2014–15 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team
The 2014–15 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was Bo Ryan's 14th and final full season as head coach at Wisconsin. The team played their home games at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin and were members of the Big Ten Conference.They finished the season 36–4, 16–2 in Big Ten play to win the Big Ten regular season championship. They defeated Michigan, Purdue, and Michigan State to win the Big Ten Tournament and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. This marked the Badgers' 17th straight trip to the Tournament. In the Tournament, they defeated Coastal Carolina and Oregon to advance to their second straight Sweet Sixteen. They defeated North Carolina and Arizona to reach the school's fourth overall and second consecutive Final Four. By upsetting unbeaten Kentucky 71–64 in the Final Four in Indianapolis, the Badgers moved on to play Duke in the National Championship Game, going for their first title in 74 years. However, Wisconsin lost the game 68–63.
Previous season
The Badgers finished the 2013–14 season 30–8, 12–6 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for a second place. They lost in the semifinals in the Big Ten Tournament to Michigan State. They received at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed in the West region. They defeated American and Oregon to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. They defeated Baylor and Arizona to advance to the Final Four. However, they were eliminated by Kentucky in the Final Four.Departures
2014 Commitments
Awards
All-Big Ten by Media- Frank Kaminsky - Player of the Year & 1st team
- Sam Dekker - 2nd team
- Nigel Hayes - 3rd team
- Bo Ryan - Coach of the Year
- Frank Kaminsky - Player of the Year & 1st team
- Sam Dekker - 2nd team
- Nigel Hayes - 3rd team
- Josh Gasser - All-Defensive team
Roster
Schedule and results
Source!colspan=12 style="background:#cc1122; color:#ffffff;"| Exhibition
!colspan=12 style="background:#cc1122; color:#ffffff;"| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=12 style="background:#cc1122; color:#ffffff;"| Big Ten regular season
!colspan=12 style="background:#cc1122; color:#ffffff;"|Big Ten Tournament
!colspan=12 style="background:#cc1122; color:#ffffff;"|NCAA Tournament
Rankings
| Poll | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Wk 19 | Final |
| AP | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 3 | N/A |
| Coaches | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
Player statistics
- As of April 7, 2015
MINUTES |--TOTAL--| |--3-PTS--| |-F-THROWS-| |---REBOUNDS---| |-SCORING-|44 Kaminsky, Frank 39 39 1311 33.6 267 488.547 42 101.416 156 200.780 58 262 320 8.2 65 0 103 63 57 33 732 18.8
- # Player GP GS Tot Avg FG FGA Pct 3FG 3FA Pct FT FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF FO A TO Blk Stl Pts Avg
15 Dekker, Sam 40 40 1239 31.0 213 406.525 50 151.331 80 113.708 77 143 220 5.5 42 0 49 36 18 21 556 13.9
10 Hayes, Nigel 40 40 1318 33.0 166 334.497 40 101.396 125 168.744 85 162 247 6.2 76 1 79 51 16 34 497 12.4
24 Koenig, Bronson 40 24 1152 28.8 115 278.414 62 153.405 56 69.812 19 51 70 1.8 64 2 98 33 8 9 348 8.7
12 Jackson, Traevon 21 17 506 24.1 60 139.432 11 39.282 40 47.851 4 31 35 1.7 27 0 54 32 3 19 171 8.1
21 Gasser, Josh 40 40 1320 33.0 77 174.443 49 126.389 62 75.827 29 110 139 3.5 90 1 70 21 8 30 265 6.6
13 Dukan, Duje 38 0 605 15.9 60 155.387 29 91.319 31 46.674 28 70 98 2.6 48 0 24 25 3 8 180 4.7
03 Showalter, Zak 35 0 266 7.6 23 53.334 2 14.143 24 27.889 18 27 45 1.3 38 0 16 5 4 10 72 2.1
30 Brown, Vitto 34 0 214 6.3 26 59.441 0 0.000 10 17.588 12 31 43 1.3 38 0 7 15 8 8 62 1.8
35 Dearring, Riley 15 0 39 2.6 4 10.400 3 7.429 0 1.000 0 4 4 0.3 5 0 1 6 0 1 11 0.7
05 Moesch, Aaron 14 0 28 2.0 2 7.286 0 1.000 0 2.000 2 4 6 0.4 4 0 3 2 1 0 4 0.3
04 Ferris, Matt 9 0 17 1.9 1 3.333 0 1.000 0 0.000 3 2 5 0.6 1 0 0 1 1 1 2 0.2
02 Smith, Jordan 14 0 35 2.5 0 9.000 0 5.000 0 0.000 1 1 2 0.1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0
Team 47 57 104 0 6
Total.......... 40 8050 1014 2115.479 288 790.365 584 765.763 383 955 1338 33.5 501 4 504 296 127 174 2900 72.5
Opponents...... 40 8050 896 2092.428 202 538.375 333 469.710 297 809 1106 27.7 723 10 359 378 84 163 2327 58.2
Season highs
| Player | Game | Date | ||
| Points | 31 | Frank Kaminsky | vs. Michigan State | March 1, 2015 |
| Rebounds | 15 | Frank Kaminsky | vs. Green Bay | November 19, 2014 |
| Assists | 9 | Bronson Koenig | vs. Michigan State | March 15, 2015 |
| Steals | 4 | Frank Kaminsky | at Marquette | December 6, 2014 |
| Steals | 4 | Josh Gasser | at Milwaukee | December 10, 2014 |
| Blocks | 7 | Frank Kaminsky | vs. Green Bay | November 19, 2014 |
Departures
Following the 2014-15 season seniors Frank Kaminsky, Josh Gasser, Traevon Jackson and Duje Dukan had all exhausted their NCAA eligibility. Following their NCAA championship defeat when Nigel Hayes was asked if he would declare for the NBA Draft he said, "I'm nowhere near good enough to do anything but come back." On April 10 Sam Dekker chose to forgo his senior year and declare for the 2015 NBA Draft.NBA draft selections
| Year | Round | Pick | Overall | Player | NBA Club |
| 2015 | 1 | 9 | 9 | Frank Kaminsky | Charlotte Hornets |
| 2015 | 1 | 18 | 18 | Sam Dekker | Houston Rockets |