The University of Wisconsin men's basketball team (9-5 Big Ten, 16-11 overall) looks to continue their winning ways tonight against the Hawkeyes of the University of Iowa (4-9 Big Ten, 15-12 overall). Iowa squandered an early second-half lead at home against Ohio State on Saturday and ended up losing 72-66 en route to their fourth straight loss. Meanwhile, the Badgers have reeled off four straight victories, including clutch road victories last week against the University of Indiana and the Golden Gophers of Minnesota.
The plucky Badgers managed to come from behind Saturday against Minnesota due in large part to strong team defense and junior guard Kirk Penney stepping up the offense.
Penney looks to continue his hot shooting tonight. Penney, a native of New Zealand, kicked out 30 points Saturday against Minnesota, 27 of which came in the second half. Penney also shot the lights out from three-point land, netting a career high six treys.
\Kirk is bringing a little more to the table right now because he is playing with a lot of versatility,"" UW Head Coach Bo Ryan said.
With Penney's hot shooting in the spotlight, the fantastic play of senior guard Travon Davis was put on the back burner. Davis had nine points, eight rebounds, seven assists and zero turnovers against Minnesota.
The first time these teams met back in January, the Hawkeyes were very rude hosts, beating the Badgers by 12 in Iowa City. However, since then the fortunes of the two teams have taken very different directions.
Iowa Head Coach Steve Alford has had problems with team chemistry.
The Hawkeyes started out very strong, winning 12 of their first 15 games. Since then, Iowa has sunk to ninth in the Big Ten and the only hope they have of any postseason is winning the Big Ten Tournament.
The hard times have gotten to Alford.
""We've had some trying times,"" Alford said. ""It's been a frustrating six and one-half weeks.""
Wisconsin, on the other hand, has shaken off some early season woes and has quietly moved into third place behind conference leaders Indiana and Ohio State.
Wisconsin's climb to the upper tier of the Big Ten can be attributed in large part to the attitude displayed by the coaches and players'the attitude of team first. Ryan pointed out the chemistry that the players have with each other.
""[The players] have come together and want to be remembered as a team and not as individuals,"" Ryan said. ""That is what is most important to me as a coach, my team being remembered as a team.""
As important as team chemistry has been for UW, the Hawkeyes have had little or no chemistry in recent weeks. Alford benched senior forward Reggie Evans for the Iowa-Ohio State game Feb. 16 because of his failure to attend classes.
When asked about the decision, Alford had an immediate response.
""You're going to be a student-athlete, not an athlete-student,"" Alford said.
While Iowa has not played up to their potential, particularly at home, the Kohl Center has certainly been a sweet home for the UW squad this year, as the hoopsters will be looking for their 11th home victory of the season tonight.
Ryan will be seeking victory No. 400 as a head coach tonight. For perspective, only one other Big Ten coach has 400 victories (Gene Keady of Purdue), and Jim O'Brien of Ohio State is the only other head coach with 300 wins.
For now, the players must focus on the task at hand and close out the regular season strong, tonight against Iowa and Feb. 27 against the Michigan Wolverines.
