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Badgers zone out streak
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Also by Michael Poppy:
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by Michael Poppy
Friday, February 2, 2007
After the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team had its 17-game winning streak snapped Wednesday, senior forward Alando Tucker is looking for the Badgers to go on yet another run.
"We have eight more games of the regular season left and we have to finish that out," Tucker said. "I definitely plan to go undefeated in these eight games."
UW senior guard Kammron Taylor one-upped Tucker's lofty goals.
"It was a great accomplishment," Taylor said of the 17-game winning streak. "But we still have another 17 games left, hopefully."
The only way the Badgers could go on another 17-game winning steak is if they take care of the eight remaining regular-season games, win three games to capture the Big Ten Tournament and run the table in the NCAA Tournament to win it all.
Even though Tucker and Taylor's goals may be rather grand, the Badgers certainly know they don't like the taste of defeat after Wednesday's disappointing 71-66 loss to No. 25 Indiana. After all, Nov. 24 was the last time they lost.
"Two months without taking a bump — that's a long time," UW head coach Bo Ryan said. The second-ranked Badgers (21-2 overall, 7-1 Big Ten) will have an opportunity to quickly bounce back from only their second loss of the season as the Northwestern Wildcats (11-10, 1-7) visit the Kohl Center Saturday.
In the first matchup between the two teams this season, Wisconsin escaped Welsh-Ryan Arena with a 56-50 victory. The Badgers were stymied by a pesky 1-3-1 Wildcats defense, but this time around Wisconsin feels much more comfortable against the zone.
"I think we got a lot of good looks in the second half when we played them there on how to attack their zone," Tucker said. "We were more aggressive towards pounding it on the inside."
At first, Wisconsin struggled mightily against Northwestern's zone defense in the Jan. 13 game, trailing 36-31 with 15 minutes remaining in the second half. But then Tucker started to take over, sparking an 8-2 Badgers run by attacking the rim.
Forwards Brian Butch and Marcus Landry also stepped up and provided a much-needed low post presence. Butch finished with nine points and seven rebounds, and Landry finished with eight points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
Saturday, Tucker will be looking to Butch and Landry for big games once again.
"We're definitely going to try to send a lot of guys to the glass," Tucker said. "That's where Brian and Marcus cleaned up last time — they were able to attack the glass and that's what's going to help us win."
But while Wisconsin will be looking to attack the rim, Taylor knows taking care of the ball will be crucial as well.
In the last meeting versus the Wildcats, Taylor had no assists and two turnovers. Since then, the Badgers' starting point guard has made a conscious effort to distribute the ball more efficiently. Since the Northwestern game, a span of five games, Taylor has averaged an assist-to-turnover ratio of nearly 2-to-1.
"The guards are where the point-off attack starts," Taylor said. "We just have to do a good job of taking care of the ball and try to find a way to get the ball inside the paint and work from there."
While Tucker and Taylor may be looking to go on an eight- or 17-game winning streak starting Saturday, the Badgers are simply going to go about their business as they have been all season: one game at a time.
"That's the way we're looking at it — just one game," Butch said. "We had a little setback [against Indiana], but we're able to come out, get some of that out of our system and get ready for Saturday."
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