march madness issue 2015
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The Daily CardinalTRANSCRIPT
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”
University of Wisconsin-Madison Since 1892 dailycardinal.com March Madness Issue 2015l
March Madness 2015+ NCAA BRACKET pages 6-7
Let’s go dancing: UW nabs No. 1 seedKAITLYN VETO/THE DAILY CARDINAL
By Jack BaerTHE DAILY CARDINAL
CHICAGO—With their thrilling Big Ten Tournament Championship, No. 6 Wisconsin earned its first NCAA Tournament 1-seed in program history, and enters a region that’s going to carry a whole lot of deja vu.
The Badgers (16-2 Big Ten, 31-3 overall) will be the top seed in the West Region, and have Arizona, Baylor and North Carolina as the rest of the region’s top four seeds.
The Badgers’ first game will come against No. 16 seed Coastal Carolina, the Big South champions and holders of a 24-9 record. No. 1 seed has ever lost to a No. 16 seed in the NCAA tournament, but that doesn’t mean the Badgers were given a bye thanks to their placement.
“You got to be confident, but you have to respect them,”
junior forward Sam Dekker said after seeing the bracket. “They’re in the tournament for a reason. We’re not look-ing for any upsets, so we got to scout them like any other team and be ready for them. They’re going to bring a fight and we have to match it.” After that, the Badgers would either encoun-ter a Round of 32 rematch with Oregon or Oklahoma State, both strong but very beatable teams. The meat of the region would hit in the Sweet 16, possibly against No. 4 seed North Carolina. The Tar Heels feature a deep frontcourt that could give the Wisconsin forwards trouble on offense. That’s also not to men-tion their biggest weakness, free throws, wouldn’t be exploited as much by the Badgers, who allow fewer free throw attempts than any team in the country. That’s just one possible oppo-
nent though. The Badgers aren’t guaranteed to make it that far and neither is UNC. The NCAA Tournament isn’t exactly known for being predictable and the Badgers know that as well as anybody, considering they went down in the first round two years ago.
“Any time it’s one and done, you’re going to get everyone’s best shot,” said redshirt senior guard Josh Gasser. “This week-end, we showed our toughness, we showed the resiliency we had. We know we’re going to be a team everyone’s looking to take out.”
For good measure, Ole Miss, the team that upset the Badgers two years ago, is in the West region too as a No. 11 seed in the play-in game.
However, if the top two seeds of the region make it to the Elite Eight, college basketball will be
in for one of the most enticing rematches of the season.
No one will forget Wisconsin’s last matchup with Arizona anytime soon, a 64-63 overtime thriller in the Elite Eight that vaulted the Badgers to the first Final Four in Bo Ryan’s career. The roles will be flipped however, with UW as the No. 1 seed and the Wildcats the No. 2.
Since that intense game, Arizona has held serve as argu-ably the best in the west. The Wildcats added star freshman guard and future lottery pick Stanley Johnson and kept the majority of their talented front-court together. Like Wisconsin, they won their conference’s regular season and tournament titles in the Pac-12 and finished with a 31-3 record.
“It’s a new year, new teams,” said redshirt senior forward Duje
Dukan. “I’ve watched Arizona, they’re a very good team. They could easily have been a 1-seed. Winning their tournament, win-ning their regular season. If we do end up facing them again, we’ll be excited.”
March Madness is here. Wisconsin is better positioned to make a deep tournament run from the outset than any time in living memory, the first 1-seed in program history. There’s no way a return trip to the Final Four isn’t on this team’s list of goals, and they’ve got the like-ly National Player of the Year, Frank Kaminsky, to help carry them there.
But that’s just the Wisconsin outlook. For the next three weeks, we’ll see live streams in lectures and upsets across the country. It’s time to buckle up for the most demented postsea-son in sports.
MARCH MADNESS+ pages 5, 8, 9, 12
Check out The Daily Cardinal’s
Big Ten Tournament recap, regional breakdowns
and more.
#MakeEmBelieve
Other March Madness news
By Zach Rastallthe daily cardinal
Big Ten official Gene Steratore was vaporized into a heap of smol-dering ashes Sunday afternoon after making direct eye contact with Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan’s death stare.
The incident occurred in the second half of the Big Ten Tournament championship game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Michigan State Spartans, when Steratore called an offensive foul on Wisconsin senior forward Frank Kaminsky.
An irate Ryan argued the call, but was promptly issued a technical foul by Steratore. This led to Ryan gazing straight into Steratore’s eyes with his infamous death stare, ren-dering him into a pile of ashes on the United Center court.
“It was horrifying,” fellow offi-cial Terry Wymer said. “It’s like he stared straight into his soul and
made him spontaneously combust.”“This is a day that we’ve
feared would come for quite some time,” Big Ten Men’s Basketball Coordinator of Officials Rick Boyages said in a statement. “We warn all our guys to never stare directly into Coach Ryan’s gaze for more than three seconds, but Gene must have gotten caught up in the moment and forgotten.”
For his part, Ryan was unapolo-getic after the game.
“Gene knows the rules; you don’t T me up,” Ryan said. “He let his ego get the better of him, and he paid the consequences. It’s unfor-tunate that it had to happen, but an example needed to be made.”
Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said that the conference will honor Steratore by putting his ashes in an urn and hanging it from the rafters in the United Center as a reminder to all other officials to “never fuck with Bo Ryan again.”
l2 March Madness issue 2015 dailycardinal.com
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editorial BoardJack Casey • Jonah Beleckis
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editor-in-ChiefJack Casey
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Several language corrections were made in a March 12 article about proposed changes to Chapter 17. The changes to the policy came from the UW System, not UW-Madison.
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Bo Ryan’s death stare turns referee into smoldering pile of ash
Congress bracket pool to brutally humiliate losing party, pamper winnersBy Liam Hutchinsonthe daily cardinal
Political leaders in Washington are just as excited about March Madness as the rest of the coun-try; elected officials recently came together despite an intensely divided Congress to organize a high stakes bracket pool that pits the parties against each other in friendly competition.
The concept of the bracket pool is the same as any, but Congress has gotten pretty creative with the pay-outs. The losing party will be sub-ject to spending a night sleepover-style in the White House’s spooky ‘Lincoln Bedroom.’ Additionally, losers will be forced to wear a wardrobe consisting exclusively of JoS. A. Bank products, relegat-ing them to woefully poor-quality clothing for the remainder of this congressional session.
The primary prize for the winning party will allow them to wear nothing but flip-flops in the congressional chambers.
“The Democrats absolutely cannot win this,” Speaker of the House John Boehner said. “I’m not sure I’d be able to handle Nancy Pelosi’s nasty bunion feet in anything but close-toed shoes.”
The most severe punishment will force members of the losing party to attend Joe Biden’s bian-nual toga-themed barbeque. The remarkably distasteful event has left past guests “pretty weirded
out” by his farm animal home decor and Neil Diamond-heavy party playlist.
“I need my sleeper pick Wyoming to come through for me on this one,” one congressman said. “I really can’t tolerate anoth-er party at Joe’s place. I’ll never understand [Biden’s] penchant for absinthe daiquiris.”
Other rewards consist of 20 percent off Target coupons and Totino’s Pizza Rolls brought to winners during committee meet-ings. One Congress member wants the W so badly that he offered to bankroll a new car for every Duke player if they win it all, despite that being a blatant violation of NCAA policies.
Despite the harsh conse-quences, Congress maintains that they’re just “having good ol’ fun with basketball and hostile party lines.” One Democrat said he was “glad to take on the Republicans in a contest without private fund-ing,” while Republican leaders projected an easy win because “progressive Democrats are prob-ably way more into cricket or water polo anyways.”
Congressional spokespeople refuted criticism about allotting so much time for the bracket challenge by saying, “If we can accurately predict whether or not Wofford will beat Arkansas in the first round, then controlling ISIS should be an absolute breeze.”
