Nolan Winter and Jack Janicki have both taken another step towards playing in Wisconsin’s first-round NCAA Tournament game on Thursday.
Coach Greg Gard said Monday that Winter and Janicki took part in nearly the entirety of practice as the team began to get ready for its matchup against High Point.
“Both of them were in full-go mode other than major contact stuff. It’s the most any of them have done,” Gard said. “They both ran full court in some skeleton stuff we did. Both were in the drills. It was a big jump today. Everybody felt pretty good coming out of it, so the plan is to take it another step tomorrow.”
Winter, Wisconsin’s starting forward and leading rebounder, missed the last four games after he appeared to roll his ankle against Maryland on March 4. He needed help getting off the court and was unable to put any weight on his left leg. The junior did not travel with the Badgers to Purdue for the season finale and was limited to being a cheerleader at the Big Ten Tournament. Winter is averaging 13.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game for Wisconsin this season.
Janicki, meanwhile, suffered a broken wrist on Feb. 17 at Ohio State. One of the Badgers top options off the bench, Janicki got the cast and brace off his left wrist last week and was seen dribbling during warmups in Chicago during the conference tournament.
Wisconsin is the No. 5 seed in the West Region and will take on the 12th-seed Panthers on Thursday in Portland.
