[media-credit name=’DEREK MONTGOMERY/Herald Photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]After rebounding from a tough loss to Illinois with a blowout of Penn State, Wisconsin (14-4, 5-2 Big Ten) looks to make it two in a row as it welcomes Northwestern (9-10, 2-5 Big Ten) to the Kohl Center tonight.

Wisconsin has employed a three-guard lineup in its last two matchups and has found success. After struggling with the Illini backcourt, Wisconsin guard Kammron Taylor flourished playing off the ball against the Nittany Lions, scoring 20 points on the night. The backcourt trio of Taylor, Sharif Chambliss and Clayton Hanson totaled 38 points on a combined 14-of-27 shooting.

“Starting at the off-guard lets me get into the tempo of the game,” Taylor said.

The three-guard alignment will see a traditional two-guard, two-forward, one-center lineup for the first time against Northwestern.

Northwestern presents a unique challenge for Wisconsin. The Wildcats run a distinct motion offense that emphasizes screening and hard cuts. Head coach Bill Carmody brought the system to Evanston after running the show at Princeton for four seasons. Carmody learned the offense while assisting under legend Pete Carrill.

“They pass, they cut, they screen,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “(Pete) Carrill was at Reading High School. Reading High School played my high school back when he was a high school coach, and people in Chester are familiar with Reading. He goes to Princeton, does the same things that he was doing at Reading High School, pass, cut, read, if you’re overplayed, counter.”

The Badgers will also need to watch for another staple of the Wildcat attack: backdoor cuts.

“Obviously, the system they run is pretty efficient and they’ve had success with it,” Wisconsin guard Clayton Hanson said. “I think that’s where it starts — any little step here or there can totally expose you and then it’s an easy bucket for them. You just have to keep your man in front of you as best you can. We have to take that away, because if they start getting open, it’s a snowball effect.”

Northwestern possesses plenty of international flair on its roster. Croatian junior forward Vedran Vukusic keys the Wildcat attack. Vukusic averages 17.6 points per game for the season and nearly single-handedly led his team to a win in the Cats’ upset victory over Iowa by scoring 32 points.

“[Vukusic]’s good with the ball,” Ryan said. “He can shoot the three. He’s actually attacking the rim pretty well. And defensively he’s pretty good. He’s better (than last year). I mean, he’s a good all-around player. Heady. I’m impressed with him on film.”

Fellow starters Davor Duvancic, Mohamed Hachad and T.J. Parker round out the Wildcat foreign contingent. Parker, who hails from France, is the younger brother of San Antonio Spurs standout guard Tony Parker.

“They have a lot of weapons,” Taylor said. “We can’t take them for granted.”

Northwestern has rotated starters in the pivot, with sophomore Vince Scott and Duke transfer Mike Thompson each seeing time in the lineup. Thompson, a former McDonald’s All-American, has made the most of his debut season in Evanston, averaging 10.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game.

As a team, Northwestern has struggled to score, ranking dead last in the Big Ten in points per game with a paltry 60.1. Offense, or lack of offense, has been the main culprit in NU’s disappointing season thus far. The Wildcats are 4-0 in games in which they score at least 70 points. However, they have been held under the 60-point barrier on 11 separate occasions.

Despite their height on the inside, the Wildcats also post the poorest rebounding margin in the conference, getting beat on the boards by an average of 4.4 per contest. Thompson leads the team with just 4.9 rebounds per game. Part of the reason for Northwestern’s rebounding deficiencies is the match-up zone style of defense they play. While the defense has limited opponents to an average of 61.8 points per game, the Wildcats rank second to last in defensive rebounds per contest.

Inconsistency has plagued Northwestern throughout the season. After beating Indiana by 21 points to open the Big Ten schedule, Carmody’s squad dropped four straight contests, the most recent coming at the hands of last-place Penn State. NU rebounded to beat the Iowa Hawkeyes in overtime, but then lost at home to Ohio State three days later.

Wisconsin will be looking to capitalize on those inconsistencies tonight and defeat Northwestern for the seventh straight time in Madison.