Every Thursday, we send out the great OnMilwaukee Weekend Preview filled with awesome things to do. Some of those awesome things are sports-related; many are not. So every Monday, we recap what happened in the world of Wisconsin sports while you were out doing all those other awesome weekend things.
Friday
Bucks beat Mavericks, 96-95: Continuing his recent run of strong play, Khris Middleton scored a game-high 27 points, while Michael Carter-Williams nearly had a triple-double with 15 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, as Milwaukee held off a second-half Dallas comeback to win at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Former Badger Devin Harris scored 19 points off the bench, and former Golden Eagle Wes Matthews had 12 for the Mavericks. After the game, ex-Bucks center Zaza Pachulia called out Milwaukee’s Cream City Clash fan section on Twitter for perceived offensiveness, prompting the team to respond.
Squad 6 or whatever you guys are, you have no class. Bunch of idiots. Tough loss tonight. Go Mavs.
— Zaza Pachulia (@zaza27) January 9, 2016
Admirals lose to Griffins, 4-2: Defenseman Nathan Paetsch scored twice for the hosts, as Milwaukee lost for the third straight time in Grand Rapids, Mich. There was a scary moment in the second period when Griffins forward Alden Hirschfeld collapsed on the bench and was taken, in stable condition, to a local hospital.
Marquette women lose to Villanova, 82-75: After cutting a 20-point deficit to just four in the fourth quarter, the Golden Eagles went cold and couldn’t complete the comeback at the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee. Freshman Allazia Blockton led Marquette with a game-high 21 points.
Saturday
Badgers lose to Terrapins, 63-60: Wisconsin was tied with No. 3 Maryland in the final minute at the Kohl Center in Madison, but Terrapins star Melo Trimble hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left to kill the upset hopes. Nigel Hayes led the Badgers with 17 points and big man Ethan Happ had 16 and 11 rebounds, outplaying fellow freshman Diamond Stone (11 points, four rebounds), a Milwaukee native who was recruited by Wisconsin and booed throughout the game.
Golden Eagles beat Red Storm, 81-75: Marquette started slowly and sloppily, falling behind by as many as 10 points to one of the Big East’s worst teams while committing 10 turnovers and getting into foul trouble in the first half at the Bradley Center. But a steady, balanced attack in the second half – Luke Fischer finished with 18 points, Henry Ellenson added 15 and 12 rebounds and Haanif Cheatham had 15 – proved to be enough for the Golden Eagles to prevail in front of their BigNoggins at home.
Panthers beat Vikings, 65-62: Milwaukee, which led by 18 points in the second half, held off a late rally by Cleveland State to win on the road in a game in which they shot 54.3 percent and only had five turnovers. Austin Arians led the Panthers with 13 points, J.J. Panoske added 12 and Matt Tiby had 11.
Milwaukee women beat Cleveland State, 62-46: In a game that never really was close, Steph Kostowicz matched her career-high with 18 points and Jenny Lindner had 14 in the Panthers’ road win. The Vikings only scored 14 points in the first half.
Admirals lose to Wild, 4-1: Playing its ninth game in 15 days and facing a rested Iowa team that hadn’t played since Jan. 1, Milwaukee was beaten easily at home for its fourth straight loss. The Admirals now have four games in the next 20 days, though all are on the road.
Wave beat Ambush, 5-3: Jonathan Greenfield scored twice, Tenzin Rampa had a pair of assists and a crucial defensive clearance off the goal line and Milwaukee broke a 3-3 tie in the fourth quarter to win at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. Ian Bennett also scored two goals for the Wave.
Sunday
Packers beat Redskins, 35-18: In their Wild Card Playoff game in Washington, banged-up Green Bay shook off early struggles that had plagued them late in the season and finally showed some life on offense. Aaron Rodgers finished with 210 passing yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers, the running game produced 141 yards on 32 carries and the Packers did their bend-don’t-break thing on defense. Green Bay advanced to the Divisional Round, where it will face Arizona.
Bucks lose to Knicks, 100-88: In New York City, the Knicks put on a clinic for the Bucks, with spectacular dunks highlighting a win that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. Carmelo Anthony finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, rookie Kristaps Porzingis had 15 points and a couple huge jams and New York resisted a two-man offensive effort by Milwaukee’s Greg Monroe (28 points, 10 rebounds) and Khris Middleton (20 points).
Wisconsin women beat Penn State, 82-62: With Dakota Whyte scoring a career-high 23 points, the Badgers routed the Nittany Lions at the Kohl Center in Madison. Whyte sank five of Wisconsin’s school-record-tying 12 3-pointers.
Marquette women beat Georgetown, 87-72: The Golden Eagles earned their first Big East victory with another second-half comeback – this time a successful one. Freshman Allazia Blockton again led the team in scoring, pouring in 25 points, and junior McKayla Yentz added a career-high 24, as Marquette erased an 18-point second-quarter deficit and won at the Al McGuire Center.
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
