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Badger basketball to contend with Tucker’s 8 to 10-week recovery

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Related stories:

• Tucker receives warm welcome in return (December 11, 2003)
• Make room for more: Tucker nets another honor (March 8, 2007)
• Tucker steps up play in young Big Ten season (January 17, 2003)
• Tucker takes reigns of new-look Badgers (November 10, 2005)
• Basketball team growing up (March 3, 2003)

Also by Joe Ziemer:

• UW returns for spring largely intact (March 31, 2005)
• Business as usual for Mike Wilkinson (March 10, 2005)
• Perimeter shooting woes doom OSU comeback attempt (February 28, 2005)
• 7th time charm for Izzo, Spartans (February 25, 2005)
• Stanford ends UW's NCAA tournament run in regionals (December 13, 2004)

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The road to a third consecutive Big Ten championship will be a bit more difficult for Bo Ryan and the Wisconsin Badger basketball team. The team announced Tuesday that it will be without forward Alando Tucker for an estimated eight to ten weeks. Tucker underwent successful surgery on a fractured right foot Monday. Team orthopedist Dr. John Orwin performed the surgery, and the UW Sports Medicine staff will conduct Tucker’s rehab. The injury occurred last Thursday.

Wisconsin begins the exhibition schedule with the EA Sports All-Stars on Saturday, November 8. UW will then begin the regular season at Pennsylvania on Friday, November 21. The anticipated eight-to-ten week window would place his return anywhere from the December 10 home game against UWGB to the December 20 matchup with Marquette at the Kohl Center.

Tucker, a 6-foot-5 sophomore from Lockport, Ill., started 27 of 32 games as a freshman in 2002, averaging 12.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. After coming off the bench in UW’s first five games, the athletic Tucker was inserted into the starting lineup against UNLV, in place of Dave Mader. He responded with a 24-point, 18-rebound outburst. Those 18 rebounds were the most by a Big Ten player in one game last year.

On the season, he pulled down 2.69 offensive rebounds per game, which led the Big Ten. He also set a new UW record with 86 total offensive boards. Tucker also led the Badgers with a .533 field goal percentage.

For his efforts, he was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team by league coaches, and was an honorable mention All-Big Ten by the media.

Known for his exceptional leaping ability, Tucker’s vertical leap was measured at 40 inches, a new school best, topping Michael Finley’s previous record of 35.5 inches.