The UW men's basketball team lost their first conference game at Indiana last week, but rebounded to top Northwestern at home Saturday. Wisconsin remains tied for first place in the Big Ten with seven games remaining. Here is The Daily Cardinal's weekly report on the No. 4 Badgers:
Player of the Week: Kammron Taylor
Senior forward Alando Tucker averaged more points, but fellow senior Kammron Taylor got hot and provided a much needed lift to the offense as UW lost to Indiana on the road and beat Northwestern at home last week. The point guard scored 15 points in each contest and dished out seven assists on the week.
""These last couple of games my shot has been going down so it looks better,"" Taylor said Monday. ""I'm definitely going to continue to look for my shot.""
After making 1-of-4 3-pointers in the first half against Indiana, Taylor went 6-for-11 the rest of the week from beyond the arc.
X-Factor of the Week: Michael Flowers
When junior guard Michael Flowers is on the court, good things usually happen for Wisconsin. Flowers had only four fouls in the two games combined last week and in turn, the defensive-minded guard played the second-most minutes on the team behind Tucker.
Flowers also averaged 10.5 points on 7-of-13 shooting in those games.
""If there are times where we are in a funk or in a drought and they depend on me to score, I want to be the guy who can make the shot,"" Flowers said.
The junior also had three steals on the week and currently ranks third in the Big Ten with 1.89 steals per game.
""It's nice to contribute on both sides of the court,"" Flowers said.
On Deck: Penn State
UW (8-1 Big Ten, 22-2 overall) travels to Happy Valley to take on Penn State who has lost seven games in a row. The Nittany Lions (1-7, 10-11) have not won since they crushed Northwestern 83-57 at home Jan. 3 to open the Big Ten season. They do, however, lead the Big Ten in offensive rebounding with 13 offensive rebounds per game in eight conference contests. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m.
Game of the Week: Illinois at Indiana, Sat.
With the Wisconsin-Iowa game being played at the Kohl Center Saturday, the best Big Ten game of the week should take place on the same day in Bloomington, Ind. where the Hoosiers will look to avenge their 51-43 loss at Illinois last month.
Indiana (6-3, 16-6) suffered a set-back over the weekend at Iowa and is now two games back of Wisconsin and Ohio State, which remain tied for first place in the conference at 8-1. While IU is still undefeated this season at home, they are 2-5 on the road and four of their seven remaining conference games will be played outside of Assembly Hall. Every home game is a must win at this point.
Illinois (5-5, 17-8), meanwhile, is the definition of a ""bubble team"" right now and erasing Indiana's undefeated record at home would greatly help the Illini's chances of getting into the NCAA Tournament.
National exposure
ESPN was at Monday's practice shooting its ""Free Ticket"" segment that will air during the network's coverage of Saturday's game against Iowa.
HBO will also be paying a visit to Madison this weekend as ""Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel"" will do a piece on the No. 4 Badgers.
""Maybe after they do the show we get can get some connections with the mob,"" Taylor joked in reference to HBO's ""Sopranos.""
