Wisconsin Basketball: Top five performances of Ethan Happ’s career

2. Wisconsin vs Xavier (March 20, 2016)

Ethan Happ kicked his career off with an impressive freshman campaign, winning the Big 10 Freshman of the Year. Happ joined a talented team who went on to become a 7-seed in the NCAA tournament. The Badgers came into the Round of 32 game against the 2-seeded Xavier Musketeers as a five-point underdog, per oddsshark.com.

As his teammates struggled to score, Happ helped keep the game competitive in the first half. The teams traded punches until Xavier put a run together to take a 58-49 lead with six minutes remaining. Happ kicked off the comeback with two free throws, followed by a steal leading to a Zak Showalter layup. Happ made multiple big plays down the stretch including a putback layup with just over two minutes remaining, but it was Bronson Koenig who ultimately closed the game for the Badgers with a dagger three-point buzzer beater. The shot, of course, came off of a Happ assist.

Though this wasn’t the most impressive stat line of his career, Happ’s performance as a freshman in the biggest game of his career was certainly memorable. He ended with 18 points and seven rebounds on only 10 shot attempts. He was also a nuisance in the paint defensively, not allowing Xavier any easy buckets. Though Happ would play in many big games in his career, this performance which helped Wisconsin get to the Sweet 16 is deserving of recognition.