For one reason or another, the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team is no longer haunted by the six-game losing streak it suffered for the bulk of January.
With their 60-55 win over Michigan Sunday, the Badgers were able to win a game that last month surely would have been a defeat.
But perhaps the most impressive aspect of yesterday’s victory is the fact that the Badgers were coming off a loss at Michigan State that was reminiscent of the games during the losing streak.
During that contest, Wisconsin built a second half lead to as many as 12 points, but like the Badgers’ games against Northwestern, Minnesota, Iowa and Purdue, they could not hold off the Spartan’s comeback, eventually falling 61-50 in East Lansing.
After that game, the talks of yet another losing streak started — especially after Michigan downed No. 16 Purdue a few days earlier — and who could blame the skeptics? After all, the last time the Badgers lost games like that was during a stretch that was detrimental to Wisconsin’s season.
However, the Badgers were able to come back and speak with their play on the court. Just when it looked like the game might have been slipping away from them in the first half, the Badger defense came back to allow a mere 30.8 percent shooting in the second half of yesterday’s contest to close out a huge win over Michigan.
“It was either us going on a scoring drought or … us turning the ball over,” UW forward Marcus Landry said in regard to the losing streak. “We watched film of every game, after every game. And it was the same thing every time. Every game, we made mistakes, they scored off our mistakes.”
While those mistakes have been minimized over seven of the past eight games, some of those ghosts from the skid might still be haunting the Badgers, who made only four of their eight free throw attempts down the stretch against Michigan. The missed shots allowed the Wolverines to stay close before eventually falling at the Kohl Center.
But now with an NCAA Tournament bid ever so close, those mistakes need to not only be minimized but to be cleared altogether. The missed free throws yesterday, allowing Purdue to hit three consecutive 3-pointers and blowing a 12-point lead to a good team won’t fly in the big dance.
Then the question must be asked, “If the Badgers do minimize their mistakes down the stretch, are they good enough to beat the better teams in the country?”
Well, looking back on the season, it’s tough to say. The two early season losses to Marquette and Texas both show how the Badgers are able to compete with some great teams but just couldn’t close out a tough game.
Even if you look at Wisconsin’s wins against some of the Big Ten’s better teams like Michigan, Illinois and Ohio State, it doesn’t really help the Badgers’ cause too much. They still lack a signature win, and while it might not affect their chances of getting into the tournament, it might be a precursor of what to expect once the Badgers are participating in it
It would be a bit too much to say that the Badgers are expected to accomplish much beyond the Sweet 16 — even that would be a worthy accomplishment considering the adversity they faced this season.
But what they need to prove in order to achieve that worthy achievement is that they aren’t only able to compete with the best teams but to beat them. Until now, that has yet to be seen.
Jonah is a sophomore majoring in journalism and Hebrew and Semitic studies. Are the Badgers still thinking about their six game losing streak? Can they really compete in the postseason? Send your thoughts to [email protected].
