Notes: Badgers preparing for new-look Purdue team

MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin Badgers (11-4, 3-1 Big Ten) will be looking to score another important Big Ten win on Friday night when they host the Purdue Boilermakers (9-6, 2-2) at the Kohl Center. Coming off of their road win over Penn State on Sunday, the Badgers will have to try and contain a Purdue team that has been a little hot and cold this season as they break in four new starters.

Of course, having a returning starter like point guard Carsen Edwards fixes a lot of rough edges. Edwards has taken on a larger role for the Boilermakers in his junior season - and is now averaging 25.5 points per game compared to 18.5 a year ago, when Purdue had three other players who averaged at least 10 points per game.

Edwards might be playing without the likes of Isaac Haas, Vince Edwards, and Dakota Mathias, but UW head coach Greg Gard said the Purdue point guard has found new ways to elevate his game and take control of the Boilermaker offense.

"Obviously he's a terrific player," Gard said of Edwards on Tuesday during his weekly press conference. "His explosiveness, you watch his speed with the ball, how he explodes to the rim. Now that he wasn't assertive before, but I've seen him take way more command, especially early in the year."

"Their team has kind of evolved and gotten better and Matt (Painter) changed the lineup four or five games ago. I think that's helped a little bit. But I think just watching how he has grabbed a hold of his team and really has kind of put them on his back, so to speak. So explosive. So quick to the rim. As the other group is trying to play catch-up ... he's been able to hold things together as everybody else figures out their roles."

In all likelihood the Badgers will have their hands full keeping Edwards under 20 points on Friday night - he's finished with fewer than 20 points in just two games so far this season (he scored 19 points in each game). Scraping another key Big Ten win might come down to how well the Badgers can bottle up the new pieces in Purdue's rotation.

After working his way on to the court in what was supposed to be a redshirt season for him, sophomore forward Nate Reuvers has strung together a couple of nice games since the Badgers made the switch back to Big Ten play full-time last week. Reuvers finished with 12 points against Minnesota and 11 points against Penn State, and gave the Badgers a reliable defensive presence in both games - something the coaching staff was hoping to see after Reuvers gained 25 pounds of good weight in the offseason.

And now that he's shooting 50.6 percent from the floor, including 35.3 percent on his 3-pointers, the Badgers are hoping that Reuvers can take another step forward in Big Ten play when he will be battling with other big men on a night-by-night basis.

"I've liked the way he's grown here," UW head coach Greg Gard said of Reuvers in his weekly press conference. "I think he's figuring out he's a big guy, and what I mean by that is the strength that he has that he gained from last year he's starting to apply that more consistently in the paint. He's very confident. You can see (from) the look on his face and the swagger he plays with that he can be a force inside and maybe that's something that he didn't always believe or have the tools to do before."

The Badgers also like that Reuvers is learning how to defend the paint a little more consistently - there were times after Reuvers blocked nine shots in the team's win over Stanford where the coaching staff felt he was too eager to vacate his position and try for a block. But assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft said after Wisconsin's loss to Minnesota last week that Reuvers has found a way to be a little more grounded on the defensive end.

"I thought it was the best job he's done as far as chesting up ... staying grounded on the floor," Krabbenhoft said on Friday. "He's been a little hoppy after he got that nine block game a couple months ago, but he really did a good job against two really, really good players on the block in Jordan Murphy and Daniel Oturu. He had his hands full and he responded really well."

It's been a solid start to the season for Reuvers so far, but Krabbenhoft thinks there is more to come from the former four-star prospect.

"He's just scratching the surface," Krabbenhoft said of Reuvers. "Defensively he's got to be that anchor for us. Him and Ethan and (Charles Thomas), all those guys have to continue to do a job like they did because the bigs in this league are really good."

The Badgers dropped out of both the AP and Coaches Polls this week following their loss to Minnesota last Thursday, which came on the heels of a road loss to Western Kentucky at the end of December. The Badgers received votes in both polls - enough to technically be No. 27 in the AP and No. 26 in the Coaches Poll. A loss to the Golden Gophers wasn't enough to drop the Badgers very far in Ken Pomeroy's efficiency rankings - he has Wisconsin ranked No. 15 in the country - third in the Big Ten, and two spots above Purdue at No. 17.

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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.