Schedule Could Push Wisconsin Into Big Ten Title Contention
It seems fitting that the University of Wisconsin is facing Minnesota tonight at “the Barn” in Minneapolis. After a physically and mentally challenging month of January, the Badgers have an opportunity to make hay in February.
Having played six ranked teams in the past nine games, the Badgers (13-9, 6-5 Big Ten) will play four consecutive games against teams below them in the jumbled Big Ten standings, starting with the Gophers (11-10, 5-6) in the first of two meetings between the schools this season.
The glass-half-empty approach says the Badgers spent last month spinning their wheels. UW didn’t win more than two games in a row over the last four weeks and hasn’t had a winning streak longer than four this season.
The glass-half-full optimist sees that Wisconsin finished an emotionally taxing week – one that saw homegrown talent Kobe King leave the program, them blowing a 12-point second-half lead in a loss at Iowa and emotional leader Brad Davison be suspended one game – to register a 64-63 confidence booster over No.14 Michigan State Saturday.
UW put four players in double figures, handled its own on the boards against the bigger Spartans and closed the door defensively after the offense failed to make a field goal in the final 7 minutes, 27 seconds. The Badgers also did it with only seven scholarship players available and with starting guards D’Mitrik Trice and Brevin Pritzl playing close to 40 minutes.
“The win negates all that,” Trice said. “I feel really good, especially on the inside, although my body may not be holding up to that standard.”
It was a triumph that injects some new life into the Badgers’ chances at possibly winning a share of a Big Ten title. Thanks to Illinois’ not-so-surprising loss at Iowa Sunday and Michigan State’s very surprising home loss to Penn State Tuesday, the Badgers sit two games behind co-leaders Illinois and Maryland with nine to play.
Of those nine games, Wisconsin plays only one team above them in the Big Ten standings (Rutgers) with that game being in Madison. The Badgers will also get home games against Ohio State Sunday and Purdue Feb.18.
Having played four of its last five road games against ranked teams, the Badgers’ remaining road games after tonight are against three teams - Nebraska, Michigan and Indiana – with a combined 22 conference losses and 13 home losses.
It’s a favorable schedule but, in the league’s toughest conference, nothing is being taken for granted. It’s part of the reason head coach Greg Gard downplayed the significance of Saturday’s upset over Michigan State.
“We played all right for 40 minutes,” he said. “We’ll look through this and try to get better from it. Got to get ready for a good Minnesota team up there Wednesday night … We’ll move on, try to get better Monday and Tuesday and be ready for Wednesday night up in the barn.”
The Gophers will be the Badgers’ 14th Quadrant 1 game of the season, the most of any team in the nation. Minnesota has one of the conference’s best double-double players in Daniel Oturu (19.7 ppg, 11.1 rpg) and one of the league’s best facilitators in Marcus Carr (6.6 apg).
Wisconsin will get Davison back in the lineup tonight to help ease some of the burdens on Trice, Pritzl and reserve guard Trevor Anderson, which will likely increase a hostile atmosphere. Davison – a native of Maple Grove, Minn. – has been a top villain for Gophers fans since he committed to UW over Minnesota and criticized him for attempting to trip Nate Mason two years ago and Jordan Murphy last season.
The game officials didn’t call fouls on either play and no punishment was given by the league’s office.
Gard downplayed the homecoming (Davison wasn’t available to reporters due to class schedule) like he sidestepped the importance of ending an eight-game losing streak to the Spartans. However, he didn’t shy away from speaking about the competitiveness and resilience of his team during a tumultuous week, a level of play that they hope to carry over.
“They are a tight-knit group in that locker room,” Gard said. “They understand, appreciate and embrace wearing that ‘W’ and how much pride and the people you represent with that. They don’t take that lightly.”