After disposing Mercer University and in-state rival UW-Green Bay, the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team begins play in the South Padre Invitational Sunday. With an opening round game against Southern, the invitational, which will last all week, will be a good barometer to judge how talented this Badger squad truly is.
The first leg of the event is nowhere near the South Padre Islands, but in the friendly confines of the Kohl Center. At home under head coach Bo Ryan, the Badgers are 36-3 in non-conference games. In the past four years, UW accumulated a stellar 16-2 record in the month of November.
As predicted by nearly every analyst in the country, senior forward Alando Tucker will again lead the Badgers' offensive attack in this weekend's matchup with Southern. In the season opener, Tucker scored 21 points, 16 of which came in the second half alone.
Tucker wasn't the only Badger lighting up the scorebook. Senior guard Kammron Taylor scored a game-high 22 points, 18 of which came in the first half. Both Tucker and Taylor were named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason watch list. With two players on the list, Wisconsin is one of only nine teams in the country that boasts two of the most highly regarded players in the nation.
Southern picked to finish second in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, suffered through a nightmarish season opener. Taking on Georgia, one of the SEC's top dogs, Southern was routed 97-37. Everything that could have gone wrong for the Jaguars did as they turned the ball over an astounding 35 times and shot a meager 27 percent from the field.
Senior guard DeForrest Riley-Smith, a transfer from Penn State, scored 10 points in the losing effort and sophomore guard Chris Davis added 12 to lead the way for the offensively challenged Jaguars.
One thing is for sure—no matter what type of offensive wrinkles the Jaguars throw at the Badgers this weekend, Ryan will have his team ready. The Jaguars, on the other hand, will not be ready for the offensive attack the Badgers are capable of putting together. Aside from Tucker and Taylor, the Badgers have a laundry list of weapons they can call on to step up.
In the early part of the season, freshman Jason Bohannon has shown his potential star-power and surprising poise for such a young player.
""He's an intelligent player who doesn't back down from anybody anytime, and I just like his moxie,"" Ryan said. ""He understands help and recover, and as he gets stronger physically ... and gets a little more comfortable, he'll knock those shots down. He hits them in practice, and he'll hit them in a game.""
The other Jason on the team, senior forward Jason Chappell, has also stepped up and shown he is not afraid to make opposing defenses take notice and guard him. Chappell's career has been marred by injury and inconsistency thus far, but this season looks to be his coming-out party.
""He's worked extremely hard to be able to be a contributor in this program,"" Ryan said. ""And hopefully he has a lot more to contribute.""
