Hoosier Daddy

Having already lost three times at home this season, Wisconsin men’s basketball is no longer unbeatable in Madison. Thursday night, however, the Kohl Center remained a house of horrors for Indiana as the 25^th ranked Badgers (6-3 Big Ten, 17-5 Overall) knocked off the No. 16/17 Hoosiers 57-50.

While UW had a tough time getting anything going offensively throughout much of the game, they kept themselves within striking distance by holding an Indiana team that had been averaging just under 80 points per game to a season-low 50. First and foremost, the Badgers stifled the post game of freshman center Cody Zeller, holding the Washington, Ind native to just seven points on 2-of-7 shooting.

Zeller picked up his fourth foul with 5:21 left in the game, a foul that marked the beginning of a 12-4 UW run to close out the game.

“Jared did a great job on Zeller,” senior guard Jordan Taylor said. “Zeller is one of the best players in the country and what he did on him was impressive.”

Not only did UW have to beat one of the top 20 teams in the country on Thursday, in many respects they had to beat themselves. Once again Wisconsin struggled to get good shots to fall down, finishing the game just under 40% from the field and a measly 23.5% from three-point range. What made up for the lack of shots was the Badgers’ ability to get to the line and rebound in the 2^nd half, finishing the game 15-of-19 from the line after making their final 13 free throws.

“The free throws were obviously a byproduct of the rebounds…” junior forward Ryan Evans said. “That’s real encouraging, when you can find a way to win on an awful shooting night.”

As it did last Sunday at Illinois, Wisconsin made the big plays seemingly each and every time the opportunity presented itself. Clinging to just a one-point lead with two minutes left, the Badgers grabbed two big offensive rebounds to ultimately give themselves to the line with a minute remaining. After Evans picked up two of his 12 2^nd half points at the line and Zeller missed with a jump hook, the Badgers had control of the game and the opportunity to ice it after yet another offensive rebound, this time by junior forward Mike Bruesewitz.

“They were big, every single one of them,” Taylor said of the Badgers’ hustle plays. “Mike and Ryan had two massive rebounds at the end there.”

Sophomore guard Ben Brust was back on his game as well. After being largely silent in the 1^st half, the Hawthorn Woods, Ill native woke the crowd with 10 2^nd half points and one huge offensive rebound, leaping into the air to grab a jump ball that had bounced off the floor after a missed jumper. His 3-for-6 shooting from three-point range gave UW a boost it desperately needed on a night when scoring was hard to come by.

“As long as he is on the same side of the court we are on, I would say he has that {green light}…” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “When his shoulders are squared and his feet are set, he tends to shoot the ball a lot better.”

In a season now seemingly defined by gritty efforts, this win was perhaps the scrappiest of the 17 that Wisconsin has managed to pick up so far this season.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, we just had to scrap to the end,” Berggren said. When shots aren’t falling down, you have to battle defensively.”

Having now won five in a row to get within a half-game of the conference lead, the Badgers hit the road for a midweek game against Penn State. Although a marquee matchup in Madison against Ohio State looms on the horizon, the Badgers are focused squarely on the present, fully aware of what got them to this point after being left for dead just a few weeks ago.

 “We knew we had guys that weren’t going to give up easily…” Taylor said. “But every game is huge in the Big Ten and hopefully we can just keep it rolling.”

Indiana Visits The Kohl Center With Badgers Heading Home Hot

It didn’t appear likely a few weeks ago, but Wisconsin men’s basketball returns home for its first post-break game on a four-game winning streak and just a half game out of the Big Ten lead. While it was certainly a welcome sight Sunday when the Badgers (5-3 Big Ten, 16-5 Overall) beat Illinois for their first road win over a ranked opponent since 2008, Thursday’s return to the Kohl Center is no pushover as No. 16/17 Indiana (4-4 Big Ten, 16-4 Overall) looks to hand UW its 4^th home loss for the first time since the 1995-1996 season.

Although the Hoosiers came into the season unranked, their return to national prominence after a three-year drought didn’t come as much of a surprise those who had seen them both on the court and in the recruiting world.

“They had a lot of talent returning…” sophomore guard Josh Gasser said of Indiana. “{Indiana freshman forward Cody} Zeller is a guy that came in and really boosted them over the top.”

While Zeller has come in and immediately made an impact, averaging a team-high 15.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, it has been the three-point shooting of the Hoosiers that has led them to victories over No.1 Kentucky and No. 2 Ohio State.  Indiana comes into Thursday shooting a Big Ten-best 44.9% from three-point range, bested on the national level only by Creighton’s 45.1% pace. But with the Badgers holding their opponents to a NCAA-best 35.9% from the field, something has to give.

“They have multiple guys who can shoot it, from their bigs to their guards…” Gasser said. “We just have to play to out strengths and keep them out of a rhythm.”

