date |
| Points | 32 | Nigel Hayes | vs. Milwaukee | December 9, 2015 |
| Rebounds | 16 | Vitto Brown | vs. Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | December 15, 2015 |
| Assists | 7 | Nigel Hayes | vs. North Dakota | November 17, 2015 |
| Assists | 7 | Nigel Hayes | vs. Prairie View A&M | November 25, 2015 |
| Assists | 7 | Zak Showalter | at Northwestern | January 12, 2016 |
| Steals | 6 | Ethan Happ | vs. Illinois | February 21, 2016 |
| Blocks | 3 | Khalil Iverson | vs. Western Illinois | November 13, 2015 |
| Blocks | 3 | Ethan Happ | at Syracuse | December 2, 2015 |
| Blocks | 3 | Ethan Happ | vs. Milwaukee | December 9, 2015 |
| Blocks | 3 | Ethan Happ | vs. Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | December 15, 2015 |
| Blocks | 3 | Vitto Brown | vs. Green Bay | December 23, 2015 |
| Blocks | 3 | Khalil Iverson | vs. Xavier | March 20, 2016 |