The University of Wisconsin men's basketball team (6-3 Big Ten, 16-5 overall) is set to take on the Michigan State Spartans (5-4, 13-8) Tuesday at the Kohl Center, in the teams' only regular season meeting.
Entering the match-up, there is both good news and bad news for the Badgers. The bad news: The Spartans are currently playing their best basketball of the year, having dispatched perennial powers Illinois (once) and Indiana (twice) in their last three games. The good news: The Spartans will be without a key member of their squad in sophomore forward Alan Anderson, who dislocated a finger in practice Friday and will be out for three to four weeks.
Besides missing Anderson's 9.5 points per game and 3.7 assists, MSU will be without one of its better ballhandlers. Unfortunately for the Badgers, MSU did fine without Anderson at Indiana Saturday, as they defeated the Hoosiers in overtime 67-62. Freshman forward Paul Davis stepped in nicely for Anderson with a 21-point, nine-rebound performance.
\We didn't have Alan, and he's our biggest offensive threat,"" Davis told the Associated Press following the game. ""So I took it upon myself to play better and better and better.""
Davis could not have been playing much better. In the last three games, he has averaged 14 points and 6.7 rebounds.
Davis is a prime example of the type of style that MSU loves: bruising post play. Besides the 6'11' Davis, the Spartans also use 6'9' senior forward Adam Ballinger, 6'10' freshman forward Erazem Lorbek and the hulking senior forward Aloysius Anagonye, who is 6'8' and weighs 260 pounds.
UW is no stranger to the Spartans' physical play, and in particular that what Anagonye brings to the game.
""I played against Anagonye last year and I held my own for the most part,"" sophomore forward Mike Wilkinson told The Capital Times. ""I feel like I'm stronger and quicker this year than I was last year and I'm looking forward to the game.""
Wisconsin Head Coach Bo Ryan feels that MSU will provide a huge test for the Badgers with its superior rebounding skills.
""Michigan State has been a really good rebounding team because of aggressiveness, because of size, because of quickness off the floor, because of strength,"" Ryan said. ""They certainly don't seem like the kind of team that would wear down during the year.""
Besides its inside presence, MSU is blessed with solid, if not spectacular, guard play. Sophomore guards Chris Hill and Kelvin Torbert have been huge contributors to the Spartans' recent turnaround. Hill's scoring has dropped recently, but the drop has led to an increased amount of opportunities for his teammates who have not let him down. For the season, in Big Ten victories, Hill has averaged 10.6 points and in losses, he has scored 14.6. With Hill's unselfish turn of late, the Spartans are looking a lot more formiddable than they were in losses to Michigan and Purdue.
Torbert is one of the MSU players who has taken advantage of the increase in opportunities. The sophomore guard has nearly duplicated Hill's numbers in the last couple of weeks, and is just as dangerous with the ball in his hand.
And then there is the revenge factor. Fans will recall last year's 64-63 Badger win in East Lansing that snapped MSU's 53-game home win streak after officials decided not to count a last second shot by Michigan. Before that loss, not a single player on the Spartans' roster had ever lost a home game. Fast forward to this year, when Head Coach Izzo and MSU will be able to take some solace in ending UW's own home win streak.
For Wisconsin, however, the game represents something more meaningful than revenge.
""We would just like to prove that we can compete and that we are a good team, and that we are a team that has a chance to win every night,"" Ryan said. ""That is what we are working on.\
