It's all about home court advantage. Talk to the players and the coach, and they'll agree that playing to a familiar crowd is more comforting than facing their foes on the road. When the men's basketball team last faced the University of Illinois, the Badgers stunned the then-No. 7 Fighting Illini in a 72-66 win. The victory Jan. 5 gave Wisconsin its first Big Ten win of the season and catapulted it to 8-7 overall.
Since facing Illinois, the Badgers have gone 3-1, losing only to Penn State on the road and winning both of their home games.
Tonight, however, home court will not assist the Badgers, as they are fighting the Illini in their territory. So does home really make a difference in the game? Yes, according to both the players and Head Coach Bo Ryan.
\I've been really up and down on the road,"" freshman guard Devin Harris said. ""It's true, freshmen do [play better at home] because they're more comfortable here.""
""People feeling more relaxed and getting the ball into higher-percentage [shooting] areas"" are benefits of playing at home, according to Ryan. His team has made an average of 47.68 percent of its shots from inside the three-point line in the last five home games, compared to 41.60 percent on the road.
Defeating Illinois on the road will be no easy feat for the Badgers, who are 4-11 away from Madison.
""It is tougher on the road to establish what you want to do,"" Ryan said. ""And because of that sometimes, unless you have real experienced teams and they're the ones that tended to have won more on the road than inexperienced teams.""
But Ryan said he knows what his team needs to do to earn another win, and he believes a combination of solid playing, passing the ball more frequently and shooting more free throws, especially toward the end of the game, are key in bringing home a victory.
""Right now, we're trying to play solid half-court, man-to-man, not more than 28 feet. ... We'll just try to play solid. We'll try not to give them easy shots at the end of the game but also not allow them to get wide- open looks because we're not aggressive,"" Ryan said.
""If you make the extra pass, you've got a greater chance of getting fouled ... getting [the ball] into position [at the charity stripe],"" Ryan continued.
""When you play with the lead at the end of the game, you will be shooting more free-throws than any other team. That's the ... thing that has helped us.""
Harris offered his input on team strategies.
""Taking care of the ball, running our offense and showing them ... our flow of the game on offense. The only thing is, put the ball on the spot that they want to give on the floor and basically rebound,"" Harris said.
When playing Illinois tonight, Wisconsin will mostly know what to expect from the No. 8 team in the country.
""There really isn't anything different except for the fact that they just seem to be able to turn the corner more on people when they're guarding, and they seem to be able to attack better,"" Ryan said.
Senior forward Lucas Johnson of the University of Illinois, will play in tonight's contest while teammate senior forward Damir Krupalija may return to the court.
Johnson will enter the court tonight after he tore his anterior cruciate ligament Oct. 22, 2001. Krupalija suffered a sprained left foot and has sat out of the last six games. Both players are crucial to Illinois, as they provide depth to the lineup.
""When you can go to a depth like they had when they started the year...that's a nice thing to have,"" Ryan said.
As a junior, Johnson shot 51 percent from the field and 43 percent from three-point range. He averaged five points and 3.3 rebounds a game.
Krupalija played in 11 games this season, racking up 103 points before his injury. The Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina native averaged 4.8 points in Big Ten play as a junior.
