One week ago, the Wisconsin men's basketball team was 5-3 in the Big Ten Conference and looking forward to going on the road to Northwestern and Michigan, two teams that were behind UW in the conference standings.
Two games and two losses later, the Badgers are now 5-5 in the Big Ten and in the middle of the conference standings.
While the Badgers have two home games this week against Ohio State and Northwestern, the Badgers will only take their opponents one at a time. As for the Buckeyes, the backcourt is the main concern for Wisconsin.
\With their guard play, the guards begin things offensively and defensively well, and it tends to bring along the rest of the people,"" Wisconsin Head Coach Bo Ryan said. ""The rest of [the Buckeyes] are following along and finishing the book every play. They start things and they start things well on both ends.""
After the last two games, the Badgers were most concerned with the pass down low to the block, which both the Wildcats and Wolverines exploited.
""We're working hard and we're continually trying to learn and improve,"" junior guard Kirk Penney said.
While the Northwestern game saw the Badgers hang tough throughout, Saturday night's game at Ann Arbor, Mich., was an ambush from the start, as the Wolverines connected on nine of their first 11 field goals, racing to a 21-6 lead.
According to Penney, the ability to start strong on the road was the biggest lesson the team took out of the game.
Redshirt freshman forward Mike Wilkinson agreed with Penney.
""We struggled out of the blocks, we did not show up to play right away and [Michigan] took it to us,"" Wilkinson said. ""We have to show up and play, that's the biggest thing. If we show up and play, we can play with almost anybody [in the Big Ten].""
Though the Michigan loss was tough, Wilkinson believes these problems are correctable.
""We have to make a few minor changes on how we come out and play ... little things that we have to pick up,"" Wilkinson said.
Noticeably absent from the Michigan game was UW freshman guard and second-leading scorer Devin Harris, who managed only two points on six shot attempts.
When asked about Harris' recent struggles, Ryan attributed it to the learning curve of a freshman in the Big Ten.
""There are no 'relax' games, no comfort games with the competition we're going against,"" Ryan said. ""It's every night, it's hard, it's physical, it's tough and you've got to come ready to deal with that. That's something that Devin's going through right now. It's all part of the process.""
