When the No. 11 Wisconsin Badgers (5-1 Big Ten, 14-3 Overall) tip-off against the Minnesota Gophers (0-7, 8-11) Wednesday night at the Kohl Center, the Badgers will be in a spot slightly unfamiliar this season all alone atop the Big Ten standings.
The Gophers, on the other hand, will bring with them something quite familiar and equally painful: a six-game losing streak, seven losses in their last eight games and a glaring goose-egg in the conference wins department.
But the Badgers cannot take the reeling Gophers lightly. Last weekend saw nine Top 25 teams fall to unranked opponents, the Badgers know anything can happen in conference play.
\Minnesota is a good team,"" Head Coach Bo Ryan said Monday. ""They are a few possessions away from having three or four wins in the league.""
In the mires of a losing season, Minnesota has found one bright star among the darkness: freshman forward Kris Humphries. The 6'8"" 240-pound native from Chaska, Minn. turned down Duke for a chance to play for the home-state and has not disappointed. Humphries leads the Big Ten in scoring at 22.2 points per game and in rebounding at 10.6 a game.
The Badgers have struggled in rebounding and defending big post players, but did an outstanding job on Michigan State sophomore center Paul Davis back in early January.
The Badgers do have home court advantage to lean on and their winning streak of 24 consecutive home games, but the real difference maker for the Badgers has been the lightning-hot play of junior guard Devin Harris. Harris, in the last two games, has averaged 29.5 points and shot a blistering 9-14 from beyond the arc. The Badgers have also continued to get consistent production from the bench and role players with senior guard Freddie Owens limited by injuries and sophomore forward Alando Tucker recently announcing that he will be out the remainder of the season.
For the Badgers, the home game marks the final in the confines of Madison before the start of a road swing that could make the difference for the Badgers' third straight conference title. Four of the next six games for Wisconsin are on the road with back-to-back contests at Northwestern and Iowa, then home against Ohio State before heading to Illinois and Michigan. The Badgers close out the season at Michigan State and Indiana.
Road victories are not easy to come by in the Big Ten and with the standings jumbled; every conference win grows with significance and importance, whether it be at home or on the road which makes a Badger victory against Minnesota even more important.
