In the coming days and weeks, UW students will sweat through their finals, get in one last night at the bars with their friends, and prepare to go home for the holidays, as this fall semester winds down.

For the Badger basketball team, on the other hand, things are just getting started.

The Badgers will spend the first two weeks of their vacation finishing up their non-conference schedule in preparation for their Big Ten opener at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena against the formidable Iowa Hawkeyes on Jan. 2.

So far this season, the young Wisconsin squad has displayed considerable flashes of brilliance while constantly providing some very strong reminders that four of the seven players in head coach Bo Ryan’s main rotation are underclassmen.
In an impressive 70-57 victory over UW-Green Bay, the Badgers displayed that they were capable of controlling a game against a legitimate opponent. A 20-point second-half collapse against Georgia Tech during the ACC/Big Ten challenge showed a national television audience just how inexperienced Ryan’s squad is at this point of the season.

But the flaws that go hand-in-hand with inexperience are part of the learning process of a young but talented Badger squad. Ryan has been relying heavily on his youngsters this season, especially freshman guard Devin Harris. Harris leads the Badgers with 15.6 points and 35.8 minutes per game. He also leads the team in blocks, with seven, and three-pointers made, with 25.

Sophomore guard Freddie Owens and redshirt freshman forward Mike Wilkinson have also made sizeable contributions to the Badgers early on. Owens has been averaging 10 points and 3.9 boards per game and scored a career-high 23 points against Temple. Wilkinson has been an inside-out threat, averaging 9.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest, scoring on post moves and long-range jump shots.

Junior guard Kirk Penney, the team’s lone returning starter from last season, has provided the team with some much-needed experience. Penney has continued to be a threat from downtown, as he has hit 13 threes en route to a 10.2 point scoring average, but has been shooting an abysmal 44 percent from the free-throw line.
The Badgers hope to begin improving on their 3-6 record against Furman on Dec. 15 before battling dangerous in-state rival Marquette on Dec. 22. Both games will be held at the Kohl Center, where the Badgers are 1-1.
Ryan will get a chance to travel to the Brew City to face his old squad, UW-Milwaukee, on Dec. 27, before the Badgers return home to play Tennessee on Dec. 29 in their last non-conference game.
From the outset, the Badgers’ Big Ten schedule promises to be grueling. In three of their first four games, Wisconsin will face 15th-ranked Iowa, No. 8 Illinois, and No. 19 Michigan State.
Iowa has a roster loaded with elite players who have been putting up superb numbers so far this year. Forward Reggie Evans and guard Luke Recker are first and second in the Big Ten in scoring, with 18.7 and 17.6 points per game, respectively. Evans also leads the league in rebounding, with 11.9 boards per game, more than four more per contest than Michigan State’s Adam Ballinger, his closest competitor.
The Fighting Illini of Illinois, whom the Badgers face on Jan. 5 at the Kohl Center, will provide no rest for Wisconsin. All-everything point guard Frank Williams is the ultimate gamer, two-guard Cory Bradford is the school’s all-time leading three-point shooter, and 6-foot-10 forward Brian Cook is a matchup nightmare. Although the Illini experienced two early-season losses, both were against excellent opponents, No. 7 Arizona and No. 2 Maryland, and the Illini should be prepared for the contest, their first Big Ten road game.
Following the Illinois game, the Badgers depart on a brief road trip, playing Penn State on Jan. 9 and Michigan State on Jan. 12.
Michigan State, despite the fact that they have been ranked each week of the season thus far, is not the team it was last year. The loss of four starters, including Jason Richardson and Andre Hutson, and promising freshman Zach Randolph, has left head coach Tom Izzo in a situation he is unaccustomed to. Losses to Syracuse, Fresno State and Florida have caused the Spartans to continually drop from the No. 12 spot they inhabited in the preseason polls.
But while they may not be the national power that went to three straight Final Fours, point guard Marcus Taylor and mammoth forward Aloysius Anagonye provide the team with a solid foundation, and Izzo’s ability to get the most out of his players should make the Spartans a difficult test for the Badgers.
The Badgers finish up their winter break by returning home to face Minnesota on Jan. 16, and Purdue, on Jan. 19. Both teams currently sit at 5-3. Six-foot-10 freshman forward Rick Rickert is the Gophers’ best player and is averaging 13.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest. The Boilermakers, while they lack a true star, are incredibly well-rounded, with five players averaging double-figure points thus far this season.
And so goes the winter vacation for the Wisconsin men’s basketball team. No ski trips, no lounging around at home with old friends. As the holidays and New Year’s Eve come and go, the Badgers might not even have time to take notice of them. Theirs is a life dominated by jump shots and layups, and they can only hope that they make enough of each to make their winter vacation a successful one.