Since Louisiana Tech came into the Kohl Center in late December, sophomore forward Brian Butch had been pretty quiet on the hardwood. After the 18-point, 10-rebound performance, Butch never scored more than 12 and failed to notch double-digit rebounding numbers in a single game. That all changed Saturday afternoon.
The man Steve Lavin dubbed 'the big polar bear' poured in 23 on 11-of-15 shooting, while collecting 12 rebounds, four of which were offensive. But if you ask the former McDonald's All-American from Appleton, Wis., there was not anything special going on in Penn State last weekend.
'It's just like a normal game. You go out there and play hard,' Butch said. 'Now we have to look forward as a team and get ready for the next one. That's the biggest thing. You expect to do stuff like that, so you just got to play hard again.'
Maybe Butch expects to score 20 points, but Badger fans were starting to get weary waiting for those results. However, with junior forward Alando Tucker hampered by foul trouble, Butch came through.
After rolling his ankle for the second time against Purdue a little over a week ago, Butch was not in the starting lineup and only played eight minutes, scoring four points in the Badgers' 72-54 romp of the Hoosiers last Wednesday. Despite the injury, Butch produced Saturday.
'Coming off a game where he didn't start because of injury, I think he responded real well, getting back in the lineup and showing that he belongs there,' UW assistant coach Howard Moore said. 'We know that once Brian's healthy, we can rely on him to do things that are going to help us win games.'
The Badgers will have to rely on Butch, now averaging 10.3 points and six rebounds per game, to be a formidable third scorer to complement Tucker and junior guard Kammron Taylor. Against Ohio State Wednesday, senior forward Terrence Dials and company will provide a dominant post game, to go with their Big Ten-best 3-point shooting, a bit different from a Penn State club with only one player over 6'9'.
But members of the Badgers are far from worried. They have noticed a poise that Butch is displaying, and that poise can only mean good things for Wisconsin basketball.
'Brian's the type of kid that can really get going once he's confident,' Moore said. 'I think that his confidence is really starting to show up, and we just need him to keep that going in a positive direction.'
A loss by Iowa tonight at Michigan State and a win by UW Wednesday puts the Badgers atop the Big Ten right away. For the latter to happen, Saturday's performance simply cannot be an aberration.
'You experience success and you can do it again,' head coach Bo Ryan said. 'Brain did a pretty good job of taking advantages of the circumstances.'
If Butch can take advantage of any opportunity Wednesday, the Badgers might soon be the cream of the Big Ten crop yet again.
