With four teams tied atop the conference standings and three more within one game of the lead, there are not going to be any easy games from here on out. Wisconsin and Illinois are tied for first. Neither of these teams is a stranger to the top of the conference. Either Illinois or Wisconsin has won the league championship in each of the last five seasons.
'It's a battle. That's just the way the Big Ten is,' sophomore center Brian Butch said. 'Everyone just keeps knocking each other off.'
Badger fans remember the Illini coming to Madison and ending Wisconsin's 38-game winning streak at the Kohl Center in 2005. Illinois was ranked No. 1 at the time, but three starters and five of the top seven players from that team are gone. Yet even without them, the Illini have barely missed a beat. They are 19-2 and ranked seventh in the country. Coach Bruce Weber's squad is making up for its personnel losses with strong defense and a balanced attack. Ten players are playing significant minutes this season. Illinois sits atop the conference statistics in most defensive categories. They have the stingiest defense, allowing just 56.4 points per game and a shooting percentage of just 27 percent from the three-point line. They rank second in field-goal defense, forcing teams to shoot just 38 percent from the floor.
Much to the chagrin of the Badger faithful, Dee Brown returned to Champaign for his senior season. Brown has been a thorn in Wisconsin's side for the past three years. He is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year and is the front-runner to take the award home again this year.
'He's an excellent player,' Butch said. 'He can handle both guards. He's able to create. He's just the heart and soul of their team.'
Brown is averaging 15.1 points per game and is second in the league in assists per game (5.9). He has become known as 'the human fastbreak' because of his astonishing speed. He ranks fifth in the league in steals (1.7 per game) and often uses his speed to turn those steals into easy baskets. Those fastbreak points have become increasingly important because the Illini have struggled to score at times this season. For this first time in Weber's tenure, Illinois scored less than 50 points in its loss to Iowa three weeks ago.
Illinois' other returning starter is senior forward/center James Augustine. The 6'10'' Augustine has improved his game tremendously this season. He leads the conference in field-goal percentage (60 percent) and ranks third in rebounds (9.0 per game), while scoring 13.1 points per contest.
'He's a great player,' Badger freshman forward Kevin Gullikson said. 'He's athletic and strong. He can post up and make some moves, and he can also step out on the perimeter, set some screens and shoot a jump shot.'
Gullikson has been called on to play an increased role for Wisconsin after the Badgers lost three players last week due to off-court issues. The 6'7'' Gullikson is a freshman walk-on, but he came in and played 20 strong minutes in Wisconsin's 85-76 loss to Michigan Saturday.
'I didn't expect to play such a big role so early on. I thought that I would come in and work hard and just let whatever happens happen,' Gullikson said. 'Maybe the circumstances aren't the best, but it has been fun getting to work in the rotation.'
The Badgers have lost three of their last four games since losing their three players, and they will need Gullikson, freshman Joe Krabbenhoft and sophomore Michael Flowers to give them solid minutes off the bench if they are to right the ship.
The question that begs to be asked is: Which team will the Badgers be down the stretch? Will they look like the group that won 14 of their first 16 games, or the one that lost three of its last four? The team that lost to North Dakota State or the one that thrashed Michigan State? If you listen to the Badgers, they believe things will get better.
'Every team goes through adversity, and at this point we have to find a way to beat it. That's what we're doing right now,' junior forward Alando Tucker said. 'The good thing is that we're still in the race for first. We have to look more to the positives than to the negatives, and we are starting to come together as a team.'
A win against Illinois would be a step in the right direction for Wisconsin and put them back in the drivers seat for the Big Ten title.
