No. 8 seed UW will face Virginia Tech in East Regional
WASHINGTON – Wisconsin coach Greg Gard was diplomatic.
Senior Nigel Hayes insisted he missed most of the NCAA Tournament selection show on Sunday after the Badgers learned their fate because he was looking for family.
Senior Zak Showalter, however, acknowledged he didn’t quite understand why UW (25-9) was seeded No. 8 in the East Regional of the NCAA Tournament.
“Questioned it a little bit; a lot of stuff that I can’t control,” Showalter said after UW’s 71-56 loss to Michigan in the Big Ten tournament title game at the Verizon Center. “I just go out and play basketball and hopefully the rest of takes care of itself. … It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me right now.”
The Badgers open at approximately 8:40 p.m. Thursday in Buffalo against Virginia Tech (22-10) of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Hokies are led by former Marquette coach Buzz Williams.
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The winner likely gets defending national champion Villanova (31-3), the No. 1-seeded team in the regional. Villanova opens at 6:10 p.m. against either Mount St. Mary’s or New Orleans.
First-round winners meet on Saturday.
Seven Big Ten teams made the 68-team field.
Purdue, which won the regular-season title but lost in the quarterfinals to Michigan, is seeded No. 4 in the Midwest and opens in Milwaukee.
Minnesota, which finished fourth in the league during the regular season, was seeded No. 5 in the Midwest and also plays in Milwaukee. UW lost its lone meeting with Purdue but swept the Gophers during the regular season.
Maryland, which lost to UW during the regular season and lost to Northwestern in the Big Ten quarterfinals, was seeded No. 6 in the West.
Michigan, which won two of three games against UW, is seeded No. 7 in the Midwest.
Northwestern, which beat UW during the regular season but suffered a 28-point loss to the Badgers in semifinals, is No. 8 in the West.
Michigan State is seeded No. 9 in the Midwest.
Asked if he was surprised by his team’s seeding Gard said he couldn’t offer an informed opinion.
“You never know what is done in advance,” he said, referring to the work of the selection committee. “You don’t know everything ... so for me to give a concrete answer, you’ve just got to move on from this and get ready to play Thursday.”
Asked if he was surprised to see so many Big Ten teams seeded higher, he said: “I might get in trouble if I answer that.”
Gard did quibble with UW having to play on a Thursday after reaching the Big Ten title game on Sunday.
“That one I could never understand," he said. "Regardless of conference, if you’re playing on Sunday why are you given Thursday games?
“You’ve having obviously a great weekend if you’re playing on Sunday. Someone is going to have to explain logic to me.”
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The Badgers extended their NCAA Tournament streak to 19 consecutive seasons. The last time they failed to make the field was 1998. Sunday was UW's lowest seeding since 2009, when the Badgers were seeded No. 12. The Badgers upset No. 5 Florida State before losing to No. 4 Xavier.
Hayes downplayed the notion of viewing the seeding as a snub.
"I guess there is motivation in everything," he said, "so I’m sure we can try to do that. But our motivation should be (that) we know we can be good when we play how we’re supposed to play.
"So we really should just focus on us because we just gave away our second championship this year.
"It is literally now or never. You’re only guaranteed one game from here on out."
Jeff Potrykus can be reached at jpotrykus@journalsentinel.com or twitter.com/jaypo1961.
Wisconsin's opponent:
Location: Blacksburg.
Record: 22-10, 10-8. Bid: ACC at-large.
Last appearance: 2007, lost to Southern Illinois in second round.
Coach: Buzz Williams (8-5 in five appearances).
Overview: The Hokies’ two best players come off the bench: Guard Seth Allen was the ACC’s sixth man of the year, and forward Zach LeDay has led the Hokies in points and rebounds in five of their past six games. Tech ranks among the nation’s top 31 teams in points per possession and seventh in effective field-goal percentage. Its 41% three-point shooting accuracy is 10th in the nation.
Projected starters: G Justin Robinson, 6-1, So. (10.4 ppg, 4.7 apg; G Justin Bibbs, 6-5, Jr. (9.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg); G Ahmed Hill, 6-5, So. (11.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg); F Khadim Sy, 6-10, Fr. (4.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg); F Chris Clarke, 6-6, So. (11.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 3.3 apg).