Five members of the No. 24 Wisconsin men's basketball team received season-ending awards from the Big Ten Conference on Monday, headlined by Ethan Happ earning first-team All-Big Ten recognition.
Since the Big Ten started designating first-team All-Big Ten honorees in 1948, Happ joins Michael Finley (1993) as the only Wisconsin players to earn first team honors in their sophomore season.
Including Happ, a total of 10 different UW players have been named first-team All-Big Ten over the past 16 seasons, combining for 14 first-team all-conference honors. No other program in the Big Ten has more during that era.
Happ, who was a first-team All-Big Ten pick by both the coaches and the media, was also named to the league's all-defensive team for the second straight season. Seven different Badgers have been named to the Big Ten's All-Defensive Team, but Happ joins Michael Flowers (2x) and Josh Gasser (3x) as the only players in program history to earn multiple selections. Happ led the Big Ten in steals during conference play (2.3 per game) and leads UW with 38 blocks on the year.
Bronson Koenig and Nigel Hayes were each recognized for their play in their senior campaigns. Koenig earned second-team All-Big Ten praise from the coaches and third-team All-Big Ten selection from the media, while Hayes was tabbed with third-team All-Big Ten honors.
Koenig was a third-team All-Big Ten honoree last season. Hayes adds this year's third-team plaque to his resume of conference accolades that includes first team last year, third team in 2015, as well as Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year and all-freshman team in 2014.
Zak Showalter was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team for the first time in his career, joining teammate Happ. Fifth in the conference with 1.4 steals per game, Showalter was also an Academic All-Big Ten honoree last year.For the second-straight season, Vitto Brown was recognized with the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
Wisconsin begins postseason play this week as the No. 2 seed at the 2017 Big Ten Tournament. The Badgers will face the winner of No. 7 Iowa and No. 10 Indiana on Friday at 5:30 p.m. (CT).
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