Badgers Take Down Bradley, Set for Showdown with BYU

Continuing to take care of their early season business, #11 Wisconsin (5-0, 0-0) got away with sloppy play at times en route to a 66-43 victory over Bradley Friday night in the semifinals of the Chicago Invitational Tournament. Junior forward Ryan Evans scored a career-high 15 points in the victory, joining guard Josh Gasser and Jordan Taylor for the team high. Evans also added 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks. Bradley (3-2) was paced by senior forward Taylor Brown, who led all scorers with 18 points on 8-of-20 shooting, picking up 9 rebounds as well. Still, UW did not take care of the ball as well as Badger fans have become accustomed to. Wisconsin turned the ball over 10 times, their first game with double digits in that category. Taylor had an uncharacteristically shaky night with the ball, turning the ball over four times to double his season total in already the fifth game of the young season. But UW still won the turnover battle, forcing the Braves into 17 turnovers of their own. The Badgers also showed an ability to hang with Bradley athletically, matching the Braves step for step on the fast break and notching 18 points off those turnovers. Next on tap for UW is BYU, a fellow Sweet 16 team from last season that returns most of its core, the exception being National Player of the Year Jimmer Fredette. But the Cougars are benefitting from the return of forward Brandon Davies, whose controversial suspension last season really hurt BYU's title hopes. The Cougars come into Saturday off of a 76-55 win over Nevada and are by far the biggest test the Badgers have faced thus far. Saturday also marks the beginning of a five game stretch in which the Badgers will face four teams that reached the NCAA Tournament last season, with the BYU game followed by a date with #1 North Carolina, followed up finally with home games against Marquette and UNLV. Certainly the big wins have given Badger fans something to be excited about, but until UW gets through this stretch, its hard to tell what the season truly has in store.