Although seemingly unable to find the bottom of the basket at times, Wisconsin has more than held its own from beyond the arc as well. In 21 games this season, UW has shot 37.5% from three-point range, 3^rd in the Big Ten.

Perhaps more importantly, the Badgers are a perfect 14-0 this season when shooting a better percentage from the field than their opponent, something they will no doubt look to do against Indiana. For UW head coach Bo Ryan, accomplishing that goal is just as much about defensive execution as it is about knocking down shots.

“If you are doing the best you can on {the defensive} end and you are trying to fight through slumps {offensively},” Ryan said. “Then you have a chance.”

One thing that is undeniable is the importance of knocking down free throws. Just one year after nearing setting an NCAA record last season by shooting free throws at an 81.8% clip, the Badgers have struggled mightily by their high standards. Yet, even after shooting just 60.9% over the first seven games of the season and starting Sunday’s win by missing seven of its first nine attempts, UW has managed remain over the 70% mark from the charity stripe. More importantly, Wisconsin has made free throws consistently down the stretch, icing close games at the line in Champaign as well as in West Lafayette. In fact, during the final five minutes of Big Ten games, the Badgers are shooting 78% at the line.

“We have to get back on the free throw line and be confident,” junior forward Mike Bruesewitz said. “We still shoot the ball pretty well there but its not as good as it was last year.”

Despite some bad history for IU basketball at the Kohl Center, there is no doubt that the Hoosiers have made it back to the top.

“Its good for college basketball…” Bruesewitz said. “They’ve knocked off the number one and number two teams in the country and that’s just good for the game in general.” 

But while they are much improved this season, Indiana has yet to put up a marquee road victory, something they are no doubt hoping to change on Thursday night. But in order to leave Madison with a win, the Hoosiers will have to reverse a lot of bad history on their side when it comes to playing at the Kohl Center. Since the Badgers moved to the corner of Dayton and Frances, IU has won just one game on UW turf and hasn’t left victorious with Bo Ryan at the helm for Wisconsin. The Hoosiers have struggled in general against UW of late, losing eight straight to the Badgers with the last IU victory coming in Bloomington back in 2007. That eight-game winning streak for Wisconsin over Indiana is the longest streak by a single team against the Hoosiers since Purdue capped off a nine-game run in 1935.

Finally hitting their stride as a team, it doesn’t seem that this Badger team is ready to bring that streak to an end just yet. Tipoff is at 8pm at the Kohl Center.

Badgers Continue to Roll With Big Road Win Over Illini

If there is one thing that Badger fans should have learned by now it would be to never count a Bo Ryan-coached team out for the count. After Wisconsin men’s basketball dropped three straight to fall to 1-3 in Big Ten play, many thought the season was headed for a disastrous finish. But after Sunday’s 67-63 win at No. 25 Illinois (4-3 Big Ten, 15-5 Overall), UW is right back in the Big Ten title hunt and playing as well as anyone in the conference.

After finding themselves in an early 7-2 hole, UW (5-3 Big Ten, 16-3 Overall) responded with a quick 16-4 run that gave them a seven-point lead just under halfway into the opening half.

“You don’t want to get the crowd too into it and you want to get your confidence going,” sophomore guard Josh Gasser said. “To get one to go down early is definitely big and then we can get it going from there.”

After a first half that saw the lead change hands seven times, finishing with a tie at 26, the second half was another seesaw affair. Illinois took the lead first, extending their cushion to as much as four with just over nine minutes to play. Senior guard Jordan Taylor got the Badgers within a basket with a quick floater then junior forward Mike Bruesewitz buried a three-pointer, erasing Illinois’ final lead of the game with just under either minutes left.

The Badgers knew that victory hinged in large part on their ability to hold Illinois junior guard Brandon Paul and sophomore forward Myers Leonard in check. Leonard, coming in averaging over 13 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, struggled for most of the first half, managing just two points on 1-of-5 shooting.

“We’re not long and lanky outside of the five spot,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “So we have to work hard to try and not allow looks in the post.”

Perhaps more importantly, Gasser held Paul to just 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting, never really impacting the game. This after the Gurnee, Ill native put up 43 points against Ohio State in the Illini’s last home game back on January 10^th.

“Brandon Paul’s been playing with a lot of confidence and probably has been the best player in the league the past couple games,” Taylor said. “Josh {Gasser} came in and did an outstanding job to slow him down a little bit.”

While Leonard picked up his game in the 2^nd half, finishing with 16 points and 11 rebounds, Berggren matched him step-for-step. The Princeton, Minn native had perhaps his best performance since the loss at North Carolina back in early December, finishing with 18 points and 5 rebounds while staying out of foul trouble defending on the interior.