SHOaiB aLtaf/cardinal file photo
gRapHic By LORin cOx
By Nicole HurleyTHE DAILY CARDINAL
Three UW-Madison faculty members presented ideas and potential solutions to counter material poverty Friday and Saturday during an annual con-ference on the subject held in
Mazatlán, Mexico. The third annual Mazatlán
Forum: Platform for Cross-Border Collaboration invited scholars from across the United States and Mexico to present their ideas. The invitees’ stud-ies and specializations vary from
fields like sociology and philoso-phy to economics and business.
UW-Madison had the second most representatives at the forum, aside from Stanford University, which co-organized the event. UW-Madison sociology profes-sor and Institute for Research on Poverty Director Lonnie Berger, public affairs and economics pro-fessor Timothy Smeeding and philosophy and educational poli-cy professor Harry Brighouse said UW-Madison’s dominant pres-ence at the conference is telling of the university’s reputation.
“UW-Madison is a public institution which has, over gener-ations, made an unusual commit-ment to exploring and trying to help solve real, immediate social problems,” Brighouse said. “This is the university that produced social security after all.”
This commitment to conver-sation and discovery is crucial for Mazatlán Forum scholars
to collaboratively develop chal-lenges to poverty in the United States and Mexico, Berger said.
Berger’s presentation at the forum titled, “Supporting Young Men in their Family Roles,” illu-minates his research on fam-ily complexity, child abuse and neglect and household debt. He focused on the direct relation-ship between poverty and social fathers, men who come to play a fatherly role either to their own siblings or to children not related biologically.
“[The forum] is a great chance to try out an idea you’re still working through that may be less than an academic paper or a policy,” Berger said. “Feedback from a range of dif-ferent types of thinkers will get you revising and impro-vising until you have an idea that’s ready for primetime.”
All three UW-Madison repre-sentatives attended the Mazatlán Forum for the first time this year. Berger said UW-Madison’s pas-sion for innovation makes the faculty excellent candidates for the conference.
“Our university really creates and pollinates creative think-ing,” Berger said. “People want to come here. People want to visit, to train. It really speaks to the quality of the people here and their dedication to being here.”
Lonnie Bergerprofessor
UW-Madison
“Our university really creates and pollinates
creative thinking.”
newsdailycardinal.com March Madness Issue 2015 3l
By Irene BurskiTHE DAILY CARDINAL
More than 1,000 people gathered Saturday in the gyms of Madison East High School to commemorate and honor Tony Robinson, the 19-year-old black teenager who was shot and killed by Madison Police Department Officer Matt Kenny on Williamson Street March 6.
By 3 p.m., the Milton McPike Field House was filled to capacity, prompting orga-nizers to direct crowds into a secondary gym where they could watch the memorial ser-vice on projection screens.
“My nephew was not a vic-tim. Simply put, victims do not survive … He dwells forever in our lives,” said Robinson’s
aunt, Lorien Carter, in a poem she read aloud during the ser-vice. “He is our very own mar-tyr, a champion for change.”
Speakers reiterated a com-mon theme of Robinson’s life having ended too soon, and for there to be a way his death was not in vain.
“His life mattered, just like everyone in this room who showed up today to show appreciation for this man,” said speaker Alize Bell. “We are all standing strong for one man.”
There was a continual pas-sionate pledge to find justice for his death that underscored the service as well.
“Anybody who stands in the way of true justice, I will make it my personal duty to expose it,” said Robinson’s uncle, Turin Carter.
The service, which was attended by a crowd of all ages and all races, included local, state and national community leaders, with U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., in the audience.
“What this memorial ser-vice really echoed to every-body that was present [is] that
we want to make sure Tony Robinson did not die in vain,” said state Sen. Chris Taylor, D-Madison. “There’s a lot of sadness, there’s a lot of grief … But I think there’s a lot of hope here as well.”
Craig Spaulding, father of one of Robinson’s best friends, and one of the first people at the scene of his death, echoed Taylor’s sentiment, but expressed anger at an appar-ent lack of transparency from
the police force. He recalled how the friends of Robinson were taken into custody the night of his death, without an option for crisis counseling, while the officer responsible would receive those services.
“There is not transparen-cy,” Spaulding said. “[But this city] will not explode. Madison is not Ferguson.”
Negassi Tesfamichael and Jen Wagman contributed to this report.
Jack Spaulding, one of Robinson’s best friends, embraces a fellow mourner after sharing his memories with the crowd.
CONG GAO/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Funeral for Tony Robinson emphasizes finding justice
Chris Taylorsenator
Wisconsin
“There’s a lot of grief ... But I think there’s a lot of
hope here as well.”
Professor Lonnie Berger was one of three faculty members who attended a conference in Mexico about combating poverty.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WISC.EDU
Legislator calls for state powdered alcohol banBy Jane RobertsTHE DAILY CARDINAL
Wisconsin could soon join a number of states that ban the sale of powdered alcohol ahead of its proposed sale this summer.
State Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, urged lawmakers Thursday to pass a bill banning the substance, called “Palcohol” by its creators, which was approved Wednesday by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.
“The potential for abuse just is too great to justify this type of product,” Carpenter said in a state-ment. “Today I reached out [to] the chair of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety and request[ed] that a public hearing on this bill be set quickly.”
The Wisconsin Legislature defines powdered alcohol as “any substance that is sold in powder or crystalline form, that contains more than 0.4 percent alcohol by weight, and that is fit for human consumption either in its powder or crystalline form or after it is added to food or reconstituted with water or another liquid.”
According to Palcohol’s website, the product is simply “liquid alco-hol in powder form.”
When mixed with water, a one-ounce pouch produces the equiva-lent of a standard mixed drink.
The website lists rum and vodka flavors, which can be added to mix-ers, and three cocktail flavors that can be added to water to create cos-mopolitans, lemon drops and mar-garitas, which it calls “powderitas.”
In his statement, Carpenter expressed concern that the powder will make it easier to sneak alcohol into events and that kids could eas-ily mistake the pouches for some-thing else.
“It is not so easy to hide a fifth of vodka in your pocket, but packets of powder could be easily hidden in pockets or backpacks, making enforcement very challenging,” Carpenter said.
Several states have already banned the substance, including Alaska, Massachusetts, Delaware, Louisiana, South Carolina, Michigan and Vermont.
Along with Wisconsin, more than 15 other states are also consid-ering banning powdered alcohol.
Tim Carpentersenator
Wisconsin
“... packets of powder could be easily hidden ... making enforcement very
challenging.”
Tim Carpentersenator
Wisconsin
“The potential for abuse just is too great to justify
this type of product.”
UW faculty attend forum on alleviating poverty PROFESSOR PROFILE
arts4 March Madness Issue 2015 dailycardinal.coml
The Pines explore energy, new materialBetsy OsterbergerThe DaIly CarDInal
When the Pines frontmen David Huckfelt and Benson Ramsey fill a room with their ambient folk music, listeners are transported to the vast lands of Iowa, where the band members grew up.
This is sure to be the case when they make a stop in Madison on April 4 at the High Noon Saloon. As they put together a new record, the Pines are doing a few sporadic shows around the Midwest, not stray-ing too far from their home in Minneapolis, Minn.
Huckfelt and Ramsey are both from Iowa, but didn’t meet until they were living in Arizona where they started making music together, both singing and playing guitar.
“There was never an intended path or plan,” Huckfelt said. “We just kind of woke up one day and realized that we were ready to do this as much as possible in as many places as possible.”
Since then, the Pines have released five albums with their sixth expected to come out some-time later this year. They signed with indie label Red House Records in 2007 and released their breakout album, Sparrows in the Bell, later that year. They received national attention from their South by Southwest performance, Daytrotter sessions and resound-ing praise in publications like Q Magazine and Rolling Stone.
Over the years, the Pines have built up a cult following for their
hauntingly honest and subdued sound, and they have shared the stage with indie extraordi-naires like Bon Iver, Trampled By Turtles and Mason Jennings. Huckfelt likes getting out on the road with other musicians and collaborating rather than competing to create memorable musical events.
