A wise man once said ""revenge is a dish best served cold,"" and that can be very true of the world of college basketball. Since the temperatures should be low in Madison this weekend, the Badgers will be checking their menus for vengeance as they face off against the No. 2 Pittsburgh Panthers Saturday morning at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin will be looking to reverse their recent history against Pittsburgh, as they have lost their last two games against the Panthers, including last year in Pittsburgh and three years ago in the Bradley Center during the NCAA tournament. For the Badgers to stop this trend, they will need to play a physical game and control Pitt's inside-out offense.
The Panther's offense begins with 7'0' center Aaron Gray, who is averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds per game. Gray commands double teams and opens up outside shots for Pittsburgh's guards and small forwards. Pitt's second leading scorer is small forward Mike Cook, but the player the Badgers should be concerned about is reserve junior guard Ronald Ramon, who is shooting better than 47 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
The Badgers will counter with their patient swing offense, which is built around guard Kammron Taylor and forward Alando Tucker. Tucker is one of the leading scorers in the Big Ten with more than 20 points per game, and Taylor is hitting half of his 3-point shots while scoring 12 points per contest. The Wisconsin big men, Brian Butch, Marcus Landry, Jason Chappell and Greg Stiemsma will each be able to show Gray different offensive styles that could dislodge him from his post as the center of Pitt's fearsome defense.
Both of these teams are known around the country for playing a physical brand of defense, so this game could be very low scoring and defensive-minded. Wisconsin is second in the Big Ten in turnover margin, and Gray gives Pitt a powerful defensive force around the basket.
Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon has lead the Panthers for three years, leading them to more than 20 wins in each season and one Sweet Sixteen. He took over for coach Ben Howland, who led the UCLA Bruins to the title game last season and has them ranked No. 1 this season. Dixon has carried on Howland's creed of tough-nosed defense and powerful play on both ends of the floor.
Last season, Tucker led the Badgers in points against Pitt with 25 but received little help, as no other Badger scored more than nine. Gray was saddled with foul trouble that game, but guard Karl Krauser scored 22 points and the Panthers as a whole shot 55 percent from the field compared to the Badgers' 42 percent.
This game can mean big things for both teams' seasons. If the Badgers can defend their home court, they will have beaten two highly ranked teams over the course of eight days, which would look great to the NCAA selection committee come March. The Panthers have won all ten of their games thus far, but their competition has not been the best, so a victory in Madison would give their hot start legitimacy.
After Pittsburgh, the Badgers' schedule eases up a bit until the big showdown against Ohio State on Jan 9.