“{Jared} knocked down some huge threes and also down low he had some nice moves,” Gasser said. “When Jared is playing like that, it is tough to stop us.”

But as the Badgers looked to close the game out in the second half, it was Taylor who got them to the finish line. Managing only 5 points in the opening half, Taylor turned up the heat down the stretch, finishing with a game-high 19 points, a team-high 9 rebounds, and a perfect 5 assists to zero turnovers.

“I just try and run stuff that we run everyday in practice. When the opportunity presents itself, I just try to take shots and knock them down…” Taylor said. “I’m still not shooting a great percentage, but I will take the win.”

Wisconsin struggled at the line, making just three of their first ten tries at the line. But despite the struggles (finishing 10-of-18), Taylor was about as clutch as it gets coming down the home stretch. The Bloomington, Minn native posted UW’s final seven points, icing the game by hitting five consecutive free throws right in front of Illinois’ vaunted “Orange Krush”.

“He is our leader…” Berggren said of Taylor. “He is as clutch as they come down the stretch.”

“We have struggled at times this year at the free throw line,” Taylor said. “But I feel like when we have actually needed to step up and knock them down, we have.”

Already the only Big Ten team with at least five wins away from home, the Badgers are now 6-2 in road or neutral-site games. With wins at Purdue and Illinois, UW has swept games in West Lafayette and Champaign for the first time since 1918.

More importantly, Wisconsin is now 5-3 in conference play and just a half game behind the top spot, a far cry from where they stood just two weeks ago after losing at Michigan.

“It’s a crazy league…” Berggren said. “It’s a long season and everyone is going to take some bumps. We were able to fight and scratch our way back into things and now we are in a pretty good position”

Badgers Continue To Roll With Win Over Wildcats

By: Josh Schur
MADISON, Wis- While the Badgers have struggled shooting the ball at home in the past couple games, they certainly turned things around Wednesday night. Wisconsin (4-3 Big Ten, 15-5 overall) shot 52% from beyond the arc, knocking down 12 three-pointers en route to a 77-57 win over Northwestern (2-4 Big Ten, 12-6 overall).

UW started off the game with three straight triples, getting off to a quick 9-2 lead just minutes into the game. Junior forwards Jared Berggren and Mike Bruesewitz and sophomore guard Josh Gasser each connected from deep to get the Badgers off to a quick start.

“We knew they could shoot the ball,” Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody said after the game. “I think we were confident, but they came out and shot well, and were able to knock down all those open shots.”

Northwestern didn’t back down though, as they fought right back with a 14-2 run of their own to lead by 5 early in the first half. John Shurna got off to a hot start early, hitting his first four shots, and finishing with a game-high 19.

Both teams seemed to go back and forth the first half, and while Shurna carried Northwestern, Bruesewitz did the same for Wisconsin. The Minnesota native had 12 first half points, including two three-pointers to keep the Badgers within striking distance as Northwestern continued to score at will.

“Mike kept us in the game without a doubt,” junior forward Ryan Evans said. “Whether it was hitting 3s, hitting shots, or just being an energizer, he was huge for us in the first half.”

Aside from Bruesewitz, the Badgers weren’t getting much other help. Forward Ryan Evans and guard Jordan Taylor combined for only 5 points in the first half as Wisconsin went into the locker room with a narrow 34-32 lead.

This was as close as Northwestern would come for the rest of the game, as the Badgers immediately showed that they were in control starting off the second half with two quick baskets inside from Evans and Berggren to take a 6-point lead.

Wisconsin would not look back as Taylor, who has struggled shooting so far this season at 36% from three-point range, knocked down three consecutive treys and assisted on another to Gasser giving the Badgers a 50-38 lead. Taylor ended up with 15 points and 6 assists in arguably his best game of the Big Ten campaign.

“Tonight, we saw the guy who last year for 10 games was the best player in conference,” Carmody said.

With the Badgers rolling from deep, Evans began to get open down low and was able to knock down seven consecutive points of his own, including a couple baskets in the low post.

Evans, who finished with a team-high 17 points, was able to score in a variety of ways as he continued to knock down jumper after jumper and finish around the rim.

“He has worked on some things in his game, and he has strengths,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “The more he plays to those strengths, the better of a team player he is because he gets results. He can get to the line, he can hit the glass, he can face up. He just has to keep working on being as consistent as he can with that.”

The Wildcats were not able to keep their momentum coming off a big win against Michigan State on Saturday, and never found a way back into the game after the early second half run by Wisconsin.

“I thought we did some real good things on offense in the first 15 minutes,” Carmody said. “But they came out in the second half and knocked down all those threes right away. They handled man pressure and the 1-3-1 very well.”

While the shots kept falling for Wisconsin all half, it wasn’t until the three-minute mark in the second half when the Badgers finally put the nail in the coffin as Taylor found Evans for an emphatic alley-oop on the backdoor lob.

