Badger men’s team plays Hoosiers at 1:20 p.m. today

Wisconsin will play Indiana at 1:20 p.m. Friday, March 9, in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament.

The fourth-seeded Badgers earned a first-round bye as the tourney began Thursday in Indianapolis.

The No. 5 Hoosiers advanced with a 75-58 win over 12th-seeded Penn State.

The Badgers won the conference tourney in 2008, but they’ve been one and done each year since. They’ll continue to rely on senior point guard Jordan Taylor, who leads Wisconsin with almost 15 points a game.

Taylor’s shooting percentage, at around 40 percent, is down from a year ago. Assistant head coach Greg Gard says it’s because Taylor has a lot of responsibility on both ends of the floor.

Gard says opposing defenses key on Taylor and try to make his teammates beat them.

Guard Josh Gasser says the Badgers will need multiple players scoring in double figures if they want to win.

Wisconsin is 23-8 and will play an Indiana team that’s 25-7.

Until Thursday, the Hoosiers had not won a Big Ten Tournament game since 2006. Jordan Hulls led Indiana with 20 points and the Hoosiers made 29 of 36 from the free-throw line.

High school team booted from WIAA tournament

There was a surprise development Thursday in the state high school boys’ basketball sectionals.

The WIAA ordered Appleton Xavier to forfeit its upset win over Little Chute in last Saturday’s regionals after Xavier reported that it used an ineligible player.

All of a sudden, Little Chute had to get ready to hit the court again to face Fox Valley Lutheran in Thursday night’s Sweet 16 round in Division 3.

Xavier went to court to try and halt that game, but a judge rejected the request shortly before Thursday night’s tip-off.

It was a storybook ending for Little Chute, which beat Fox Valley Lutheran 52-50 despite its lack of practice all week. Little Chute will now play Brillion in Saturday’s sectional final.

Last year’s champions win

Two returning boys’ championship teams from last year won their sectional openers Thursday night. Madison Memorial topped Sun Prairie 68-53 in Division 1.

Division 1 champ Randolph eliminated Waupun Central Wisconsin Christian 54-35.

Twenty-three of the 40 top seeds won their brackets throughout the five divisions.

Eight No. 1 seeds lost last night – Milwaukee Hamilton, Beaver Dam, Waunakee, Whitnall, Omro, Wisconsin Dells, Bangor and Prentice.

Sectional finals will be played Saturday and the winners will advance to next week’s state tournament in Madison.

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