On the morning of the shootaround, Bronson Koenig sat impassively in a courtside seat watching his Wisconsin teammates go through their paces in Ann Arbor.
ESPN's Rece Davis, who was carrying some game notes for the broadcast that night, sat next to Koenig during a portion of the 45-minute workout at the Crisler Center.
Davis eventually scratched Koenig from his personnel board. Shut down by a calf injury, Koenig didn't suit up for a 64-58 loss to Michigan snapping a string of 84 consecutive starts.
"Being it was the first game that I had ever missed in my career," said Koenig, who had appeared in 134 straight games to that point, "watching it from the sidelines was definitely different.
"Being injured, in one respect, was therapeutic. "To have that one game to sit back and watch and heal my body a little bit," Koenig said, "definitely helped."
Being injured, in another respect, was sobering. "This being my last year," he said, "it reminded me of how much I really love this game and how much I want to be out there with my teammates."
Photo: Wisconsin Badgers
For more on Wisconsin: