[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]For hockey players, it's the beard that signifies a postseason run. For UW men's basketball junior center Greg Stiemsma, it's apparently the Mohawk.

Stiemsma, who had the hairdo at the beginning of the season, shaved his hair into the Mohawk as No. 1 Wisconsin (26-2 overall, 12-1 Big Ten) embarks on its toughest three-game stretch to close out the regular season, starting Tuesday at Michigan State (19-8, 6-6).

"It's kind of a little booster thing getting into the crunch time of the season," Stiemsma said of his Mohawk. "Maybe it'll give us a spark, give us an extra edge."

But it wasn't Stiemsma's idea to go back to the hairstyle. As ABC camera crews followed the Badgers around all last week for taping of the weekly program, "Chase Card Services Presents FREE Ticket: Inside College Basketball," teammates Alando Tucker and Joe Krabbenhoft decided to mix things up and convince Stiemsma to do the 'do.

"Me and Joe have been on [Stiemsma] the whole year to try and bring it back," Tucker said. "He was waiting for a perfect time and the cameras were rolling around so we were like, 'Let's give them some footage.'"

While Stiemsma ultimately agreed to bring back the Mohawk, Tucker says peer pressure from him and Krabbenhoft prompted the junior into doing it. But if Stiemsma hadn't agreed to the Mohawk, Tucker and Krabbenhoft would've held him down or shaved it in his sleep.

"It probably wouldn't have turned out as pretty; it would've been a crooked Mohawk," Tucker said. "But it would've gotten the job done."

Mohawk or not, Stiemsma's play off the bench is going to be critical in the season's last three games as Wisconsin plays Michigan State twice and No. 2 Ohio State in-between.

As the Badgers prepare to face the Spartans in East Lansing, Mich. Tuesday night, Stiemsma, who missed last year's game at the Breslin Center, knows just how important rebounding is going to be. Michigan State and Wisconsin are two of the top rebounding teams in the Big Ten at 36 and 35.9 boards per game, respectively.

"Rebounding's going to play a big part of the game," Stiemsma said. "[Michigan State's] really aggressive and they have some athletic guys who fly around and play above the rim, so we have to try and take that away from them, but at the same time we still have to go to the glass and hope we pick up some offensive rebounds."

Not having played Michigan State yet, Wisconsin is somewhat unfamiliar with the Spartans' style of play. However, one thing is for certain: Michigan State has been extremely inconsistent this season.

After finishing the non-conference schedule with only two losses — a two-point loss at Maryland and a seven-point loss at Boston College — Michigan State opened the Big Ten by losing its first two games, including a 22-point spanking at Indiana.

The Spartans then went on a four-game winning streak, a subsequent four-game losing streak and now are currently on a two-game winning streak.

Nevertheless, junior guard Drew Neitzel has stepped his play up tremendously this season.

After the Spartans lost Maurice Ager, Shannon Brown and Paul Davis — their top three scorers from a year ago– to the NBA, Neitzel was forced to take on the scoring load, a challenge he's fulfilled. Neitzel is currently averaging 18.1 points per game this year — an increase of 9.8 points from last year.

"He's a very good guard," Ryan said of Neitzel at Monday's press conference. "He makes his free throws, he runs the show, he can shoot the 3, he's a better defender — he's shown improvement in every area of the game.

"Anytime you're around people like that, you know you've always got a chance," Ryan added.

Neitzel's supporting cast, however, has been inconsistent. Michigan State's second leading scorer, freshman Raymar Morgan, is scoring only 6.4 points per game in the five Big Ten losses he's played in (Morgan missed the opener with a stress reaction in his right shin) — 4.7 points less than his season average.

But now, with Morgan and sophomore guard Maurice Joseph (6.8 points per game) completely healthy, the Spartans have added much-needed depth. The stronger support behind Neitzel made itself evident during MSU's recent two-game winning streak.

"Michigan State has played well recently because they're healthy and they've gotten some confidence back," Ryan said.

"Their depth is there," Ryan continued. "If somebody gets in foul trouble, if somebody's not playing well or there needs to be a change according to matchups with the other team, they've got it. They've got the numbers now."

Even though Wisconsin hasn't played Michigan State this year, most of the Badgers players still know what to expect Tuesday.

"They're the same team," UW senior guard Kammron Taylor said. "Coach Izzo's not going to change — he still has that same intensity and fire. We know his team's going to bring that toughness out on the court — they're going to be physical and they're never going to give up."