“{Senior guard} Rob Wilson was saying how I couldn’t jump anymore,” Evans said jokingly, “I guess I just had to prove him wrong.”

Wisconsin’s scoring was very balanced as Gasser added in 10, the fourth Badger in double figures. Sophomore guard Ben Brust had 8 points off the bench, and Berggren had 5.

The Badgers quick turnaround from their 1-3 start in conference play to a record of 4-3 in just 10 days didn’t seem much of a surprise to Taylor and the Badgers.

“It is a night in, night out grind, even more so in the Big Ten as there are so many good teams in the conference,” Taylor noted. “Anybody can beat anybody, and you have to bring you’re A game every night, you cant stay down or up too long.”

The Badgers now look forward to a road showdown with the 15^th ranked Illinois Fighting Illni on Sunday, looking to continue a 3-game win streak that has them right back in the conference race.

Taylor Carries Badgers Through Yet Another Sloppy Performance

After picking off Big Ten opponents one-by-one at the Kohl Center over the better part of the past decade, Wisconsin men's basketball has suddenly forgot how to dominate on their home turf. Already having lost at the Kohl Center three times this season (tied for most in the Bo Ryan era), the Badgers (3-3 Big Ten, 14-5 overall) nearly lost another, coming out flat and playing sloppy basketball for the better part of the game. But with the shooting struggles continuing for many Badgers, senior guard Jordan Taylor put the team on his back, scoring 19 points en route to the Badgers' ugly 50-45 victory over Nebraska.

"To get this kind of good thing playing the way we did on the offensive end," UW head coach Bo Ryan said. "That is a pretty good statement for us defensively."

As much as UW struggles to get shots to fall, the Cornhuskers did them one better. Nebraska (1-5 Big Ten, 9-8 overall) missed four point-blank layups in the first half, adding a few more in a second half that was even uglier than the first. In the end, Nebraska managed only to shoot 35% from the field on the afternoon, with senior guard Bo Spencer the only Husker in double-figures with a team-high 13 points on 5-of-16 shooting.

On the Badgers' end, their 11 first half turnovers (12 for the game) were a season-high and kept Nebraska close throughout the game. To make matters worse, Wisconsin was unable to make a shot over the last 7 minutes, 10 seconds of the game, finishing a measly 31% from the field and 11% from three-point range.

What made up for the poor shooting and the turnovers, at least a bit, was UW's ability to get penetration and create opportunities to go to the line. Wisconsin finished 18-of-24 from the line while Nebraska only managed to get to the line twice. Ultimately, that disparity, the result of penetration on the offensive end by the Badgers, was the difference in UW's five-point victory.

"They called the hand checks in the second half because we were making better cuts," Ryan said. "The game changed because we made it change."

Amidst the poor performances for Wisconsin, there were a few silver linings. In addition to the 19 points and 6 rebounds for Taylor, sophomore guard Josh Gasser finished with 12 points and 5 rebounds of his own. The two guards combined to go 8-for-19 (42%) from the field on Sunday, with the rest of the Badger lineup only managing to make 7 of their 29 shots (24%).

"Usually good things happen when we attack the line, attack the rim," Gasser said. "Whether its for {myself and Taylor} or for our teammates."

While he continued to struggle from the field (3-for-12), junior forward Jared Berggren was a force underneath. The Princeton, Minn. native finished with a career-high 13 rebounds (6 offensive) on Sunday, just a point short of what would have been his first career double-double.

"Jared had six offensive rebounds," Taylor noted. "Which is huge. Thats six extra opportunities for us at the basket."

Despite all of this, Wisconsin finds itself squarely in the Big Ten race. With Northwestern's victory Saturday over Michigan State, there are no teams left without a defeat in conference play, with the Spartans and Illinois the only remaining one-loss teams in the conference. Northwestern is next for the Badgers, set to visit Madison on Wednesday night. With UW poised to get over the .500 mark before heading to Champaign next weekend, you can bet that the next week will go a long way toward determining the Badgers' fate in a wide-open conference title race.

"Its a marathon," Taylor said of Big Ten play. "It is not a sprint."

Badgers Head Home To Continue Big Ten Climb

After starting the Big Ten season 1-3 and losing their first two conference home games, it looked as if the 2011-2012 season might soon become one to forget for Wisconsin men's basketball. But after picking up just their second win at Purdue since 1972 with a 67-62 victory on Thursday night, the Badgers (2-3 Big Ten, 13-5 overall) suddenly find themselves back in the thick of a wide open Big Ten race. As they beginning a two-game homestand Sunday against Nebraska, UW is just two games back of conference leaders Michigan State and Illinois, with an opportunity to face the Illini next Sunday holding a winning record in conference play.

