The No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers will take their undefeated Big Ten record into Iowa City to take on the Hawkeyes Sunday. There they will look to improve on their nation-best 16-game winning streak, also a school record.
A win by the Badgers, who are coming off a 23-point victory over the Michigan Wolverines Wednesday night, would give the team their best start in program history, surpassing the 20-1 mark set by the 1915-'16 squad.
""I am so proud,"" a smiling Alando Tucker said after Wednesday's win. ""I'm so proud of everything we've done as a group, as a unit. From one to 15, everybody works hard.""
Sunday, UW (6-0 Big Ten, 20-1 overall) looks to continue their magical run. The matchup against Iowa (3-3, 11-9) features the two top scorers in the conference. Tucker, tied with Purdue senior forward Marcus Landry with 19.2 points per game, is second to the Hawkeyes' senior forward Adam Huluska's 20.3.
Despite the graduation of stars Jeff Horner, Greg Brunner and Eric Hansen, the Hawkeyes still have managed to have the fifth top scoring offense in the Big Ten, thanks in large part to freshman forward Tyler Smith. Smith, whose 15.6 points per game are good enough for sixth in the conference, also averages nearly five rebounds and four assists per game.
The Hawkeyes have lost three out of their last five, but are coming off a 12-point victory over Penn State at home. The trip to Carver-Hawkeye Arena is part of a two-game road swing for the Badgers. UW will play at No. 24 Indiana Wednesday night.
Wisconsin, despite scoring just shy of 75 points per game thus far, the Badgers have shot 35 percent from the line in conference play. However, the Badgers did connect on 3-of-6 against Michigan.
On the other side, the Hawkeyes currently rank as the fourth worst defense, giving up 64.5 points per game, trailed by only Minnesota, Purdue and Penn State.
Honoring Bo Ryan
Badger coaches and players will join head coach Bo Ryan when he is honored Saturday at UW-Platteville's halftime. The Division III Pioneers will be naming their court after their heralded former head coach.
It was at Platteville, that Ryan became known as the top coach in Division III basketball. Under Ryan, the team when an extraordinary 352-76 from 1984-1999, winning four national championships (1991, '95, '98 and '99).
Ryan emphasized the best part of the ceremony Saturday won't be his name, but the improvements that the school will be undertaking.
""The nicest part about the whole thing Saturday is going to be that there's going to be a lot of improvements at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville as a result of the fundraising efforts that they made around this court naming, and that's what's really neat,"" Ryan said.
""But now what are we going to do for the next group of players, athletes, students, community members? There's a lot of people that are going to be helped by those improvements,"" Ryan said. ""And it'll be emotional, but what's really neat is something's going to happen as a result of it for the future.""
At Platteville, Ryan won eight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships. His Pioneers also set a Division III scoring defense record in 1997, allowing 47.5 points per game.
Platteville takes on UW-Eau Claire in the game at 3 p.m. The Pioneers are currently 10-7 overall and 5-4 in the conference.