“A lot of times you see bands on tour and everybody wants to tear up bands that sound alike or do the same kind of thing,” he said. “I think it’s more interest-ing when there’s some variance in a given night of music.”
Much of their inspiration comes from the stark, quiet plac-es where they grew up, as well as early American folk and blues music. As they put together their
upcoming album, Huckfelt said the writing process is a reflection that encompasses all aspects of their lives. “Our process is kind of a deepening like tracing a river back into its source and going back wide and far,” he said.
The music scene in Minneapolis provides Huckfelt, Ramsey and the rest of their band with the ideal environment to make music.
“It’s small enough that styles and people and personalities and music can really merge in the city,” Huckfelt said. “We’re real-ly Iowa guys at heart, but as far as a music city goes, it’s the best.”
Minneapolis is no stranger to musical talent. The Pines follow in the footsteps of notable art-ists like Bob Dylan, Atmosphere
and The Replacements, who got started in the Twin Cities.
But they don’t get to stick around the city very much, which is just fine with Huckfelt. He said they like to check out the “weird parts” of rural America when they’re on tour.
“If you don’t enjoy travel then there’s no reason to try to play music,” Huckfelt said.
The Pines will be laying pretty low in the coming months while they hunker down to create new music with a busier surge of tour-ing expected in the fall.
“We’ll stay fairly close to home during this time because we have more space to focus and write when we don’t have a lot of traveling to do,” Huckfelt said.
Playing at these smaller
Midwestern venues during pro-duction gives the band a chance to test drive some of the music on which they’re working.
“Performing [songs] live is one way to get some more infor-mation about the new material,” Huckfelt said.
The Pines have played in Madison numerous times, and Huckfelt is excited to come back to the High Noon, and briefly meet up with some friends in the city.
When Huckfelt, Ramsey and their keyboardist Alex Ramsey play their music, you won’t see much jumping around or dancing. Most likely, you won’t see any of that at all. Coinciding with the stark, poet-ic Americana that resonates from their instruments is a quiet energy which surrounds the musicians and expands throughout the venue.
“Energy is a very illusive kind of subtle thing. We have a lot going on when we’re on stage even though it’s subdued and I feel like there’s a lot of quiet energy in places that aren’t nec-essarily loud or beating you over the head,” Huckfelt said.
The Pines’ relaxed demeanor is reflective of their understanding relationship with their music and their passion for performing it live.
“For us it’s comfortable deliv-ering songs. Connecting with the audience is what we love to do,” Huckfelt said.
The Pines will perform at High Noon Saloon on April 4. Tickets are $15, and on sale through high-noon.com.
moe.’s improvisational style highlights cross-country tourBy Brian WeidyThe DaIly CarDInal
The titans of the jam band world, moe., formed in Buffalo, New York in 1989 as a part of a wave of improvisational rock bands in upstate New York. Vinnie Amico, moe.’s drum-mer, attributes this boom of bands to the culture surround-ing the region and the heavy
influence of the Grateful Dead. The Daily Cardinal spoke with Amico as the band prepared for their winter tour.
“It’s always been kind of a big jam scene, but it was always Grateful Dead territory,” Amico said. “But everywhere is Grateful Dead territory.”
He went on to say that the friendly terrain of music ven-
ues throughout New York state helped a band such as theirs grow in their formative years.
“The beauty of upstate New York and live music in gener-al is that there’s a college in every town up and down the Thruway,” Amico said. “You can go to Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, Poughkeepsie and then New York [City] and that’s six towns within two hours of each other.” He then added, “And you’re not even talking the small SUNY [State University of New York] towns.”
On this tour, which as of press time is nearly complete, they have mixed in a number of smaller shows in major mar-kets, including small club shows in New York and Chicago, in addition to the traditional larger clubs and theaters they typi-cally play. Amico said they did those as a sort of “thank you” to their hardcore fans.
“Fans really like the intimate setting and the smaller thing, it kind of brings them back to the olden days, when we were up and coming, just getting ham-mered, playing all out, balls to the wall,” Amico said. “So we kind of packaged them together … and the diehards they get into the smaller shows.
“Sometimes special shit happens at the smaller shows, whether it be Rob [Derhak, the bassist] getting drunk and talk-ing shit the whole night or us pulling something out or just the jamming because we’re in
such a small, intimate setting that we can kind of just…rage.”
Since the band has been together for so long, they find new ways each night to keep things interesting, both for themselves and the audiences.
“It’s mostly the improvisa-tion,” Amico said. “Between the stylistic differences of the set lists and the improvisation works within the set lists, and just because we do a lot of jam-ming throughout the night, that’s what keeps it interesting night to night. Just trying to figure out how to get from point A to point B musically and the conversations that are going on on-stage musically.
“Plus we do still write new tunes and we have a few songs from the album we just released [No Guts, No Glory] that are still pretty fresh, so we’re still trying to figure out how to jam some of those out so there’s always stuff that keeps it fresh.”
While a plethora of new tunes helps keeps things interesting, unlike most jam bands, moe.
does not play as many covers as their peers in the jam world.
“We don’t play a ton of cov-ers,” Amico said. “If you see pretty much every other jam band, they play a lot of covers. We don’t. We just don’t do it that often, so we have a pretty short list. And by short list, we’re still talking 25 or 30, but it’s not as many as a lot of the other bands.
“And it’s making sure every-body actually knows how it goes. So if there’s one or two covers thrown-in in a night, hopefully that’s something we’ll go over in sound check unless it’s one we’ve been doing forever. But we don’t learn cov-ers all the time, that’s just not something we do.”
Although it has been a while since they last played Madison, Amico said they are always excited to play the capi-tol of Wisconsin.
“We’re definitely excited to get back there, we know its such a great town and the vibe there is awesome,” Amico said. “We have a lot of fans there in the Midwest, so I know I’m looking forward to that. I like the town of Madison, we’ve been there enough times that there’s a lot of cool things. It’s a college town, a cool town, and it’s named after my daughter, of course.”
moe. is set to play the Barrymore Theatre on Wednesday, March 18 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are still available.
These performances are supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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“It’s always been kind of a big jam band scene, but it was always Grateful Dead territory. But everywhere
is Grateful Dead territory.”
Minneapolis-natives the Pines are excited to show off their americana-infused folk on april 4.PHOTO COURTESY OF THEPINESMUSIC.COM
sportsdailycardinal.com March Madness Issue 2015 5l
1 WISCONSIN
16 Coastal Caro.
8 Oregon
9 Oklahoma St.
5 Arkansas
12 Wofford
4 North Carolina
13 Harvard
6 Xavier
11 BYU/Ole Miss
3 Baylor
14 Georgia State
7 VCU
10 Ohio State
2 Arizona
15 Texas Southern
No. 1 WisconsinFor the Badgers to make a deep
run in the tournament, they must come out of the gates strong and play a full 40 minutes. At times this season, especially in the last few games, Wisconsin has looked slug-gish and dug an early hole for itself, needing an impressive second-half comeback to defeat Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship. UW has been lucky to escape its early-game woes relatively unscathed, but Bo Ryan and company need to sort this out before they play the rest of the country’s elite.
No. 2 ArizonaAfter clinching their first confer-
ence tourney championship since 2002 with a blowout victory against Oregon, Arizona has secured a No. 2 seed in the Big Dance. Sean Miller is a defen-sive-minded coach and this mindset has translated well, with the Wildcats allowing 58.6 points per game. With defensive standouts such as Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and T.J. McConnell, and freshman phenom Stanley Johnson on offense, the Wildcats will surely be a tough out in the tournament.
Dark HorseBYU accumulated a 25-9 record
in 2015 thanks to having the ninth most efficient offense in the nation, according to kenpom. Leading the BYU attack on offense is Tyler Haws, a well-rounded player who checks in as the third best scor-er in the country with 21.9 points per game. Besides Haws, oppo-nents must keep an eye on Kyle Collinsworth, as he has posted an astonishing six triple-doubles this year. BYU uses a “run and gun” offense that will keep pace with the nation’s most athletic teams.
