The dominant question at the Kohl Center Saturday was not if, but when Alando Tucker would score his 2,000th career point.
The fans got their answer just a minute into the game when Tucker, who entered the game with 1,999 career points, stepped back and hit his first shot attempt of the game.
""I tried to make a move to the basket and [Iowa freshman forward Tyler Smith] said, ‘uh uh.' And I looked at him like, ‘oh, well I'll just take what you're giving me,'"" Tucker said about the plateau-breaking shot.
Tucker's accomplishment was not lost on any of his teammates or coaches, who, once the Badgers secured their 74-62 win over Iowa, were not shy to talk about how difficult it is to score 2,000 points. Even Iowa head coach Steve Alford, who is also one of 24 Big Ten players to reach 2,000, wanted to make it clear that it is no easy task to score that many points in a career.
""He's a 2,000 point scorer in this league and this level—that's not easy to do,"" Alford said. ""That's a very difficult task to do over your college career, to get over 2,000 points in this league with the way teams defend.""
Tucker went on to score a game-high 21 points to bring his total to 2,020—just 127 points behind Michael Finley who owns the UW scoring record with 2,147 career points. Tucker, however, is not getting caught up in the records and reiterated after Saturday's win that his number one priority was to beat Iowa.
""It would have really sucked if we lost,"" Tucker said. ""It's always great to say we won and when I look back it will be a ‘W'—the game I scored my 2,000th point, you know, we won that game, so that's exciting.""
UW head coach Bo Ryan said all of Tucker's career points have been unselfish and have all come in situations to help his team win.
""Alando has never put those numbers up by getting into a situation where he was jacking the ball,"" Ryan said. ""He's got 2,000 points ... and they were all trying to help his team win. When can you think of times where he got so selfish that it was about something else? Not with him. He's earned everything that is coming his way and he's not done yet.""
Tucker knows he is not done as Wisconsin is entering the final stages of a season where a Big Ten title and a Final Four run are a distinct possibility. When asked about chasing Finley's scoring title, Tucker put it into perspective by saying it depends on how many games remain—a number that is completely in the hands of the team and how long of a run it makes in the postseason.
""If you count it up, how many games we have until the Final Four, I'm counting that definitely. So I definitely have a chance [at the record],"" Tucker said.
Tucker has more than a chance. Just counting the seven guaranteed games UW has left (five conference games, one Big Ten tournament game, and one NCAA tournament game), Tucker would have to average just over 18 points per game, which is below his season average.
Wisconsin's next game is Wednesday at Minnesota (3-8 Big Ten, 9-16 overall) who currently sits in ninth place in the Big Ten.
