Storming the Kohl Center and Two Stars for the Badgers

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Badgers’ PA Guy Mike Mahnke is back on the show having survived the storming of the Kohl Center Friday night. It was a big win for the Badgers over Michigan State where they were able to maintain control nearly the entire game. Even Tom Izzo knew that Wisconsin had his number by a certain point in the game, and the Badgers ended the night with a big 92-71 victory. You add in some of the other big wins they’ve had recently and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the fans stormed the court. It was a pretty tame court storming from Mike’s perspective on the court, and even the players were pumped by it all. I guess fans are too busy celebrating and taking pictures these days to harass or “spit” on the other team, as they allegedly did back in 2011.

Wisconsin’s win over Michigan State earned them a top 25 national ranking. They hope to keep the victory streak going at Ohio State, though that game took place after the recording of this podcast. Instead, Mike and Lucas take a look at the bigger prize: Sunday’s game against the Iowa Buckeye. The Buckeyes have a new coach in Ben McCollum - a Bo Ryan-type coach who ditches the sportsjacket for a white shirt and tie. He’s replacing Fran McCaffery, whose tantrums and outbursts will be missed in Madison. Fran certainly helped the Badgers last year, when Wisconsin beat Iowa in a game that broke multiple records. The Badgers scored 116 points that game, setting a new record for most points scored by Wisconsin in the Kohl Center. But even still, Blackwell turned out to be the star of that game, and not the at-the-time star John Tonje. Blackwell is the new star of the Badgers, sharing the role with Nick Boyd. You always get nervous when a team has two stars, but they’ve made it work. It takes a while for a team to find their chemistry, especially with so many transfers, but both the two stars and everyone else on the team has taken some great leaps forward since November.

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Nate Wegehaupt. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.