Dream MatchupThe most intriguing potential
game in the 2015 West Region might be a rematch of one played in 2014: Wisconsin versus Arizona in the Elite Eight. Every college basketball fan remembers the pandemonium that followed this game a year ago, and the 2015 rendition of Wisconsin-Arizona would foster many of the same emo-tions. Just like last season, this match-up would feature star power and come down to the final minutes.
—David Gwidt
Classic win punctuates impressive Big Ten Tournament for WisconsinBy Jack Baerthe daIly cardInal
CHICAGO—Those that thought the Big Ten regular sea-son champion Badgers would encounter a cake walk in the conference tournament, were wrong. And considering the thrills that ensued, they prob-ably wouldn’t have had it any other way.
On the backs of three wins ranging from dominant to elec-trifying, the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers took home their first Big Ten Tournament title since 2008. To do so, they held off a tenacious Michigan team, blew the doors off Purdue and took down Michigan State in one of the most sensational games in program history.
Michigan, the tournament’s 8-seed, entered the quarterfinals a shell of the team they began the season as. The Wolverines had lost star Caris LeVert and Derrick Walton Jr. to injury, and had to play a small lineup against the tall Badgers. It was still a competitive game despite the dis-advantage, but a first-half rally
and strong second-half offense allowed the Badgers to stave off the squad from Ann Arbor and get the 71-60 win.
Purdue looked like it was going to be more of a challenge, and it definitely felt like it in the first half as the Boilermakers went into the locker room with a 35-30 advantage. Then, well, the Badgers showed why they were bound for a top tournament
seed. There are a lot of words to describe UW’s 41-16 second-half run: evisceration, incinera-tion, humiliation. Once again the Badgers marched, this time to a 71-51 victory.
The finals against Michigan State were different, the good kind of different. The kind of dif-ferent that will make Badger fans remember Sunday as the kind of game that comes around once
every ten conference tourna-ments, if that.
Let’s walk through the 80-69 win that serves as the ultimate example of a score not being indicative of how many finger-nails must now be ruined. The first half didn’t feature a lead greater than five throughout. Thirteen different players in total scored in the first 20 minutes.
Michigan State took control
in the second half and carved out a 57-46 lead with 7:45 remain-ing. Then, the Badgers entered a stretch that exceeded belief.
In the span of three min-utes and 29 seconds, Wisconsin scored 14 points and took a 60-59 lead. Both teams exchanged hay-makers for the final four minutes and emerged with a 69-69 tie at the end of regulation.
Michigan State did not score again, missing all six of its over-time shots while the Badgers just kept coming to grab the 80-69 victory that left adrenal glands pumping and ear drums ringing in the United Center.
As the tournament ended, streamers flew and nets were cut. Frank Kaminsky donned his GoPro and received the award as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. There aren’t many ways a team can both show dominance and keep things rivet-ing like the Badgers did.
March Madness is still underway, but the only way the Badgers are topping what went down in Chicago involves a drive to Indianapolis.
Breaking down all four regions (continued on page 8)
Winning Most Outstanding Player was another step for Frank Kaminsky’s Wooden award campaign.kAiTlyN veTo/the daIly cardInal
kAiTlyN veTo/the daIly cardInal
nigel hayes averaged 17 ppg in the tournament, making the all-tournament team.kAiTlyN veTo/the daIly cardInal
the torrent of points against Purdue came from all sources, including Zak Showalter.
6 • March Madness Issue 2015 dailycardinal.com • 7
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sports
Kentucky’s quest for perfectionGot to say, I really think Maryland’s
big three can score on anyone and impress in March. So you think they can beat Kentucky? Well, Kansas has improved throughout the season and could make some noise. But could they come even close to challenging Kentucky? This could be Wisconsin, Arizona, Villanova or Virginia’s year. But can ANYONE BEAT KENTUCKY?
We can talk about how much of a glowing-hot steamroller of death the Wildcats have been, but we have to stop ending any discussion of tourna-ment possibilities with the eventual-ity that is Kentucky hoisting a trophy in Indianapolis, because a) that’s just not fun and b) Kentucky can indeed lose. No Patriots fan brags about the 2007-’08 season and Kentucky losing is physically possible (I’m pretty sure).
—Jack Baer
Potential Final Four rematchBack in December, I tweeted that
I would have “no doubt” the Badgers would beat Kentucky if they matched up in the NCAA Tournament. Well then. I’ve been envisioning that match-up ever since and I’m obviously not going to stop now.
Maybe my post-Big Ten Tournament euphoria is clouding my vision, but those three Wisconsin wins in the tourney only solidified my belief that the Badgers are one of the nation’s best. UW’s perimeter shooting could counteract Kentucky’s amazing inte-rior defense.
So I’m hoping for a Final Four rematch to put my tweet on the line. Let’s see if I’m a savant or a moron.
—Jim Dayton
The annual 5-12 upsetEvery year, the 5-12 matchups pro-
vide crazy upsets, leading many to claim this is the most upset-prone matchup in the tournament. This year has a good crop of close teams in this slot, but one game seems more upset-prone than the others.
In the Midwest, South and West, the matchups seem to favor the 5-seeds, but in the East, it’s a different story. The 5-seed Northern Iowa will have to face a tough 12-seed in Wyoming.
These teams are both from smaller conferences and have similar records against teams in the top 50 RPI, which shows that they are fairly even against top-tier opponents. However, UNI hasn’t beaten a top 50 RPI team since the last day of January, and Wyoming beat two in a row to win its conference tournament.
If Wyoming stays on this roll, keep an eye on them to be this year’s 12-seed to beat a 5-seed in the first round.
—Andrew Tucker
Big Ten’s tourney chancesAlthough Wisconsin outlasted
Michigan State to take the title game of the Big Ten Championship Sunday, the Spartans made a striking case for their Final Four hopes heading into the NCAA Tournament. After grinding out wins against Ohio State and Maryland and forcing Wisconsin into a stalemate through 40 minutes, the 7-seed Spartans are primed for a likely second-round matchup with 2-seed Virginia. Michigan State suf-focated UW in the paint on both ends of the floor for long stretches of the game, and this capability could easily
lay the path for a deep tour-nament run.
Outside of Michigan State and Wisconsin, the Big Ten won’t threaten to scratch the Final Four. Maryland, a 4-seed in the Midwest Region, would have to take down Kentucky in the Sweet Sixteen, while Ohio State and Iowa have first-round matchups against a pair of Atlantic 10 sleepers in VCU and Davidson, respectively.
Even if the 10-seed Buckeyes and 7-seed Hawkeyes survive into the Round of 32, they are each pinned down in the forebod-ing bottom of their regions.
While Wisconsin and Michigan State have foresee-
able shots at playing into the final days of March, the rest of the Big Ten will likely face quick exits in the opening stages of the tournament.
—Jake Powers
This year’s snubsEvery year on Selection
Sunday, there are a hand-ful of teams that get left out NCAA Tournament even though they have resumes that seem better than some of the teams that got in.
Among the teams that were snubbed this time around: the Temple Owls and the Murray State Racers.
Temple was left on the out-side looking in despite going 13-5 in the American Athletic
Conference and owning a non-conference win against Kansas.
The Racers own only one victory over an top 100 RPI opponent but went undefeat-ed in conference play before falling in the Ohio Valley tournament title game.
Meanwhile, the UCLA Bruins were inexplicably included in the field of 68, even though they went just 4-12 away from home and 2-8 against opponents ranked in the top 50 RPI.
Temple and Murray State learned the hard way that it’s often better to be a mediocre power-conference team than a solid mid-major in the eyes of the selection committee.
