With the departure of forwards Marcus Landry and Joe Krabbenhoft, the “experts” did not exactly see big things for the Wisconsin men’s basketball team in 2009-10. In fact, though the Big Ten releases only the top three teams in its annual preseason polls, it was reported the media voted the Badgers ninth out of 11 teams in the conference.
Well, not only has head coach Bo Ryan’s program proved everyone wrong, they’ve earned the right to be considered a major player in the national basketball landscape.
With wins over two top-ten teams for the first time since 2006-07 (when they earned a No. 1 national ranking) the Badgers have moved up to the top 15 in the most recent polls.
Ryan and Wisconsin began the season inauspiciously with a pair of wins over Summit League opponents in IPFW, and Oakland. However, it was a trip to paradise during Thanksgiving week that seemed to jumpstart the Badgers.
UW went 2-1 in the Maui Invitational, but more importantly, the young Badgers defeated then-No. 21 Maryland. Immediately following that trip, Wisconsin shifted its focus to another ACC opponent in then-No. 6 Duke for the most anticipated game of the season at the Kohl Center.
To the delight of Badger fans, the game didn’t disappoint, as Wisconsin never trailed en route to a 73-69 victory that prompted students to rush the court and hoist forward Jon Leuer on their shoulders.
The Badgers went 1-1 over their next two games — including a disappointing overtime loss at UW-Green Bay — before reeling off five straight home wins.
Once the calendar turned to 2010, however, Wisconsin had to go back on the road, and this time it was to a handful of Big Ten arenas.
At Penn State, the Badgers easily handled guard Talor Battle and the Nittany Lions, but in East Lansing on Jan. 6, Michigan State outlasted Wisconsin in an ugly grind-it-out Big Ten battle. UW bounced back in a big way three days later.
Hosting then-No. 4 Purdue, the Badgers outplayed the Boilermakers thanks in large part to the guard play of seniors Jason Bohannon and Trevon Hughes and sophomore sixth man Jordan Taylor, who combined for 57 of UW’s 73 points.
simply Through the first two games without an injured Leuer, UW has shown one thing: it will win or lose by its guard play in the absence of the 6-foot-10 forward.
In Evanston, strong performances by Bohannon, Hughes and Taylor led the Badgers past the Wildcats in a big 10-point road win. When Wisconsin went to Ohio State, however, the guards — especially Taylor — struggled to score, which led to a nine-point loss in Columbus.
With Leuer out of the lineup indefinitely, the Badgers will simply need to tread water over the next two to six weekd..
If they can, the 2009-10 version of the Wisconsin men’s basketball team could be one of the best in recent history.
