MADISON, Wis. — Ahead of Monday’s 81-66 win over Central Michigan (4-9), Wisconsin (8-4) was uncertain about a pair of key guards — senior Braeden Carrington and junior John Blackwell. Carrington missed Friday’s overtime loss to Villanova, while Blackwell was dealing with an undisclosed injury and opted to sit out. Even if both were 100 percent, Zach Kinziger was going to see action on Monday.
While he had not appeared in any of UW’s prior 11 games, and appeared on track to redshirt, Kinziger checked against the Chippewas with 13:37 remaining in the first half. With the Badgers coming off back-to-back losses, head coach Greg Gard said he wasn’t necessarily looking for a spark — Kinziger has just improved that much since the start of the season.
“It’s not because of a deficiency from somebody else, per se, as much as Zach has earned (minutes),” Gard told reporters. “He’s a good player, and he’s gonna be a really good player here.”…