—Zach Rastall
NCAA tourney outlooks from the Cardinal sports staff
1 Kentucky
16 Hamp./Man.
8 Cincinnati
9 Purdue
5 West Virginia
12 Buffalo
4 Maryland
13 Valparaiso
6 Butler
11 Texas
3 Notre Dame
14 Northeastern
7 Wichita State
10 Indiana
2 Kansas
15 New Mexico St.
1 WISCONSIN
16 Coastal Caro.
8 Oregon
9 Oklahoma St.
5 Arkansas
12 Wofford
4 North Carolina
13 Harvard
6 Xavier
11 BYU/Ole Miss
3 Baylor
14 Georgia State
7 VCU
10 Ohio State
2 Arizona
15 Texas Southern
Duke 1
UNF/RMU 16
San Diego St. 8
St. John’s 9
Utah 5
Steph. F. Austin 12
Georgetown 4
Eastern Wash. 13
SMU 6
UCLA 11
Iowa State 3
UAB 14
Iowa 7
Davidson 10
Gonzaga 2
ND State 15
Villanova 1
Lafayette 16
NC State 8
LSU 9
Northern Iowa 5
Wyoming 12
Louisville 4
UC Irvine 13
Providence 6
Boise/Dayton 11
Oklahoma 3
Albany 14
Michigan St. 7
Georgia 10
Virginia 2
Belmont 15
BracKeT By cameron graFF
WEST
MIDWEST EAST
SOUTH
sports8 March Madness Issue 2015 dailycardinal.com l
Duke 1
UNF/RMU 16
San Diego St. 8
St. John’s 9
Utah 5
Steph. F. Austin 12
Georgetown 4
Eastern Wash. 13
SMU 6
UCLA 11
Iowa State 3
UAB 14
Iowa 7
Davidson 10
Gonzaga 2
ND State 15
1 Kentucky
16 Hamp./Man.
8 Cincinnati
9 Purdue
5 West Virginia
12 Buffalo
4 Maryland
13 Valparaiso
6 Butler
11 Texas
3 Notre Dame
14 Northeastern
7 Wichita State
10 Indiana
2 Kansas
15 New Mexico St.
Villanova 1
Lafayette 16
NC State 8
LSU 9
Northern Iowa 5
Wyoming 12
Louisville 4
UC Irvine 13
Providence 6
Boise/Dayton 11
Oklahoma 3
Albany 14
Michigan St. 7
Georgia 10
Virginia 2
Belmont 15
No. 1 VillanovaThe Wildcats come into March
with only two losses and a fresh Big East Tournament crown. Led by senior guard Darrun Hilliard, the Wildcats have shown a near-perfect balance on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.
Still, it must be noted that most of their wins have come against a weak Big East conference. Villanova will have a challenging path to win the East region as they will most likely have to go through dark horse North Carolina State, Louisville, and arguably the best No. 2 seed in the tournament, Virginia.
No. 2 VirginiaThe Cavaliers boast one of the best
resumes in the nation with impressive wins over Notre Dame, North Carolina, Louisville and Maryland.
Virginia has undoubtedly proven that they can take down the country’s best teams and now with the return of prolific junior guard Justin Anderson, the Cavaliers should be in good shape to win the East Region. With one of the nation’s best defenses and most efficient offenses, Virginia has the perfect blend to make a long run in the East and per-haps the entire tournament.
Dark HorseAlthough NC State comes in as a
No. 8 seed with 13 losses, the Wolfpack have beaten up on the big boys with wins over Duke, North Carolina and Louisville. This team is equipped with seasoned veterans Ralston Turner and Trevor Lacey, who have pulled the Wolfpack out of several losing streaks and down-to-the-wire finishes. With the ability to take down some of this year’s top dogs and overcome adver-sity multiple times this season, NC State may be this year’s team who wrecks every March Madness bracket.
Dream MatchupA potential Round of 32 matchup
between Virginia and Michigan State may end up being the East Region’s best game. Michigan State has been truly underrated this season, losing close contests to elite teams like Duke, Kansas, Notre Dame and Wisconsin.
The Spartans haven’t closed out games in the best manner. Virginia will now have a healthy Anderson back in its lineup, but a hungry Spartan squad with Denzel Valentine and Travis Trice could be a lethal combination that ends the Cavaliers’ season early.
—Matt Tragesser
No. 1 Duke The Blue Devils have proven they
can win close games against great teams. Duke should handle San Diego State or St. John’s in the Round of 32.
However, the Blue Devils could run into trouble against dynamic players like Georgetown’s D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera in the Sweet 16 or Gonzaga’s Kevin Pangos in the Elite Eight. If Tyus Jones and Jahlil Okafor play like they did against Wisconsin and UNC, it will be nearly impossible to stop them from reaching Indianapolis.
No. 2 Gonzaga A perennial March Madness under-
dog, the Bulldogs have one of their best teams in recent years. They’ve lost just twice and nearly beat Arizona in over-time. They will most likely get Iowa in the Round of 32, a less than stellar Power Five conference team.
The possible Iowa State matchup in the Sweet 16 favors the Cyclones, who played Top 25 teams all year. Either Pangos or Kyle Wiltjer could explode and put the Bulldogs on their backs, similar to how Shabazz Napier did for UConn a year ago. But it will be a tall task for Gonzaga to defeat a more tested team, like Iowa State or Duke.
Dark HorseTeams that win their conference
tourneys generally fare well in the tour-nament and Southern Methodist had to defeat Temple and a UConn team bat-tling for its season to win the American. The No. 11-seed Mustangs face UCLA in their opening game, a team that prob-ably shouldn’t be in the tournament.
Iowa State is a solid 3 seed, but it would be a clash between two hot teams With two wins under their belts, SMU could ride that momen-tum into potential matchups with Gonzaga and Duke.
Dream MatchupGeorgetown versus Gonzaga in the
Elite Eight would be about as fun as it gets in college basketball. Not only would it mean that Duke suffered another early exit, but the matchup between Smith-Rivera and Pangos could be one for the ages.
Both are two of the most exciting scorers in the country and would pro-vide a back-and-forth display of raw offensive greatness. The shootout for a berth in the Final Four would be an absolute classic that would come down to one huge shot.
—Bobby Ehrlich
No. 1 KentuckyJohn Calipari’s Wildcats are 34-0
and looking to become the first Division I team to finish undefeated since Bob Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers in 1976.
Willie Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns anchor Kentucky’s seemingly impenetrable interior defense. The Wildcat defense surren-ders just 54 points per game and aver-ages 6.9 blocks. Kentucky is an over-whelming favorite to reach the Final Four, so we’ll just have to wait and see if anyone in the region can thwart its quest for immortality.
No. 2 KansasThe Jayhawks won their 11th con-
secutive Big 12 regular season title, but enter the NCAA tournament with a few question marks.
Cliff Alexander remains unavail-able due to an eligibility issue. Whether Perry Ellis, returning from an MCL sprain, will be able to play at 100 per-cent might be the key to the Jayhawks’ success over the next weeks.
Besides that, in the Elite Eight, the Jayhawks would likely face a Kentucky team that obliterated Kansas back in November.
Dark HorseIn the last two years, Wichita
State has been on both ends of Cinderella runs.
After making a run to the Final Four two years ago as a No. 9 seed and falling in the Round of 32 as an unbeaten No. 1 seed last March, the Shockers are back in the NCAA Tournament.
The Shockers could get a chance at in-state foe Kansas, a team that refuses to schedule them, and a run to the Elite Eight could potentially give them a shot at redemption against Kentucky, the team that ended their season a year ago.
Dream MatchupThough Kentucky’s path to
Indianapolis seems paved with certain-ty, an Elite Eight matchup with Notre Dame could give the Wildcats trouble.
The Irish offense ranks second in the country in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted offensive efficiency rating and shoots 39.2 percent from 3-point range, which ranks 19th nation-ally. If Notre Dame gets hot from beyond the arc, it could neutralize Kentucky’s historically great inte-rior defense.
