Wisconsin is battle tested coming into Final Four

 

 

Nobody had mentioned State Street all night.

But as head coach Bo Ryan and the 2-seeded University of Wisconsin took down the University of Arizona in overtime to advance to the Final Four, Badgers fans just knew. Thousands of students took to the iconic thoroughfare before being dispersed by police, though no one was arrested or injured.

The Badgers have not been to a Final Four since 2000, marking 14 years since State Street was last mobbed.

For Ryan, who is making his first Final Four appearance, this year is a little bittersweet.

Butch Ryan and Bo Ryan, father and son, attended 38 straight Final Fours in the stands, dreaming of the day Bo Ryan would grace the sidelines.

Butch Ryan passed away last August. He would have turned 90 the day Wisconsin beat Arizona.

Few coaches can boast a resume like Ryan’s. The man has never missed an NCAA Tournament, won four conference regular season and tournament championships, and made it to four Sweet 16s in his 13-year career with the Badgers.

In classic Wisconsin fashion, the 2013-14 Badgers play exceptional team ball, finding open perimeter shooters and drawing defenders out before giving the ball to junior center Frank Kaminsky down low.

The 7-foot center has led the charge in his breakout junior season and shouldered much of the Badgers’ burden throughout the tournament.

Enduring much of the criticism during the Badgers’ January stumble were junior guard Traevon Jackson and sophomore forward Sam Dekker.

As the under-recruited son of Ohio State University star Jim Jackson, Traevon Jackson is known for his affinity for buzzer beaters and not much else. Five-star state hero Dekker is a large part of the team’s backbone, and the lone senior, guard Ben Brust, has etched his name into the Wisconsin history books with his unmatched 3-point shooting.

A January losing streak saw Wisconsin take a nose dive in the rankings, but this run is anything but a fluke. As part of arguably the most difficult schedule in college basketball this season, the Badgers took down six AP Top 25 teams in the regular season.

Overmatched against UK’s size, the ability to find and make open 3-point shots is going to make or break Saturday’s game for the Badgers. Kaminsky can fight down low with the best of them, but getting the ball there over defenders is going to be a challenge.