Coming off of a disappointing 69-51 loss at Northwestern this
weekend, Wisconsin men’s basketball head coach Bo Ryan did not seem
concerned about how his team would bounce back against Iowa and was
looking forward to Wednesday night’s game.

“Well, [Iowa] is a team that just came off a big win,” Ryan
said, referring to the Hawkeyes’ double-overtime 84-82 victory at
Indiana Saturday. “They are playing hard, and they are playing
well. Against Indiana — a tough place to play, and they came away
with something … They know they can get it done.”

Ryan says he looks at the game against Iowa as he would any
other game and is not caught up with any rivalry between Wisconsin
and Iowa.

“Years ago, when I was at Platteville, I know I heard it was a
heck of a rivalry. But for us, we gotta get on the floor and get
some things done and get ready to play the next team. I can’t say
it is anything more than any other team.”

Road Woes

Wisconsin is 2-4 on the road this season, but Ryan was not ready
to make excuses for the team’s troubles away from the Kohl
Center.

“If it doesn’t get done, you keep working to get it done,” Ryan
said.

One of the problems dogging the Badgers on the road has been
their lack of scoring balance, but Ryan was skeptical that the
trend was legitimate.

“We don’t say going on the road that we are gonna have one guy
score — that hasn’t been in the practice plan yet,” Ryan said when
questioned on the subject. “A lot of things could be going on.
Could be that a lot of the guys maybe don’t have as much
experience. What kind of experience does Zack Morley have playing
in the Big Ten? Ray Nixon, Clayton Hanson, Andreas [Helmigk]?
Wisconsin’s got a lot of guys out there playing that don’t have a
lot of experience. Maybe that is why their numbers [are down]. I
don’t bother giving people excuses to use, though. Get it
done.”

Owens’ injury

In two games since coming back from foot injury, senior guard
Freddie Owens has scored only six points, raising concerns that he
is still fighting the injury.

“I’m concerned for him from a coaching standpoint,” Ryan said.
“But if you can’t do things with total confidence, yet you are
cleared to participate, somewhere in your mind you have to overcome
those things.”

“I’m concerned about him being able to relax and play and
believe that everything’s gonna be alright.”

Ryan said that Owens’ presence on the court is invaluable, as he
is the only senior getting significant playing time.

“How important is he? Well, you take all the time … over the
years to be in position as a senior, to be the kind of contributor
that you hope for,” Ryan said. “Some of that has gotten away
because of the injury.”

Scheduling issues

The Badgers will play Michigan State on Tuesday, March 2 in a
nationally televised game on ESPN. The Tuesday game means that the
Badgers will play two games in three days, as they play Purdue the
previous Sunday.

“How about that?” Ryan said about the short break. “I’ll just
give you my wife’s answer when I told her this morning. That’s just
like the NCAA tournament or the NIT or whatever tournament on the
road in the preseason. You get a day of rest in between.”

Show time

ESPN’s series “The Season: College Basketball” will feature none
other than the Wisconsin men’s basketball team over the next few
weeks. A three-man crew will follow the Badgers beginning on
Monday, Feb. 16 through the final regular-season game at Indiana in
early March. Three half-hour shows will air on Tuesdays at 10:30
p.m. CT on ESPN2. The dates of the shows are Feb. 24, March 2 and
March 9.