—Zach Rastall
all bracKets by caMeroN Graff
sportsdailycardinal.com March Madness Issue 2015 9l
The statistics behind Cinderella teams
By Jim Daytonthe daIly cardInal
The Badgers entered the 2014-’15 season with the highest expectations in program his-tory. A team fresh off a Final Four appearance that lost only one major contributor will cre-ate that hype.
And so far, Wisconsin has delivered. Living up to their status as the Big Ten’s best team, the Badgers won the reg-ular season title and brought home the conference tourney championship as well, the first time since 2007-’08 that Wisconsin won either crown, let alone both.
Beginning the year ranked No. 3 in the AP poll, their high-est preseason ranking ever, the Badgers rolled through the first half of their nonconference schedule. Wisconsin started 7-0, winning each of those games by an average of 24 points. In the process, the Badgers won the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament over Thanksgiving weekend, which included victories over now-ranked teams Georgetown and Oklahoma.
Then came Duke. One of
the most highly anticipated nonconference games in recent memory, the Blue Devils gave Wisconsin its first loss of the year in an 80-70 decision. The Badgers shot just 40.7 percent and were overwhelmed by Duke’s dynamic backcourt.
Wisconsin rebounded to win its five remaining noncon-ference games, entering Big Ten play ranked No. 4 in the nation with a 13-1 record. But the Badgers’ lack of depth was quickly exposed against Rutgers Jan. 11. With Frank Kaminsky out of the lineup due to a con-cussion and Traevon Jackson breaking his foot in the sec-ond half, Wisconsin was forced to give major minutes to over-whelmed backups. The Badgers’ 67-62 loss is without question the biggest head-scratcher of their season, and possibly in the entire conference.
UW bounced back though, ripping off a 10-game winning streak in which they won all but two of those games by dou-ble digits. Kaminsky returned to the lineup and strengthened his hold on the Wooden Award race, averaging 18.9 points and
8.4 rebounds per game during the streak while shooting 57.2 percent. Bronson Koenig seam-lessly entered the starting line-up and the offense continued to thrive.
The Badgers’ streak ended when they struggled in a hos-tile road environment against a very good Maryland team. But it was at least an explain-able loss and ultimately a blip on the radar. Wisconsin closed the regular season with three resounding wins to claim their first Big Ten regular season title in seven years.
Then Wisconsin rattled off three victories in three days in the Big Ten tourney to win both
conference titles. The Badgers’ second half comeback against Michigan State in the cham-pionship was probably the team’s most thrilling stretch of the season, outscoring the Spartans 34-12 over the final 12:46 of the game to erase an 11-point deficit.
While a nationally elite team, the Badgers have shown they are not without shortcomings. They desperately need Jackson to return from his foot injury to help bolster the bench and back-court depth, while the defense has been inconsistent and has shown trouble keeping up with dynamic opposing guards.
Those are just the cons,
with the pros impressive and wide-reaching. Wisconsin fea-tures the nation’s best player in Kaminsky, an athletic slasher in Sam Dekker, a do-everything forward in Nigel Hayes, a lock-down defender in Josh Gasser and a floor general point guard in Koenig.
It’s tough to live up to such high preseason expecta-tions. But four months later, the Badgers are the favorites in the West Region and could earn back-to-back Final Four appearances for the first time in school history. And if they can take it two steps farther than last year’s run, consider those expectations surpassed.
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Tracking Wisconsin throughout the regular season
So far, UW has lived up to lofty preseason expectations
By Thomas Valtin-Erwinthe daIly cardInal
March Madness is the best playoff system of any sport at any level, and it isn’t even close. The combination of a huge num-ber of teams and the single-game elimination system makes it unpredictable every year. So unpredictable, in fact, we haven’t seen two No. 1 seeds make the championship since 2008, the only year where all four No. 1s made the Final Four. And there haven’t been multiple 1-seeds in the Final Four since 2009, when Connecticut and North Carolina were the only two.
Year after year, seemingly random teams pull off shock-ing upsets against highly touted, heavily favored opponents—remember Mercer over Duke? And with everyone scrambling to fill out brackets to show off their basketball knowledge, we all want to know who will be this year’s big upset.
So is it possible to spot Cinderella teams before they play? I looked back at recent Cinderellas’ (defined as 12-16 seeds that pull off a first round upset) statistics to see if they are really any different from other low seeds that lose their first game.
These so-called Cinderella
teams are easier to spot than you might think.
For one, they make shots. Low-seeded teams that pull off big upsets make a higher percent-age of their shots than those that fall in the early rounds. Every successful Cinderella over the past two years has shot better from the floor in the regular sea-son than the highly seeded team they play.
This isn’t just a product of playing teams with porous defenses, though; they take better shots as well. Just 31.6 percent of their shots come from the 3-point line, approximately three percent less than the teams they upset.
Compare that to the low-seeded teams that fail to upset top-tier teams: 33.1 percent of their shots are 3-pointers, almost identical to their opponents’ 33.4 percent rate. It’s a dangerous game to rely on 3-pointers, espe-cially against strong opponents. Stick to open looks.
There’s a common idea float-ing around college basketball that one great player can carry a team against a heavy favorite. And while this does sometimes hap-pen—Steph Curry led his 10-seed Davidson squad to victories against No. 2 seed Georgetown and No. 3 seed Wisconsin before falling by just two points against
eventual champion Kansas—it’s extraordinarily rare.
In fact, teams that rely too heavily on one player for their points generally don’t fare so well in the opening round. Cinderella teams have a more balanced approach: their leading scorer nets just 21.5 percent of their points.
Conversely, teams that fall in the opening round against big opponents get 23 percent of their points from their leading scorer. This heavy reliance means that all it takes is one bad night—or one good game plan—for a low-seeded team to find itself scram-bling for points.
On a related note, assists play a large role in upsetting a big-name opponent. Cinderella teams average a full assist more per game than other low-seeded teams that lose their opening round game. This means strong ball movement to find an open shot, as opposed to giving your best player the ball and relying on an isolation look.
Of course, all this makes it seem like the way to upset a team is to play steady, focused basket-ball. That’s contrary to the popu-lar conception that creating chaos and running up and down the court is the way to beat a strong opponent. A little of that is neces-
sary too, just not on offense.Teams that lose in the first
round against highly ranked teams record more steals per game than their opponents in the regular season just 25 percent of the time, while those that win do so half the time.
Here are the key benchmarks to look for while you fill out your bracket: above 46 percent shooting from the floor, above an eight-point average margin of victory, more than seven steals per game, fewer than 22 percent of their points from one player, 14 assists per game and fewer than 32 percent of their shots from deep.
One of the most interest-ing potential Cinderella teams this year is Georgia State. They hit just about every mark that matters. Their only blemish is the fact that R.J. Hunter scores
more than 27 percent of their points, way above the 21.5 per-cent sweet spot.
Of course, that doesn’t neces-sarily mean they’re led by just one player: fellow guard Ryan Harrow adds another 26 percent of their points. It’s much harder to create a game plan for two great players, and it’s rare they both have a bad game.
Georgia State will match up with Baylor in its first tourna-ment game since 2001, but expe-rience against power-conference teams won’t be lacking. They start two transfers from perenni-al title contenders, Harrow from Kentucky and Kevin Ware from Louisville. This is an upset wait-ing to happen.
Check out the table for other potential Cinderellas—New Mexico State, Northeastern and Stephen F. Austin.
Georgia State
New Mexico State
Northeastern
Stephen F. Austin
Pct. of points
from top scorer
FG percent
Percent of FGA from 3
Assists per game
Steals per game
Scoring margin
48.4% +10.0 ppg9.2
13.927.7% 27.5%
46.6% 25.7% 19.4% 6.3 +9.2 ppg
48.6% 30.8% 21.3% 14.3 5.3 +3.6 ppg
49.1%36.6% 19.7% 17.8 7.6 +14.9 ppg
48.6%
49.1%
27.7%
25.7%
30.8%
19.4% 12.1
9.2
5.3
7.6
+9.2 ppg
+14.9 ppg
Wil giBB/cardInal fIle photo
the threats to top seeds like duke are Mercer-less-lehigh.
