FOX Sports Wisconsin Midweek Stock Report for Jan. 20
Every Wednesday, FOX Sports Wisconsin takes a look at which athletes' stock is trending up and whose is trending down.
In other words, who is making a meteoric rise, and who is quickly plummeting.
With that in mind, let's "take stock" of the current sports scene in Wisconsin, shall we?
Wisconsin men's basketball: After three straight losses and a 1-4 start in conference play, the Badgers scored a big victory Sunday by edging a Michigan State team which entered the day 16-2. Bronson Koenig had a career-high 27 points, Nigel Hayes pitched in 25 points and seven rebounds and Ethan Happ hit the eventual game-winning bucket down the stretch. All in all a win the team and interim head coach Greg Gard can hang their hat on.
The Bucks big three: Milwaukee has been playing well of late and much of that is thanks to the play of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Greg Monroe. Over the last week, both Antetokounmpo and Monroe averaged a double-double while Middleton scored 24.3 points per game while also averaging 5.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.75 steals per game. Not surprisingly, all three shot the ball well, too (Monroe 49.0 percent, Giannis 51.0 percent and Middleton 51.3 percent) despite the fact all three also took the most shots on the team in the past week.
Matt Jurusik, Wisconsin goalie: It has been another tough season for the Badgers' men's hockey team, but the freshman from LaGrange, Ill., had a game to remember last Friday when he stopped 54 shots in a 4-3 overtime loss to Penn State. It was the first time a Wisconsin goalie had 50+ saves in a game since Bernd Bruckler on Feb. 8, 2002. He followed that up the next day by making "only" 37 stops.
Michael Carter-Williams, Bucks guard: Just when it seemed like MCW was getting on track, he had a rough week in which he shot just 38.2 percent and averaged just 8.8 points and 4.3 assists per game, while his playing time was for the most part reduced. In three of Milwaukee's four games he played between 25-26 minutes.
Eddie Lacy, Packers running back: While Lacy ran for 89 yards on 12 carries in Saturday's playoff loss to Arizona, 75 of those yards came on two back-to-back rushes, and on one, a 61-yarder, he didn't exactly look speedy as he ran downfield. A couple days after the loss, head coach Mike McCarthy called into question Lacy's conditioning and a day after that Green Bay's running backs coach was fired. Certainly Lacy has been put on notice for 2016.
Wisconsin players at East-West Shrine Game: During the first two days of practice (Monday and Tuesday), Joel Stave was called out for some inconsistent throwing and Tyler Marz was getting beaten regularly in one-on-one line drills, including by an FCS player. Derek Watt wasn't getting too much attention beyond his last name and Michael Caputo hadn't done anything yet to make himself stand out. There's still time with the game Saturday, but early on it isn't looking like a lot of Badgers might be drafted (Joe Schobert is the only Wisconsin player to be taking part in the Senior Bowl.)
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