St. Louis — When Wisconsin opened the 2015 NCAA Tournament against Coastal Carolina, the Badgers' top nine players featured four seniors and a junior.
No freshman had played more than 38 minutes in UW's 34 games.
Oh, how times have changed.
When the seventh-seeded Badgers (20-12) face 10th-seeded Pittsburgh (21-11) at 5:50 p.m. Thursday in the first round of the East Region, they will feature no seniors in the regular rotation. Four freshmen have combined to play a total of played at least 272 minutes.
No matter how long UW remains alive in the '16 tournament, the experience gained this season should pay off in 2016-'17, when Greg Gard enters his first full season as head coach.