Nebraska, on the other hand, is getting a stiff taste of what Big Ten play is like right from the get go in the school's inaugural season as a member of the conference. The Cornhuskers (1-4 Big Ten, 9-7 overall)  finally picked up their first Big Ten victory in a 70-58 decision over Penn State on Wednesday, but have  lost by double-digits in three of their four losses in the conference, the lone tight defeat coming in a game against Illinois during which Nebraska collapsed in the second half after getting off to a hot start. Wisconsin has already put a beating on the Huskers, winning in Lincoln 64-40 in both schools' conference opener back on December 27th.

But after losing a tight one to Illinois and finally notching a win against the Nittany Lions, Nebraska finally seems to be playing without fear. Four Huskers finished in double-figures against Penn State, led by senior guard Bo Spencer, whose 19 point performance pushed him to just a notch under 15 points per game for the season. Keeping Spencer in check will be a point of emphasis for the Badgers, who held the Baton Rouge, Louisiana native to a season-low of just 5 points on 2-of-12 shooting in the teams' first meeting back in December.

Wisconsin needs to continue seeing contributions for several sources, something that served them well in the non-conference season and put them over the top in Thursday's win in West Lafayette. While senior guard Jordan Taylor failed to score in the first half and only finished with 12 points, the Badgers got double-digit scoring from five different players, something they had not done since the season opener against Kennesaw State.

Junior guard Mike Brusewitz was one of those five, finishing with 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting, all coming from beyond the arc. While Bruesewitz eventually fouled out, his first double-digit output since a November 26th win over BYU was much needed for a Badger team that has become too reliant on Taylor for scoring and as a result has struggled mightily on the offensive end in conference play.  As the Badgers try to get themselves back into the conference title conversation, that consistency from the role players will be a key factor.

Badgers End Losing Skid With Road Win

Having lost their last three games, Wisconsin men’s basketball came to West Lafayette in dire need of a win. Despite having won just once at Mackey Arena since 1972, the Badgers (2-3 Big Ten, 13-5 overall) played arguably their best game of the season in a 67-62 victory over Purdue (3-2 Big Ten, 13-5 overall).

Purdue got the first bucket of the game but it was UW that took control from the get-go, responding with a 22-2 run over the next 6:57 to take an 18-point lead. Wisconsin’s 22 points over the first seven-plus minutes equaled their output from the first 25 minutes of Sunday’s loss at Michigan.

The hot start was due in no small part to the Badgers ability to finally knock down shots. UW saw 5 of their first 6 three-pointers drop and started the game 8-for-10 from the field. While the Badgers eventually cooled to just over 47% for the game, they were finally able to knock down shots when they needed them most.

“We shot it well going into those games when we shot 30%...” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “We moved better away from the ball this game but a lot of times that’s the result of making some shots.”

After the poor shooting had seemingly spread like an epidemic throughout the entire team, the Badgers fed off those early shots and looked confident on the offensive end throughout the game.

“Its nice {to see your teammates make early shots}. Especially on the road at Purdue,” sophomore guard Ben Brust said after the game. “Anytime you can get good confidence early it helps the team.”

Though the Badgers never trailed again after the early deficit, the Boilermakers did not go away quietly. Purdue cut the UW lead to just 12 at the half before using a 13-0 second half run to pull within two at 45-43 with just over 10 minutes left.

But every time Purdue seemed ready to send the Badgers home empty-handed, UW had an answer. The Boilermaker run came to an end with one of four three-pointers by junior forward Mike Bruesewitz, who despite fouling out late finished with 12 big points on 4/4 from beyond the arc, picking up 5 crucial defensive rebounds as well. Purdue would get a basket of their own at the other end before Bruesewitz hit another three, with Brust following that triple up with one of his own, the two three-balls giving the Badgers a nine-point cushion with just over 6 minutes left, in the process quieting a Mackey Arena crowd that had been readying for an eruption.

“The crowd was getting into it. They were making a run and we had to weather the storm,” Bruesewitz said. “We did that really well. We got a defensive stop and when we weathered the storm it was just us coming down and getting stops.”

Having seemingly gotten through the biggest threat to their lead, the Badgers proceeded to finish out the game with a poise that left them seemingly oblivious to the hostile environment surrounding them. With Purdue fouling down the stretch, UW made 11 of their 14 free throws in the waning minutes, crushing any hopes of another Boilermaker run.

“We’ve played in some tough places…” Ryan said. “We handled the few turnovers we had in the final few minutes and got to the free throw line.”

“That’s how you win games,” Bruesewitz said about the free throw shooting. “That’s how you close out games.”

