After somewhat mixed but overall solid results in the Paradise Jam Tournament in the Virgin Islands, Badgerball will head to more warm weather after a week in chilly Madison to participate in another tournament in Arizona this weekend.
Before they get ahead of themselves, however, they must take on a solid Cleveland State team Tuesday night at the Kohl Center.
While the No. 23 Badgers lost a disappointing 75-70 decision to Texas in the first round of the Paradise Jam Tournament, they fought back and weathered through a cold shooting night to outlast No. 12 Florida, 61-49.
So after big games against Washington, Texas, and Florida, in which the Badgers have posted a solid 2-1 record, they must guard against the inevitable letdown against a lesser-profile team such as Cleveland State.
And what better way for a lesser-profile team to gain some respect than by knocking off the No. 23-ranked team on the road?
The Vikings, who are classified as an NCAA Division I team and posted a 14-14 record (7-7 in the Horizon League) last season, are poised to do just that in an effort to jumpstart their season after a slow start.
In their first game of the year, Cleveland State was knocked off by Duquesne 85-71 in the Vikings’ home opener.
Junior guard Erika Roudebush led the Vikings with 24 points, while 6-foot-4 senior center Kim Brockway, who will pose a solid matchup for Badger power forward Jessie Stomski, scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in posting a double-double.
Last season Brockway averaged 10.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for CSU.
However, Duquesne was able to exploit the Vikings’ 19 turnovers, a number they will have to greatly improve on to compete with Wisconsin.
Cleveland State lost to Western Illinois in their second game by a score of 64-59. The difference in that game was the 34-10 scoring advantage in the paint for Western Illinois, another stat that the Badgers can possibly exploit with their solid frontline against the Vikings. Roudebush again led the team in scoring with 28 points, showing a deft 10-21 shooting touch (including 5-12 from three-point range) that could give UW some problems.
However, with 21 more turnovers, the Vikings were not able to get up as many shots as desired.
“We’re not going to win games getting up just 46 shots,” Cleveland State coach Duffy Burns said. “We’ve showed signs of what we’re capable of doing, but we just haven’t been consistent.”
Turnovers have also plagued the Badgers so far this season. After making that an issue to clean up after exhibition play, Wisconsin has averaged 18.0 turnovers in its first three regular season games, with the number increasing each game.
Obviously this is something that Wisconsin still needs to improve on as they look towards Big Ten play.
Wisconsin has only played Cleveland State twice in its history, with the series split at one game apiece. The Vikings won the first game between the two in 1983 by a score of 70-67, while the Badgers won the second meeting by a score of 103-64.
While the Badgers may not have circled Tuesday’s game against Cleveland State on a schedule that includes tough nonconference foes as well as the always-tough Big Ten schedule, they must nonetheless be ready.
And while it may seem like an easy win for the Badgers, which it could be if they play like they have been playing so this season, it is imperative to remember this old cliche: that’s why they play the game.