After a warmup against lightweight Louisiana Tech Dec. 28, the men's basketball team plays at Pittsburgh on New Year's Eve. They then return home to open Big Ten play against Iowa and Michigan State. The 'vacation' continues with a trip to Minnesota.
Here's a preview of what Wisconsin will be up against over the break.
Pittsburgh (Dec. 31)
Right now, the Panthers are 7-0 for the fourth straight season. Though this year's success has come at the expense of schools like St. Peter's, Robert Morris and Maine'not exactly the college hoops elite.
Jamie Dixon's squad is led by senior point guard Carl Krauser, who initially declared for the 2005 NBA Draft before deciding to return for his senior season. Through the first seven games, Krauser poured in 17 points per game and added just under four assists.
He spearheads a much different Pitt team than the one that beat UW in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. That team relied heavily on the low post play of big men like Chris Taft and Chevy Troutman. Those standouts have departed and while seven-footer Aaron Gray has proved a worthy replacement with 13 points and 10 rebounds per game, he is not nearly as effective as his predecessors.
Iowa (Jan. 5)
Heading into their Dec. 6 match up with Northern Iowa, the Iowa Hawkeyes were riding high. The Hawkeyes were 7-1 and ranked No. 12. But things went terribly wrong in Cedar Falls. Not only did Iowa lose the game 67-63 in overtime, but it also lost senior point guard Jeff Horner after he tore a ligament in his knee.
With Horner, the Hawkeyes are legitimate contenders for the Big Ten title. Without him, they simply are not. Case in point: their Dec. 9 loss to Iowa State. In the Cyclones' 72-60 win, Iowa turned the ball over 20 times, with Horner's replacement, freshman Tony Freeman, accounting for five of them.
Iowa head coach Steve Alford hopes to have his point guard back by January, but that might be optimistic. Either way, you can expect this game to be close. UW won both games last year, but by just three points each time.
Michigan State (Jan. 8)
Tom Izzo does not like coming to Madison, or at least he should not.
The savior of Spartan hoops has never beaten Bo Ryan at the Kohl Center. In fact, before his team beat Wisconsin in East Lansing last February, Izzo had not won a game against Ryan anywhere.
But this year might be his best chance to finally steal a win in Madison. Do not let their mid-Top 25 ranking fool you. The Spartans might only be ranked No. 12 right now, but they are definitely a top-five caliber team.
Senior guard Maurice Ager is a deadly shooter from a distance and can also attack the rim with the best. Senior forward Paul Davis has recaptured his form of two years ago, averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds per game.
Minnesota (Jan. 10)
The last time Wisconsin made the trip north to Williams Arena, the Badgers were treated to front-row seats at the Vincent Grier show. The Gophers' leading man dropped 32 points on Wisconsin in a 60-50 Minnesota victory.
Grier is back at Minnesota this season, and the senior forward is still scoring oodles of points'only now he has help. When Grier went down with a hand injury in November, his teammates stepped up.
The Gophers went 3-2 in the five games without Grier, but players like senior guard Adam Boone and sophomore forward Dan Coleman gained untold amounts of confidence.
With Grier back at full strength, the Gophers are a deceptively strong team. That being said, the game last year was an aberration. Before that debacle, the Badgers had won seven straight over the Gophers.