Wisconsin’s 2^nd victory in West Lafayette since 1972 came as a result of a scoring threat that was not confined in just a few players. The Badgers finished with five players in double digits, led by Brust’s 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Senior guard Jordan Taylor was held scoreless in the first half but finished with 12 second-half points for UW, icing the game with by going 8-for-10 from the free throw line as Purdue fouled late. Sophomore guard Josh Gasser and junior forward Ryan Evans each finished with 10 points for the Badgers.

UW now heads back home at 2-3 in conference, with an opportunity to head into their next road game (at Illinois on January 22^nd) with a winning record in conference. With this one road win, the Badgers are back squarely in the Big Ten race.

Wisconsin In Full Tail Spin After Loss At Michigan

Its official. Wisconsin men's basketball is in a full-fledged tailspin after dropping a 3rd consecutive game in a 59-41 loss at Michigan (3-1 Big Ten, 13-3 Overall) on Sunday. Beginning with a shocking defeat last Saturday at home against Iowa, the Badgers (1-3 Big Ten, 12-5 Overall) have dropping to 1-3 in Big Ten play for the first time under head coach Bo Ryan. After a promising 6-0 start to the season, UW is now facing the prospect of missing their first NCAA Tournament in 14 years. 

Once again, Wisconsin could not find the bottom of the basket. While the Badgers did manage to find open looks throughout the first half, they only managed a dismal 30.8% from the field en route to a seemingly insurmountable 25-to-19 deficit at the half. At the break, it was sophomore guard Josh Gasser and senior guard Jordan Taylor leading the way with four, yes, four points for the Badgers. 

After failing to score during the first four minutes plus in the opening half, UW managing to pull off that feat again in the second half, falling behind 32-19 before a three-point basket by junior forward Mike Bruesewitz at the 15 minute mark. By then, Michigan had the game well in hand and would not lead by less than nine the rest of the way. With the Badgers finishing just 31% from the field, a late comeback was never in the works.

UW head coach Bo Ryan did try to light a fire under his disheveled bunch midway through the second half by extending the rotation to 9 with the addition of freshmen Traevon Jackson and Frank Kaminsky to the group on the floor, but it was way too little and way too late. Kaminsky gave UW a few solid offensive rebounds and Jackson was able to knock down a nice three-pointer, but as soon as they gave Wisconsin a flash of life, Jackson turned the ball over and found his time on the floor brought to a quick end for the time being. 

While Badger fans by now are accustomed to Wisconsin's struggles shooting the ball, what truly doomed the Badgers on Sunday was a lack of hustle. Michigan finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds (leading to 13 second chance points), out rebounding UW 34-27 overall en route to their first victory over the Badgers in ten tries. Wisconsin turned the ball over a very un-Badger-like 12 times (leading to 16 points off turnovers) while posting just 6 assists. Taylor looked especially off-kilter at times, finishing the afternoon with only one assist to three turnovers, the second straight game Taylor has managed just one dime. 

Unlike a few of Wisconsin's previous four defeats, Sunday's loss truly had no silver lining. The help defense was poor (Michigan's shooting was very poor, but not as a result of not getting good shots), the ball control was shaky, the shooting was abysmal, and the intensity didn’t seem to have been brought along on the team charter. 

But while Wisconsin is in serious trouble as they head to West Lafayette Thursday to try avoiding a four-game slide, they remain alive in the highly competitive Big Ten. With the conference likely to get 8-9 tournament bids, the Badgers simply need to stem the tide in order to get themselves into the Big Dance for a 14th consecutive season. With the game at Purdue marking the beginning of a four-game stretch against unranked opponents, Wisconsin is in position to quickly climb back into the race before facing Indiana at the Kohl Center on January 26th in the first game after the start of the spring semester. 

Perhaps the best attribute of last year's Sweet 16 team was their ability to bounce back. Despite a litany of poor performances, UW never lost consecutive games, bouncing back each and every time with solid victories and avoiding the kind of tailspin in which the Badgers now find themselves. Wisconsin has not won in West Lafayette since January 5, 2005, a span of five consecutive defeats at the hands of the Boilermakers. Now faced with the prospect of a disastrous 1-4 start in conference play, UW seems to be at the precipice of their season, needing a win here and now to stem the losing tide and get back on the right track.

Throughout the non-conference season, Wisconsin won with an air of confidence not often seen in Madison, even during the Bo Ryan years during which winning has been a way of life. But ever since the home loss to in-state rival Marquette, and especially since the shocking defeat in the conference home opener against Iowa, the Badgers have played in a manner that can only be described as tentative. Even that description is likely an understatement. 

