[media-credit name=’BRYAN FAUST/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]After having seemingly no chance at finishing first in the Big Ten just one week ago, the Wisconsin men's basketball team (17-7, 7-4 Big Ten) finds itself one game behind Iowa for the top spot in conference as they take on the second-place Ohio State Buckeyes (18-3, 7-3 Big Ten) tonight at the Kohl Center.

After a three-week struggle that saw Wisconsin lose five out of six games, the Badgers suddenly find themselves with a modest two-game conference winning streak. Saturday's game against Penn State was probably the most telling sign that Wisconsin had broken out of its midseason slump as it blew out the Nittany Lions in the second half, outscoring Penn State by 22.

What made the victory even more meaningful for Wisconsin's psyche was the fact that the Badgers won without much assistance from Alando Tucker, who scored only nine points in the contest.

The fact that sophomore Brian Butch and junior Kammron Taylor combined for 47 points shows Wisconsin's versatility and ability to pick up the scoring when their leading scorer plays poorly.

"Right now, I think we're playing with a lot of confidence. When things are clicking and we're hitting shots, you can't help but feel confident," Taylor said. "I think right now, going into this game on Wednesday that guys are starting to get their swagger back. That's always a good thing because we're going into the last stretch of the Big Ten."

Wisconsin is going to need to harness that confidence against one of the premier teams in the Big Ten in Ohio State. While Wisconsin has struggled over the past three weeks, Ohio State has been red hot, winning six of their past seven game, including a 77-67 defeat of Wisconsin in Columbus.

Ohio State is led by a formidable 3-point attack, as the Buckeyes shoot 42.8 percent behind the arc. Additionally, big man Terence Dials hurt Wisconsin in the last meeting, scoring 15 points and securing six rebounds to lead Ohio State.

But another player who the Badgers have to keep an eye on is sophomore Jamar Butler, who had a career week last week as he scored a career-high 20 points at Michigan only to top that performance with a 22-point effort at home against Illinois.

Honored as the Big Ten Player of the Week, Butler made 71 percent of his shots in the two games and 88 percent of his 3-point attempts in the wins.

In order for Wisconsin to come out victorious tonight, it will need to lead a balanced defensive attack on the perimeter and on the blocks. Leaving one of those areas unguarded could lead to easy Ohio State baskets.

"In order to contain their perimeter players you just have to be just aggressive on defense," Michael Flowers said. "We just have to contain their perimeter players as much as we can and not only that — they are shooting the ball well — but they have a big force inside in Dials," Flowers said. "We just have to play an all-out game on defense, as well as offense, to try to come out with a victory."

While some teams see playing a team a second time as a challenge because of the first-hand scouting reports, UW head coach Bo Ryan feels that the problem is more internally, as the Badgers need to worry about themselves being prepared to play.

"The best way to survive on a camping trip is make sure you prepare and take the right food and clothes," Ryan said. "Take care of yourself, prepare, do the things, get ready to keep practicing the things that you've been working on and keep trying to get better at those things. And obviously we throw in what the other team is doing, but there's no other way to prepare for it. The main thing is be ready yourself."

Despite the recent success of the Badgers, they still have something to prove down the stretch of the Big Ten season. Of course, anything can happen this season in the Big Ten, and tonight's game against the Buckeyes seems like another turning point for the 2005-06 men's basketball season.

"We only have five games left, and after this game on Wednesday we're only going to have four left," Taylor said. "So with a team like Ohio State coming in here — they're in first place. This is definitely a big game for us. After this game we are going to have eight days off. You don't want to go into that break thinking about that loss. So this game is definitely big and it's definitely a turning point for our season."