SPORTS
Big Ten could work out for Badgers
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Tuesday, February 26, 2002
With one game left in the Big Ten season, the Wisconsin Badgers find themselves just one game out of first place in the conference and have a very legitimate chance to earn a share of the Big Ten title. Wisconsin is currently third in the conference with a 10-5 record and trails only Ohio State and Indiana.
Though the Badgers are in third place, they have the advantage of only having to play one game this week, while both OSU and Indiana will each play twice. However, the Badgers will need some help in order to finish on top of the conference.
If Ohio State and Indiana each lose one of their final two games and the Badgers win on Wednesday, Wisconsin would own a share of its first conference title since the 1947 team finished 9-3 in conference.
“Do we have a chance? As strange as it might sound and as hard as it is for everybody to believe, but going into the last week there is a chance to be a part of the conference championship,” head coach Bo Ryan said. “If you don’t take care of business on Wednesday then you aren’t even in the thought.”
While the Badgers will face eighth-place Michigan in their final game of the season conference, co-leaders Indiana and Ohio State each have considerably tougher schedules to finish the conference play this week.
The Hoosiers will play at Illinois Tuesday night against the suddenly red-hot Illini, while Ohio State will host fifth-place Michigan State, who has won its last three games and has battled back into the NCAA tournament picture after it appeared it would fail to reach the tournament after a horrible conference start.
“I’ll watch the (Indiana vs. Illinois) game. I’m still a fan of the game, obviously I’m a more than casual observer, figuring that we’ll be playing one of those four down the road,” said Ryan.
Illinois also still holds serious hopes of sharing a piece of the league title, while Minnesota and Michigan State, who are currently tied for fifth place in the Big Ten, will likely be left on the outside looking in.
Senior Leadership
A key in the Badgers surprising season and late-season run has been the play and work ethic of seniors Travon Davis and Charlie Wills. Davis has been impressive, dishing out 17 assists and recording only four turnovers in his last 104 minutes of play.
Wills is the team’s most experienced player and has appeared in 125 straight games. He has been the team’s second leading scorer in Big Ten play with 11.7 points per game, and has been shooting a team-high 49 percent from the field. During the Badgers’ five-game winning streak, Wills scored a career high 21 against Ohio State and followed that up with 19 against Indiana.
“It isn’t always an advantage to be a senior unless you put your experience to good use,” said Ryan. “If you are a senior and things have gone a way that you wouldn’t like, then that could be something that could be more detrimental to the team. But right now we have a great senior leadership factor with Travon and Charlie because they can’t wait to get to the next practice. They can’t wait to see what is next. That is a good sign.”
Layoff
The Badgers will enter Wednesday night’s contest on a five-game winning streak, during which they have played their best basketball of the season. However, a point of concern for Wisconsin may be making sure that they are performing at their highest level after an unusual late-season eight-day layoff.
“When you are playing well, you wish you were playing tomorrow and then the next day and the day after. You’d just like to keep going,” said Ryan. “So to play a game eight nights later, hopefully we’ll continue to play the way that we were playing our last game out.”
A quick start could be key for the Badgers, who lost at Michigan 64-53, if they hope to find any offensive rhythm and avoid falling behind early in the contest. The 53-point output at Ann Arbor was Wisconsin’s fourth lowest of the season.