The Badgers need to get their “swagger” back and a victory at Purdue is the perfect opportunity to do just that. But in the meantime, Wisconsin has some serious personnel issues to work out. As I have mentioned on more than a few occasions, the Badgers did not do enough to build depth while blowing out the likes of Mississippi Valley State, Wofford, and Kennesaw State in the non-conference season. They left starters in the game while leading by upwards of 40 points late in the second half and did very little to expose some of the “scout team” players to game action. As a result, Wisconsin has been forced to go just seven men deep for the majority of the Big Ten season, finally stretching that out to nine with Jackson and Kaminsky entering the game late in Ann Arbor. Still, Taylor was forced into playing 39 minutes against Michigan, that heavy workload coming on the heels of consecutive 40-minute games at home against Iowa and Michigan State.

The Badgers are getting fatigued and it is showing on both ends of the floor. While they continue to hold opposing offenses largely in check, the Badgers’ help defense has shown marked decline during the 3-game slide, the split second delay turning would-be blocks into shooting fouls.

More importantly, the fatigue factor is causing the Badgers to continue missing shots. Apparent in the loss at Michigan was the lack of lower body involved in the admittedly open looks taken by several UW players. Whether from three-point range, 17-feet, or from the free-throw line, UW shots are coming in short and flat, a sure sign of fatigued legs.

With freshman George Marshall and Jarrod Uthoff both redshirting, UW is going to have to face depth issues no matter what. But even without those two potential contributors, Wisconsin has guys on the bench capable of providing the necessary spark. Two of those guys are Kaminsky and Jackson, both of whom need to see more time on the floor to get comfortable and play with confidence.

Beyond those two, Wisconsin has potential offensive firepower in the arsenal from sophomore forward Duje Dukan. Not yet given a consistent chance to prove himself on the floor, the 6’8” Dukan has the ability to give the Badgers an offensive presence both on the inside and outside. While he continues to be somewhat of a defensive liability, the offensive struggles UW is currently facing more than justifies giving Dukan at least a chance to light a fire under the Badger offensive attack.

At this point in the season, it is simply not enough to say that uncertainty justifies not using a potential scorer off the bench. Between Jackson, Kaminsky, Dukan, and even redshirt-freshman forward Evan Anderson, Wisconsin has bullets in the gun and has to take a chance by using them.

If the Badgers don’t try shaking things up now, it may soon be too late to matter.

Badgers' Lack Of Depth Hurting Them In Conference Play

Wisconsin has never been known to have a team of superstars. The Badger men's basketball program has been resurrected out of the ashes of the 1940's powerhouse program by a philosophy first developed by Dick Bennett and then perfected by current head coach Bo Ryan; a philosophy that teams of quality, hard-working players that buy into the system can win regardless of talent level.

But chief among the tenets of that winning philosophy is the notion that depth is the best weapon against superior talent. Wisconsin has made its name as the thorn in the side of Big Ten powerhouses Ohio State, Michigan State, and Purdue by ensuring that each and every game there is someone on the Badger roster ready to step up. If the "marquee" player has an off night, someone will certainly be ready to pick up the slack and get the Badgers another ho-hum victory at home over a highly-ranked opponent. We've seen the Badgers struggle at times in this light away from home, but at the Kohl Center this mantra of depth trumping talent seems to hold true nearly every night.

Until this week. Until the Badgers followed up a shocking defeat at home to unranked and unheralded Iowa (although the Hawkeyes did validate their win by knocking off Minnesota on the road last night) by once again struggling to find consistency on the offensive end as they fell in heartbreaking fashion to #11 Michigan State.

Yes, the loss to the Spartans will be remembered by the disallowed three-point shot by Ryan Evans that would have sent the game into double overtime, but the reason that Wisconsin now heads on a two-game road trip facing the prospect of a 1-4 start in Big Ten play has nothing to do with the discrepancy in the clocks at the Kohl Center.

In fact, the reason Wisconsin has quickly gone from title contender to bubble team is fairly simple: depth, or lack thereof. The Badgers have no depth whatsoever, something that flies directly in the face of all that is Badger basketball.

They continue to bring guys in that fit the system, guys willing to work hard and listen to coaching and hopefully form the nucleus of a title-contending team their junior/senior years. But this year, Ryan and his staff have failed their players by failing to hold onto the traditions of the very system they themselves have so diligently used in order to take Wisconsin to 13 straight NCAA Tournaments.

They have failed to build depth not because they dont have depth, but because they didnt take the time to build it when they had the chance. In essence, Wisconsin didnt lose their first two Big Ten home contests this week, they lost them in blowout wins over Colgate, over Wofford, over Savannah State. They lost them by having three starters on the court with less than four minutes left and the Badgers clinging to forty-plus point leads.

Wisconsin has players that could have been ready to step up in the face of an off night by Ben Brust, foul trouble for Ryan Evans, etc. The problem now is that the UW coaching staff didnt allow them to see the floor in games that were decided well before their conclusion. By letting starters stay on the floor during blowout wins in non-conference play, Wisconsin's staff not only wore down those players just a bit more prior to Big Ten play, but more importantly failed to give that second tier of players the on-court experience they need to be ready when duty comes calling.

