Ted Porath- Familiar Wofford Heading to Madison

The No. 13 Badgers (3-0) will host the Wofford Terriers Saturday night at the Kohl Center. The Badgers have looked rather impressive in their first two games, winning them by 54 and 27, respectively. In these games the Wisconsin offense has averaged 76.5 points per game and is shooting over 50 percent from the field. What has really caught the eye of everyone though has been the Badgers’ ability to make three point shots. The Badgers made 15 against Kennesaw State and 10 against Colgate, shooting over 52 percent from three in those two games. “If that’s what the defense is giving us, we’ll take it,” Head Coach Bo Ryan said of his team shooting so many threes. “I don’t think there was one three in there that was really a bad three.” The star of the Badger offense thus far has been sophomore guard Ben Brust, who has come off the bench to be a spark plug and an x-factor for Wisconsin. Brust has averaged 15.5 points in the first two games, hitting 50 percent of his shots and making eight of his 16 attempted threes. While it has been Ben’s shooting ability that has gotten him all the press, he has been playing solid defense this year and been contributing in all other facets of the game. Coach Ryan emphasized that this is why Ben has gotten his opportunity this year. “Ben can hunt a shot down pretty well, but defensively and ball-handling and decision-making [he had work to do],” Ryan said. “If a guy’s ready he’ll play, if a guy isn’t he works his way into playing, but now he’s trying to be a defensive player and a good passer and a good rebounder. Wisconsin’s ability to defend has just as much to do with their winning this year as their ability to knock down shots, if not more. The Badgers have been able to hold their two opponents to an average of only a measly 36 points per game, and in these games the Badgers have been able to hold their opponents to contested jump shots, resulting in very low percentage from the field (29 percent). Typical though of a Bo Ryan coached team, Wisconsin, despite its success, feels it can improve defensively. Wofford is coming into Saturday’s game having rebounded off of its first loss against Georgia to win its last game against Emory & Henry 70-55 on Sunday. While Wofford might not seem like a tough opponent, the Badgers should ask the 2009 Badgers about just how tough they are to beat; Wofford played Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA tournament and was leading in the game but ended up losing by only four points. Wofford is coming off its second-straight Southern Conference title, and though they have lost four of their starters from last year’s team, including SoCon player of the year Noah Dahlman, they have a legacy of winning which means they will not be afraid of Wisconsin or coming to the Kohl Center.