[media-credit name=’BRYAN FAUST/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]It's been a long time coming, but the men's basketball team is finally amid an eight-day break.

It is their longest such lay-off since getting 13 days to rest between Dec. 15 and Dec. 28.

Given more days between games to work with, UW head coach Bo Ryan is sticking to his normal practice schemes.

"We always go over situations whether it's a longer time period [or not]," Ryan said. "I mean we will go over [being] down two, up two, side-out, end-line out, full-court out. We do situations we might get in some more of during this time.

"The things we want to be good at are the same things that you want to be good at in October as well as in February and March because the game won't change during that time period," Ryan added. "So we've always done that whether we've had a long break or not."

Along with the normal fundamentals, coach Ryan likes to hone in on simulated game-situations and study the film of the opposition as much as possible, still keeping in mind that when the game comes the opposition can mix up their game plan.

"[Simulated drills are] something we've done in the past to reinforce what we do when we don't have any timeouts [or] we have two timeouts because when you're playing a game against a team that has shown one tendency, always make sure you mix in something else in case they change," Ryan said.

While practice may make perfect, coach Ryan and his players would rather be playing, especially since they are in the midst of a three-game winning streak.

"Well, you always like to play. You always like to compete," Ryan said. "It's better."

The Badgers have been off since beating Ohio State last Wednesday at the Kohl Center. The win helped propel the Badgers into a three-way tie for second place in the Big Ten, only a half game behind Iowa with four games remaining.

With the break, there may be concerns as to whether these Badgers can continue the run that they're on and play at the level they were competing at before this eight-day stretch. Ryan felt that to these concerns, there was no answer.

"There's been teams that have played well after a break and teams that couldn't get their timing after a break, so I don't think there's one answer."

Even during the struggles of just a few weeks ago when they were playing regularly, losing three in a row and five of six, the Badgers continued to put each preceding game behind them and prepared for the next one.

And while Ryan said that the media has been in a hubbub over the academic ineligibilities that have plagued the Badgers to start 2006 and the recent success that Ryan has had in overcoming these setbacks, he believes that his players are students of the game and they are the ones that make teachers better.

"You're always trying to get better at what you do," Ryan said. "You just hope that you have players that are grasping your concepts and that their basketball IQ is improving. It's still about what the players are doing. I know a lot of coaches that could X and O you to death, but still, what difference does that make if your players aren't picking up on what it is that you're … that's important to the game. They have to execute it and get it done between the lines.

Added Ryan: "In basketball, again, it's about the players — what are they picking up, what are they willing to do when they get on the court, how hard are they willing to play [and] how smart are they willing to play."