Wisconsin fans breathed a sigh of relief Monday when a university appeals committee amended the Feb. 4 suspension of Maurice “Boo” Wade from “indefinite” to “time already served.”
The sophomore guard was arrested Feb. 4 in connection with the choking of a 19-year-old woman in an off-campus apartment. Wade, who is averaging seven points and 3.5 rebounds per game, spent the night in the Dane County Jail and was released Feb. 5 on bond.
Wade has not been charged with any formal crime but is scheduled to appear in court Thursday morning.
After the arrest the Badgers indefinitely suspended Wade from the team. He did not play in Wisconsin’s victory against Minnesota on Feb. 4 or in the Badgers’ loss to Northwestern on Saturday.
Wade appealed the committee’s decision Monday, and the university reduced the suspension to two games. Since Wade had already sat out a pair of games, the committee cleared him to begin practicing and competing immediately, pending the arrival of any new information. Wisconsin plays at Iowa tonight.
BACK TO THE BOOKS: Indiana forward Patrick Ewing, Jr., will watch the Hoosiers’ Wednesday game at Penn State from home. The freshman will miss the contest for unspecified academic reasons.
Ewing, who is averaging 2.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, will not travel with the team to University Park, Pa.
“This decision hopefully sends a message to our entire team that their classwork is, should and always will be the top priority at Indiana,” Hoosiers coach Mike Davis told ESPN.
SOUR OFFENSE: Scoring is down across the nation again this year, according to a midseason trend report from the NCAA. The Big Ten is one of the main culprits.
At this time last season, teams across the nation scored an average of 70.5 points per game. This year, teams are on pace to average less than 70 points per game for the first time since the institution of the three-point arc.
Free-throw percentage also tumbled 1.68 percent and field-goal percentage fell 0.23 percent.
These downward trends are especially apparent in the Big Ten, which has no teams represented in the top 30 in scoring. The conference ranks 21st out of 31 Division I conferences in scoring with an average of 69.04 points per game. The Atlantic Coast Conference is the highest scoring, with an average of 77.69 points per game.
“If you look at how active people are defensively now, good looks are hard to come by,” Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. “But I think the game is still pretty exciting.”
BRACKETOLOGY: As March Madness and Selection Sunday approach, talk about tournament bids and how many berths each conference will get is at the forefront of many discussions.
With some conferences having exceptionally good years and the Big Ten lagging behind, some experts are forecasting only four NCAA tournament slots for the Big Ten. This prediction is down sharply from years past where the conference has received six or seven bids.
According to ESPN “bracketologist” Joe Lunardi, Illinois, Michigan State, Purdue and Wisconsin are all on track to receive bids. The Big Ten may be able to sneak in another team with Michigan currently on the bubble.
“It’s just talk that’s going around,” Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. “For me, it’s meaningless. All the teams that want to be in the tournament have a chance in the next few weeks to play themselves in.”