Right now, the Badgers need a spark plug. Before his recent cold spell, many would think that spark plug could be sophomore guard Ben Brust, but right now it doesnt seem Brust is in a position to take the lead, dealing with a sophomore slump that was bound to come at some point. Wisconsin needs Brust to start making shots again and that will happen eventually. But more importantly, Wisconsin needs more bodies to make an impact.

The Badgers cannot expect to compete in the Big Ten going just seven deep. Late in the losses to Michigan State and Iowa, it was apparent that even lock down defenders like Jordan Taylor and Jared Berggren were beginning to show signs of clear fatigue. Iowa senior guard Bryce Cartwright made a mockery out of Taylor in the second half last Saturday (Taylor finished the game having played all 40 minutes) and on Tuesday, Spartan sophomore Keith Appling did much of the same (Taylor played 44 minutes against Michigan State). While Taylor's offensive firepower finally reared its head and kept Wisconsin in the game literally until the final second, the impact that fatigue is having on what was the nation's top defense is clear as day.

Though many will point to the three-point shooting and say that the Badgers are going to have to both live and die by the three, the reality is that they are a team defined by defense. They are certainly going to need to shoot the three well enough to win, but they will live and die not by the deep ball, but by their defense. Against Iowa, they managed to put up 65 points, good enough to win all but one of their games thus far this season. The 72 points allowed on Wisconsin's home floor more than outweighed the 3-for-28 performance from beyond the arc in terms of leading to UW's demise.

With defense being the calling card of the 2011-2012 Wisconsin men's basketball season, it is fairly obvious that they have to limit the minutes being played by their starters. Including the many blowout victories UW had during non-conference play, two players are averaging over 30 minutes per game, with three more clocking in at 27 or more per contest. Starting forward Mike Bruesewitz is actually sixth on the team in minutes with just over 24 per game and beyond him, only senior guard Rob Wilson has notched a double-digit average, coming in at just 10.0 minutes per game.

So their is an argument to be made that Wisconsin only goes six deep but with Wilson playing a part in the past two losses, I will give it seven for the sake of the argument.

Now compare this to Michigan State. The Spartans have a star in Draymond Green. He is playing just over 32 minutes a game. Beyond Green, MSU has a full 8 players coming in a 18 minutes or more per game. And the Spartans havent had the cushy schedule of Wisconsin, with only 4 games thus far finishing with a margin of greater than 20 points.

At this point in the season, there is probably little that Ryan and company can do to alleviate the depth issue. They are going to face stiff competition from here on in during Big Ten play and cannot afford to throw unexperienced players into the fire. They had that chance and they likely missed it.

But if there is a staff capable of turning things around, the Badgers have them. Bo Ryan has yet to miss an NCAA Tournament while in Madison and has faced mid-season adversity on more than a few occasions during that run. But he is going to have to figure out how his thin roster can compete in the Big Ten and the answer to that problem will not be easy to find.

Badgers Stunned By Another Buzzer Defeat

Time ran out on the Badgers as their last-ditch effort at an overtime comeback against Michigan State fell short when Ryan Evans' banked-in three-point shot was ruled no good as the backboard clock showed all zeros and the Spartans (3-0 Big Ten, 14-2 overall) were handed a 63-60 victory over a reeling Wisconsin squad.

MSU head coach Tom Izzo's first victory in Madison over UW head coach Bo Ryan was a memorable one. The Badgers (1-2 Big Ten, 12-4 overall) shot the ball at an anemic pace the entire game, finishing at a 33% clip softened tremendously by late heroics from senior guard Jordan Taylor, who finished with a game-high 28 points.

But beyond the heartbreaking finish and the poor shooting, Wisconsin failed to do the little things necessary to win. Taylor himself was uncharacteristically shaky with the ball, turning the ball over four times while notching just a single assist. The Badgers were out-rebounded 41-33 and missed 8 free throws (including two that were the front end of potential "one and one" chances), one of those free throws coming when Taylor had a chance to give UW a lead with just over 30 seconds remaining in regulation.

As the Badgers head into two tough road games against Michigan and Purdue, they must do something about their utter lack of depth. In Tuesday's defeat, three players finished with over 40 minutes of court time (out of a possible 45). Only seven players saw action for UW while Michigan State got a full 10 players involved in the act. The Badgers lack of depth hurt them tremendously in losses to Iowa and Michigan State, as UW starters were clearly fatigued during a few disorganized possession late in the game.

Facing the prospect of having to recover from consecutive home losses for the first time in three years, UW is squarely in danger zone and potentially on the verge of playing themselves out of a 14th straight NCAA tournament appearance.