Wisconsin Basketball Rises to No. 15 in the Latest AP Poll

The Wisconsin basketball team keeps rolling. After their victory over the No. 9 Arizona Wildcats, the Badgers made their first appearance in the AP Top 25 of the year, coming in at No. 19 to enter the week. 

The Badgers narrowly escaped an upset bid by UT-Rio Grande Valley to start the week off and then headed to West Virginia to take part in the Greenbrier Tip-Off Tournament. The small tournament featured just four teams, but each one came into the weekend undefeated. 

Wisconsin had the UCF Knights to open things up on Friday afternoon, thoroughly dominating the Knights behind John Blackwell's 17 points. As a whole, the Badgers were on fire offensively. They made 10 threes on 31 attempts (32.3%). Four players scored in the double digits. 

Next, the Badgers downed Pitt in the Greenbrier Championship game. They showed the ability to make a comeback after being down by as many as 14 points early in the game. 

The Badgers went 0-10 from three in the first half, but they warmed up in the second half. The Badgers went 5-10 from long range after the break, bringing them back and propelling them to an 81-75 victory over the undefeated Panthers. 

John Tonje went off for 33 points, 25 of which were scored in the second half. He was unstoppable, getting to the hoop and drawing contact like he has all season, going a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line. He also added seven rebounds, including three offensive rebounds. 

Wisconsin Basketball Rises in the Rankings

After the Badgers' 3-0 week, they rose up the rankings to No. 15.

Wisconsin received a total of 641 points, placing them just behind Indiana, who received 666.

Joining the Badgers from the Big Ten in the top 25 are No. 13 Purdue and No. 14 Indiana. Although just three teams from the Big Ten are ranked, eight more teams received votes. Those teams are Ohio State (55 points), Illinois (50), Nebraska (21), Michigan State (14), Oregon (10), Penn State (9), UCLA (5), and Maryland (4).  

After the Badgers' trip to West Virginia, they will have some time to recover before their next game. They will host Chicago State on Saturday as their only game of the week before opening up conference play next Tuesday against Michigan.

After that, the Badgers will take on in-state rival Marquette at Fiserv Forum on December 7th. The Golden Eagles are now ranked 10th after moving up five spots in this week's poll.

Stay in the loop with all things Wisconsin Badgers football and men's basketball by visiting AllBadgers.com for more updates.

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