Above Mark
Below Mark
opinion 10 l March Madness Issue 2015 dailycardinal.com
Community protests serve as a necessary democratic outlet
S ince the Charlie Hebdo shooting earlier this year, many have become
more attentive to the rising nationalism among Muslims. It is thought that this national-ism is the mechanism behind the perceived uptick in inter-national terrorism. There are bad and good versions of nationalism, but I would argue that too much of it is not wise. Voltaire once said, “So it is the human condition that to wish for the greatness of one’s fatherland is to wish evil to one’s neighbours.” Nationalism is not absolutely evil, but to its extreme it is a risky concept.
Nationalism is not necessar-ily the ultimate poison—it often helps to bring forth the maxi-mum power of a people to unite against invasion or to bring great improvement to a coun-try. There are several occasions in which nationalism has been beneficial throughout history. For example, Italy was able to unite under a single nation-hood with the rise of a nation-
alist movement in 1871. It also gives power to the leaders who are struggling for indepen-dence from colonial influence.
Too much nationalism becomes dangerous because while it inspires the full strength of people to carry out good deeds, it also motivates some to carry out the will of a nation at all costs, often in the form of attacking others. It tends to blind people. Those taken by the ideal tend to follow what the nation is demanding from them. This is not to say that people are brainwashed, which is a gross oversimplifica-tion, but rather they are forced to conform to the mandated passion for the nation, sacrific-ing personal values.
The most glaring example of
detrimental nationalism is Nazi Germany. It is generally accept-able to say that all of Germany was fully devoted to the regime, which manifested itself in the quest to eliminate those deemed not worthy in order to claim the optimal benefit for themselves. It caused catastrophic wars, destruction, a division into two nations and a permanent mark as a war criminal that massacred millions of souls. While Germany overcame this nationalism, the effects still remain, with many coming as a result of its division follow-ing World War II. Communist
East Germany struggled to develop economically, especial-ly when compared to its west-ern counterpart. Such contrast
gave rise to Neo-Nazism and movements against foreigners seen as harming the already poor economy. The impacts of nationalistic movements seem to have an irremovable residue.
Current terrorist move-ments are inspired not only by religious belief, but also by the aforementioned intense nation-alism. Many terrorist move-ments stem from harsh feelings toward Western culture, and are sometimes present inside those who have been displaced from their homelands into developed nations with clearly different cultures than their homeland. It gives them a sense of isolation, confusion of iden-tity and confronts them with discrimination from Western
people. Islamic belief, and cul-tures associated with it, offer them inspiration and belonging without discrimination, which is what nationalism depends on. Their violent deeds are a negative impact of nationalism.
It is understandable that nationalist movements from cultures different than ours are threatening. However, just as the rise of nationalism in other cultures is threatening, our own nationalism could be equally as threatening to oth-ers. Fear should not be used as a reason to fight national-istic terrorists. Hatred against hatred will only bring conflict instead of harmony.
Hae Rin is a freshman majoring in history. What do you think of her perspective on this issue? Does the concept of nationalism have anything to do with recent instances of domestic terrorism? Could there be something else that is more to blame? Does Nazi Germany serve as a valid exam-ple of runaway nationalism? Please send all comments to [email protected]
Nationalism threatens global peace
T he UW-Madison is not unfamiliar with student protests. Such protests
are meant to bring attention to relevant political and social issues. I am profoundly proud of this characteristic.
Political demonstrations have many functions. They are meant to bring attention to issues that may otherwise be left unnoticed. They can urge community leaders or political figures to take a certain course of action following a protest and respond to its demands. They are also a helpful tool for citizens to have their voices heard in situations where they
feel their concerns are falling upon deaf ears.
The recent demonstrations here in Madison aim to do all three of the aforementioned things, and more.
Since the Young, Gifted and Black Coalition began organiz-ing demonstrations last semes-ter in protest of the deaths of unarmed black men by the police, many students, particu-larly younger ones, were intro-duced to the strong interest in political and civic participation within many of their class-mates, faculty and community members. Madison has always been a place of profound politi-cal engagement.
Following the initial pro-
tests, and continuing through today, I often heard those apa-thetic with the movement com-ment on the demonstrations. Some say “how annoying it is” that the protests block traffic or interrupt their studying time. Or that it is “inconveniencing” them or others.
The truth is protests are sometimes inconvenient, and that is exactly the point. The point of blocking traffic or inter-rupting a few minutes of study time is to bring attention to the issues the protesting groups are demonstrating about.
If your normal commute home or time in the library is interrupted you are forced to
ask why. In doing so, the issues instantly become relevant and salient in your own life. You can no longer detach yourself from the protests and from the rea-sons your classmates and com-munity members are protesting.
Secondly, the next time you find a YGB protest annoying ask yourself how “annoying” it must be for many of those protesting to have to live every single day in a community where they are racially pro-filed and systematically put at a disadvantage. Think about how “inconvenient” it is to live in a state where 13 percent of black men are incarcerated and in a county where black adults are arrested at a rate more than eight times that of whites.
In addition, protests serve an important function in urging political leaders to confront an issue. This does not necessarily mean the leaders will fix things or that they will side with the protestors, actually in Wisconsin it is often the opposite; however, it requires our political leaders
to have an opinion on the issue nonetheless. Failing to address or react to issues that a political leader’s constituents find impor-tant enough to protest about makes that leader seem uncaring or thoughtless.
Finally, protests provide a voice for the voiceless. Young people regardless of race are often dissatisfied with politics and feel powerless to make a difference. Participating in pro-tests is a useful and extremely important tool for those who are often disengaged with politics to make their feelings heard.
In tragic cases like those following the shooting of an unarmed citizen by police, pro-tests provide an outlet for stu-dents and members of the com-munity to come together and try their best to make sense of something that seems utterly senseless. It provides an oppor-tunity for those who feel angry, sad, confused or other emotions to demand something be done.
Students and those associ-ated with the university should embrace and support the amount of passion and care those, like YGB, have for our state and its citizens. They do not have to agree with their reasons for protesting but they should be supportive of their right to do so. The vilification of their activities is detrimental to our state and community. Protests, marches, die-ins, and all forms of peaceful demonstration in the name of civil justice and equality are not only essential to our community and university, but integral to our democracy.
Black lives matter, all lives matter, protests matter, Tony Robinson matters, and finding justice for his death matters.
Benjamin is a senior majoring in political science and internation-al studies. Please send comments to [email protected]
Hae RiN leeOpinion Columnist
Those taken by the ideal tend to follow what the
nation is demanding from them.
BeNjamiN RaNgel Opinion Columnist
it is thought that this nationalism is the mecha-nism behind the perceived uptick in international ter-
rorism.
The truth is that protests are sometimes inconve-
nient, and that is exactly the point.
Fear should not be used as a reason to fight national-
istic terrorists.
comicsdailycardinal.com March Madness Issue 2015 • 11
This Week’s Crossword Puzzle Whatever happened to baseketball?© Puzzles by Pappocom
Solution, tips and computer program available at www.sudoku.com.
Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.
