Four wins in a row have the Wisconsin men’s basketball team (13-9 Overall, 5-4 Big Ten) riding a high.

The recent streak has pushed expectations further for the team and shown a higher standard of play. A standard that can now be used as a baseline for players who were previously getting used to their roles.

Redshirt freshman Ethan Happ’s emergence as a constant means of production has allowed the team to focus less on forcing junior Nigel Hayes into uncomfortable isolation situations. It has also kept junior Bronson Koenig from having to force shots from beyond the arc as the shot clock winds down and redshirt junior Zak Showalter has been able to play as he was meant to — as a defensive specialist.

The rest of the team also seems to be falling into place. The only spot left uncertain is the center position, which junior Vitto Brown occupied for much of the season. But head coach Greg Gard showed in the Badgers’ Illinois game that he isn’t afraid to go smaller by inserting redshirt junior Jordan Hill into the final spot in the starting lineup.

The Illinois game proved Gard’s team can win in a variety of ways, and with the postseason approaching, the team needs to keep stating its case for an NCAA Tournament bid with less and less room for error.

Assessing Illinois

The Badgers’ trip to Champaign proved fruitful, as they returned to Madison the victors of a 63-55 contest.

Gard’s smaller lineup was able to keep an athletic Fighting Illini team in check. Illinois’ star Malcolm Hill scored 22 points and secured three rebounds, but Wisconsin’s defense forced three turnovers out of the guard and kept him in check on a night where he had the potential to run the Badgers off the court.

Wisconsin relied on Hayes’ 17 points, two assists and steal to counteract Hill’s efforts, while Koenig assisted by providing 11 points of his own.

But the real story of the game was freshman Khalil Iverson’s play, who came off the bench and paid dividends for Wisconsin. Iverson dropped 10 points, brought in five rebounds, dished two assists and even recorded a steal in his 30 minutes.

The production from Wisconsin’s bench in recent games has made this team increasingly reminiscent of teams from past years, and along with it, they’ve begun to find their groove and winning ways again.

Wisconsin’s keys to victory

Pressure on defense:

Ohio State’s freshman guard JaQuan Lyle and junior forward Marc Loving are two of the Buckeyes’ biggest weapons.

Loving is the leading scorer on the Buckeyes’ roster (13.3 ppg) and Lyle has the most assists by a large margin (106), so the ball will be in their hands more often than not. But that also presents Ohio State with a disadvantage of sorts.

Both commit the most turnovers for the Buckeyes. On the season, Loving has coughed up the ball 59 times. But even more astonishing is that Lyle, the starting point guard, has given up the ball 66 times.

Lyle is a freshman and can easily have his nerves rattled by the Kohl Center crowd. With that in mind, Wisconsin should look to play the two tightly and see if they can trap them into dribbling too much or making bad passes.

Spreading points:

A recent facet to Wisconsin’s game has been spreading points more evenly between starters and bench players.

One thing Gard can be certain of is keeping his players involved in the scoring process will only make the team better.

The spontaneity of doing so will keep opposing defenses on their toes and free up UW players for offensive looks rather than allowing for effective double teams.

Opposing player to watch: Keita Bates-Diop

Sophomore forward Keita Bates-Diop plays an all-around solid game.

Bates-Diop is averaging 11.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.13 assists this season and has shown glimpses of a special side to his game. Buckeyes head coach Thad Matta made it clear to Bates-Diop before Ohio State’s Jan. 25 game against Penn State he needed more energy to his play. So far, the sophomore has brought just that.

He scored 22 points in that game and then dropped 15 against Illinois the next time out. But after a tough contest against Maryland, where the Buckeyes lost by only five points and Bates-Diop only scored eight points, he will be hungry to get that fire back.

Wisconsin will need to contain Bates-Diop with an athletic forward like Hayes to keep the promising sophomore in check.