Through four of the finest seasons a point guard has ever compiled at the University of Wisconsin, there are very few things Jordan Taylor doesn’t have.
Individual accolades have come in the form of preseason All-American awards, Big Ten Player of the Week honors and two consecutive all-conference first team selections. Collectively, Wisconsin has compiled a 72-26 record over the three years Taylor has been the team’s primary point guard. Last season, the Badgers returned to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2008.
Taylor’s steady leadership and top-dog disposition have helped maintain UW’s streak of 11 straight top-four finishes in the Big Ten, and this weekend the Badgers head to the conference tournament in Indianapolis with yet another first-round bye.
But while the Badgers can enjoy an extra day of practice on its own court while Indiana and Penn State battle for the right to play them, one very noticeable failure refuses to be swept under the proverbial rug woven by Wisconsin’s identity as one of the conference’s most consistent teams.
Taylor, in four years, never has won the Big Ten tournament. In fact, he’s never even won a single game on the conference’s biggest stage. The Badgers did win the tournament in 2008, the year before Taylor arrived in Madison, but since then, a pair of four-point losses and last year’s 36-33 fiasco at the hands of Penn State have bounced Wisconsin out in the first round.
“It’s been some ugly games for us down there since I’ve been here,” Taylor said. “Obviously, we haven’t won there since they won in ’08. It’s just been some ugly games, but sometimes you’ve got to find a way to win ugly games. We haven’t been able to do that.”
Last season’s nightmare at the hands of the Nittany Lions was the lowest scoring game in the 14-year history of the Big Ten Tournament – and it wasn’t even close. The game’s combined 69 points shattered the previous low of 85, set by none other than Wisconsin against Michigan in 2008.
But that’s not to say the Badgers haven’t brought talented teams to the tourney each year. Last season, a 13-4 conference record earned Wisconsin a No. 3 seed in Indianapolis. In each of the prior two seasons, UW finished No. 4.
To hammer home the promise this year’s squad holds, 17-year strength and conditioning coach Scott Hettenbach made a special presentation of sorts to the players this week.
“[Hettenbach] came in and he said, ‘The last three years, we obviously haven’t gotten any wins down there.’ He showed us the last time they got some wins down there, they won the whole thing,” forward/center Jared Berggren recounted. “He came in, he showed us the [championship] ring and said, ‘This is what we’re capable of; this is what we’ve been working for.’
“That’s our goal, that’s our mindset going into this weekend. We’re going to go down there and try to win the championship.”
As always, winning the title has been the players’ outwardly stated goal this week.
But with a little prodding, some of the Badgers’ additional motives for finding success this weekend rose to the surface.
“I’m personally really playing for [Taylor] and Rob [Wilson],” guard Josh Gasser said in reference two UW’s only two seniors. “Obviously for the whole team and all the fans and everything, but just seeing how hard them two have worked – Jordan, especially – it would just mean a lot to me to be able to see him hold up the trophy because he deserves it. He’s worked harder than anyone around and he’s good as anyone around.”
But not all parties in attendance at practice this week shared those sentiments. Perhaps anticipating an overreliance on the notion of needing to get Taylor and Wilson some wins this weekend, assistant coach Lamont Paris quickly attempted to quell much of the “do it for the seniors” talk.
“I don’t think it is in their minds at all, to be honest with you,” Paris said. “What if we had won every Big Ten tournament game since these guys had been here? Then the question would be, ‘Well there’s pressure on you; every other team has won every single Big Ten game.’ It’s a game that we have to play. We’re going to lace ’em up and whoever’s in front of us, we’re going to let our hair down and play basketball.”
Regardless, Wisconsin agreed on one obvious goal for this weekend – win some games and establish momentum as the NCAA tournament draws near. Paris insisted this year’s squad has the maturity and coaching to ensure a focus on winning one game at a time, an idea that could pay dividends in a conference tourney that is regarded as one of the most wide-open in years.
“[Winning] is definitely important to me,” Taylor said. “It’s my last chance to win in the Big Ten, the last experience in the Big Ten. It’d be huge, especially, if we go down there and try to win the whole thing.”
