Many Wisconsin Badgers basketball fans wonder what life will be like without Ethan Happ next year. It’s a major loss without question. Happ has been their best player for the last two plus years and to lose his production will be significant especially early on in the season. Nate Reuvers is showing Wisconsin though that it might not be so bad when Happ leaves as the young forward continues to impress in Big Ten play. He had a double-double last night with 22 points and 10 rebounds leading Wisconsin to a 72-60 victory over Illinois as the Badgers win their second straight game for the first time since mid-December.

Player of the Game: Nate Reuvers – He goes by both Nathan and Nate, so, forgive me for going with his nickname. He played great in this game especially down the stretch. Reuvers was a force in the second half as this game ended up tight for a little while in the second half. Happ dealt with foul trouble, and Reuvers picked up the slack for him. This is his first career double-double and a career-high in points. If he and Happ start playing like this together, Wisconsin becomes very dangerous the rest of the season.

Silver Star: Khalil Iverson – This guy deserves a ton of credit for what he did last night versus Illinois. The Badgers forward saw his playing time go down in the last couple of games in favor of Kobe King and others off the bench. Iverson played 26 minutes last night due to Happ’s foul trouble, and he stepped up in moment of need for Wisconsin with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Thing I liked: The free throws were actually falling – Wisconsin made their work at the free throw line. They made it to the line 21 times which can be a disaster for the Badgers as they’re not a good free throw shooting team. Last night was different as they made 17 of the 21. D’Mitrik Trice and Reuevers had something to do with that as they both made six-of-six. That’s a good sign for Wisconsin moving forward this season.

Thing I didn’t like: The officials were way too whistle happy – There was zero flow in this game. Refs stopped the game at every opportunity they got on Wednesday night. There were 42 fouls called in this game. That’s fucking ridiculous. Happ received his fourth on maybe the worst example of a hook and hold we’ve seen all year. Thankfully, the refs didn’t decide this game, but they wanted to make their whistles heard.

Next up: Wisconsin heads back home to play Northwestern on Saturday afternoon. Badgers should be favored by seven or eight in this one. Northwestern is a fine team with some talent, yet, they haven’t been able to beat the tournament teams of the conference. They had their best win of the year against Indiana on Tuesday night, but that’s not saying much considering the Hoosiers’ recent struggles.

Charlie.