This Week’s Sudoku
CHICKLETTE
ACROSS
1 Shredded cabbage 5 Like the hosts of
morning shows 10 Snail’s pace 14 Spelling of TV 15 Like Bo-Peep’s
charges 16 Hit the bottle hard 17 Nutmeg covering 18 Article of faith 19 Ancient 20 Game 23 Conquers 24 Edict of the tsar 25 Peanut butter choice 28 Schoolmarm’s
stereotypical hairdos 30 Hawaiian native
dance 31 ___-cotta 33 Anita Brookner’s
“Hotel du ___” 36 “That’s enough!” 40 Vote of support 41 Singer’s asset 42 Dec. holiday 43 Bricklayers’
equipment 44 Had a nightmare 46 Hoglike mammal
49 Adapted to dry climates
51 “Just say the word!” 57 Bone-dry 58 Khan men? 59 Blockhead 60 Coal site 61 French romance 62 Boat in “Jaws” 63 Hammer part 64 Rash-causing viruses 65 Some bread loavesDOWN 1 Lead on the silver
screen 2 Accumulated facts
and beliefs 3 Diva’s delivery 4 Tusked beast 5 Burned-wood
byproduct 6 Big social gathering 7 Cocktail garnishes 8 Was absolutely sure 9 Abominable
Snowman 10 Pursues 11 Sayings of Jesus 12 Parts, as a curtain 13 Cheese chunk 21 Despite all that 22 Pertaining to the
moon 25 Open carriage
26 Stubborn beast 27 Spicy stew 28 Highlands hillside 29 Hyperlinked item,
often 31 What we have here 32 The last word in lists,
sometimes 33 Tibetan VIP 34 First family member 35 Dermatologist’s
concern 37 Key material? 38 Word with “speed” or
“send” 39 Estate overseer 43 Concealed 44 Things that tumble 45 Start of three John
Wayne films 46 Lady’s dog 47 Cliffside dwelling 48 He wrote “Common
Sense” 49 Canon competitor 50 Provide, as with a
quality 52 Sound of a hard
smack 53 ___ erectus 54 With a twist? 55 Post-wedding fling? 56 Certain Greek letters
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Let’s start with Jackson, who should be back for the NCAA Tournament; however, with no minutes between Jan. 11 and the opening round, his production and minutes will be limited. The senior from Westerville, Ohio wasn’t shooting the ball particularly well from 3-point range this season (28.6 percent) but much of his value comes from his passing ability and on-ball defense.
Often tasked with covering opponent’s primary ball handlers, Jackson showed tenacity and a willingness to force turn-overs. On offense, Jackson occasionally acts as a ball-stopper, but has good vision and is a talented passer, dishing out eight assists against Oklahoma.
But at the end of the day, it’s Koenig who should start and shoulder heavy minutes throughout their tournament run. While his assist percentage is lower, his turnover percentage is significantly lower—9.3 per-cent versus Jackson’s 16.2 percent.
Koenig has also made big strides as a shooter. This season, Koenig is shooting 41.0 percent and 45.5 percent in conference play from deep. While before the Ohio State game, there was a debate as to whom should be the start-ing point guard, Koenig’s ability to end the Buckeyes run and go on an 8-0 run of his own shows he’s the man to run the show in the Big Dance.
sports12 March Madness Issue 2015l dailycardinal.com
The Wisconsin RosterIt’s going to be a while before we see a Wisconsin roster as stacked as this season’s. Here’s how they break down statistically and spatially. All shot charts courtesy of shotanalytics.com.
Frank Kaminsky
Josh Gasser
Nigel Hayes
Sam Dekker
What can be said about Frank the Tank that hasn’t already been said or written? Much of the praise for Kaminsky has to do with his offense and other counting stats, but it’s his impact as a defender and rebounder that makes him the should-be-Wooden Award winner.
Kaminsky’s defensive rating, a statistic that measures an individual’s efficiency at preventing the other team from scoring per 100 possessions, is 88.0 according to Sports-Reference. As a frame of reference, to pick someone at random, Jahlil Okafor of Duke’s defensive rating is at 96.6.
Furthermore, Kaminsky leads the Big Ten in defensive rebounding percentage at 25.5 percent and is second in offensive rating among qualifying players in the Big Ten.
Kaminsky also leads the country in player efficiency rating at 35.5 and is third among power conference play-ers in effective field goal percentage at .597, while leading the team in field goal percentage (55.6 percent), points (18.2), rebounds (8.1), assists (2.7), steals (0.9) and blocks (1.6). He will certainly have to #BeFrank if the Badgers want to return to the Final Four.
The Badgers may be out of home games for the season, but that should hardly faze Dekker. In 18 games outside of the Kohl Center, Dekker has scored in double figures 15 times. Furthermore, Dekker’s three 20-point games in his career have all come on the road.
When you look at his splits fully, Dekker contributes across the stat sheet better on the road versus at home. In 12 true road games, Dekker is averaging 2.6 more points and 1.2 more rebounds per game while also shooting at a high-er percentage across the board.
Another key for Dekker is his improvement when it comes to not turning the ball over. As a freshman, Dekker had an 11.7 turnover percent-age. His sophomore year, that figure dropped to 9.1 percent. This season, Dekker has that figure down to 8.2.
Even more telling is that the team is 21-2 when Dekker starts and doesn’t commit a turnover throughout his career. His ability to hold on to the ball, play well away from home and finish at the rim will bode well for the Badgers’ tournament hopes.
While much has been made of Hayes’ improved shooting stroke from the out-side—he’s a 38.4 percent shooter from deep this season after not attempting a single one last year—it is his improved rebound-ing and diminished foul rate that has truly helped the team.
Last year, Hayes averaged 2.8 rebounds and 2.6 fouls per game while playing 17.4 minutes a night. This year, Hayes is averag-ing 6.5 rebounds and 1.8 fouls per game in 32.7 minutes a night.
Another big improvement Hayes made to his game was his improved free-
throw shooting stroke. Hayes took the second most free throws on the team last season with 164, but shot the lowest percentage of anyone who played at least 100 minutes last season at 58.5 percent. This season, Hayes is still getting to the line frequently—his 132 attempts is only behind Kaminsky—but he is now shoot-ing at a 72.7 percent clip.
Between his improved rebounding and free throw shooting while commit-ting fewer fouls himself, Hayes has estab-lished himself as an x-factor for UW’s tournament hopes.
Gasser’s value may be the hardest to quantify on the team, but that doesn’t mean he’s not one of the biggest bell-wethers for the team’s success.
Gasser’s 3-point shooting percentage has dropped this season from 43.1 per-cent to 37.5 percent; however, he’s actu-ally making more threes per game than at any point in his career. The team is 11-0 when Gasser made multiple threes this season.
Furthermore, with Traevon Jackson injured, the world has seen just how valu-able Gasser is as an on-ball defender.
In two meetings with the Gophers this season, Andre Hollins, who is averaging 14.3 points per game while shooting 43.2 percent, shot 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) with seven total points with Gasser as his primary defender throughout both games. His defense on Hollins is just one of countless exam-ples of Gasser taking opponents best players out of games.
If Gasser can hit shots and lock down an opponent’s primary guard, the Badgers have a good chance to make it to Indianapolis for the Final Four.
Who starts at point guard? The Other Guys
“Frank the Tank”Big Ten Player of the Year
62.8 true shooting percentage27.9 percent usage rate
#SlamDekkerAll-Big Ten Second Team
58.9 true shooting percentage22.4 percent usage rate
“Nigel Burgundy”All-Big Ten Third Team
61.2 true shooting percentage20.8 percent usage rate
“Captain America”All-Big Ten Defensive Team
62.4 true shooting percentage10.8 percent usage rate
Duje Dukan The fifth-year senior from Deerfield,
Ill., has shown a 3-point shooting touch in the past, but it’s been finicky all season and currently stands at 30.7 percent. Despite the low percentages, he still spreads out a defense as he’s a threat to knock down open shots and his performance in the Big Ten Tournament should give fans hope.
Zak Showalter The only guard off the bench is instant
energy but something of a zero on offense. He’s something of a poor man’s Gasser
without the 3-point touch. His microscop-ic turnover rate of just 4.9 percent (three in 221 minutes this season) prevents him from being a liability on offense.
Vitto Brown The only true big man off the bench.
Brown had gaudy rebounding percentages last year in limited minutes, hauling in 32.5 percent of available misses on the defensive glass. This season, he’s regressed to the mean at 18.7 percent. He’s good for giving fouls and taking up space and little else at this point in his Badger career.
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Analysis by Brian Weidy