[media-credit name=’BRYAN FAUST/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]Two weeks have passed since the men's basketball team last won a game. Since then, the Badgers have lost three straight conference games, which hasn't happened since January of 2001.

Rumors that once were whispers of a Big Ten title have disappeared and have been replaced with talk of an NIT tournament bid.

Although the recent thrashings from Purdue, Illinois and Michigan have been troubling, the team is still not out of the running for a conference crown.

With a 5-4 Big Ten record, the Badgers have faded from a tie for first in the conference, to the sole No. 4 spot, two wins behind first-place Iowa.

"This is definitely the most important week of the year," junior Kammron Taylor said. "We are 5-4 right now and there is a big group of teams clumped for second place, so we are just going to have to work our way back onto the top of the division. Anything could happen on any given night."

The first chance for the Badgers to regroup will be against No. 24 Indiana at the Kohl Center tonight. The Hoosiers come into Madison with a 0-3 conference road-game record.

Indiana, much like Wisconsin, has now found itself in a scramble to stay towards the top of the Big Ten in anticipation of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in March.

"[Indiana] has great shooters," UW head coach Bo Ryan said. "You know, they're a very good team and that's why they've been labeled as such."

The Hoosiers are led by Auburn transfer Marco Killingsworth, who has had a stellar season to date. He enters the contest averaging 17.9 points and 7.5 rebounds.

However, in the last three Hoosier defeats, Killingsworth has averaged only 13.3 points a game. Containing Killingsworth in the post will be key if the Badgers want to triumph over the Hoosiers.

"Indiana runs a lot of offense through him," junior Alando Tucker said. "So, we are going to throw a lot of different looks at them and just try to force them out of the block. We also want to work them a bit, try to make them run.

"But [Killingsworth] is one of the best in the Big Ten. He is strong with a big body and takes up a lot of space. We can't let him have a strong game. It will be a challenge."

Out-running Killingsworth and the Hoosiers will be easier said than done as the Badgers may be without sophomore Brian Butch during the game.

During the Purdue contest, Butch hit the floor hard with a left ankle injury. His status is listed as probable for the game.

With Butch possibly out of the lineup, the Badgers could be down another player. That could force them to exercise more minutes out of their more-inexperienced players on the court.

However, don't count on Tucker and Taylor to take a back seat, as both have been averaging a significant amount of minutes on the season.

"Tucker and I are used to it," Taylor said about running around on the court. "Our legs are strong enough to handle it. We are going to have to have the younger guys play more minutes and I think they are ready. They are not freshmen anymore. They have played in enough games where they should be more mature."

Freshmen Kevin Gullikson and Joe Krabbenhoft have both stepped up for the Badgers as of late.

In the last three games, both have been averaging over 15 minutes on the floor. However in those games, Gullikson has not scored more than four points, while Krabbenhoft has scored as high as nine points.

In place of the lack of points, Tucker has been very successful thus far in the Big Ten. The forward leads the conference in scoring with 20.7 points per game. If Tucker continues to lead the league in scoring, he would be the first Badger to accomplish that feat since Don Rehfeldt won back-to-back scoring titles in 1949 and 1950.

"He's pretty effective in the post for a guy his size and always has been," Ryan said of Tucker. "What he needs to do is keep working on his defense, on his rebounding, and … just keep working on being a complete player. That's all we ever ask of guys during the game and throughout a season, just keep getting better at passing, finding open people."

Ryan also made sure to note that, while Tucker has been pivotal in the Badgers' success, he still has room for improvement.

"He still has a lot of work to do in those areas and on the defensive end," Ryan said. "He just needs to be a good player all the time, both ends of the floor, and play his role. And that won't change."