It may not have been his best statistical night on the court, but senior forward Marcus Landry did just enough to join an elite group in University of Wisconsin men’s basketball history.

With his seventh point about midway through the second half, Landry scored the 1000th point of his career at UW, joining Wisconsin greats Alando Tucker, Michael Finley and 30 others as the only players to reach the milestone in Badgers history.

“When you speak of those guys — just to be mentioned in the same list as those guys, it’s a great accomplishment,” Landry said.

Although Landry leads the Badgers in scoring during conference play, he consistently throws out individual statistics. In fact, after last night’s 69-52 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes, Landry was not concerned with his own performance, but rather with the whole team.

Alongside fellow senior forward Joe Krabbenhoft, Landry stands as one of the Badgers’ team leaders. He consistently leads the team in scoring with 13.4 points per game in conference play. Despite his subpar nine points and two rebound performance last night, the seventh point on a turnaround post move in the key will be one for the record books.

“It does mean a lot to me,” Landry said. “It’s just something that I’m going to let pass over. When I’m a little older I can look back and take it in.”

Under head coach Bo Ryan, seven Badgers — including Landry — have scored at least 1000 points in their careers. While individual stats are an afterthought for his squads, Ryan believes Landry’s ability to be unselfish and his overall team spirit led to his accomplishment.

“I just know that guys can’t play for me that try to go for those numbers with disregard to the rest of the team, not being a good teammate or not playing team ball,” Ryan said. “Marcus got his (1000 points) being a team player just like the other guys.”

Krabbenhoft agreed with Ryan, touching on Landry’s ability to be a team leader and not play for statistics, but rather for wins. Krabbenhoft said Landry was so concerned with the team’s performance after the win at Penn State he didn’t even know the milestone was within reach.

“When the plane landed from Penn State, I was the one that told him,” Krabbenhoft said. “I said, ‘Hey, you get to do it in front of the home crowd.’ He said, ‘What are you talking about?’ That’s the type of player he is. He just goes out there and does his business — it’s all about the team.

“I’m so proud of him,” Krabbenhoft added. “He’s been one of my best friends and to reach that milestone is great, but he’ll be the first one to say it’s all about the team … and that’s what makes him a teammate and a great player.”

According to Ryan, Landry has kept focus on his tasks, despite only starting to see significant playing time starting last season. Ryan believes that, along with consistent growth as a player, led to the accomplishment as well as his overall performance as a player.

“That’s dedication — taking care of business, keeping what’s important to you in your life, to the game and to your team, and to everything else,” Ryan said. “He’s learned a lot, and he’s put that to good use, and I’m happy for him.”

Soft-spoken as always, the milestone puts Landry in an elite group. He will almost always put the team first, but on such a special night, he was able to quietly celebrate his achievement.

“We played Penn State, and we won that game,” Landry said. “I didn’t know how many points I needed then, but I guess it is a great accomplishment.”