Wisconsin will look to put the 82-58 thrashing to No. 7 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium behind them on Monday when they return to the Kohl Center to play the Wofford Terriers. The Badgers hope to regain their confidence against Wofford before facing the in-state rivalry with No. 14 Marquette on Saturday at the Kohl Center.
We didn't run our offense as smoothly and play off each other as well as during the first five games,"" Wisconsin senior forward Brian Butch said . ""As a player, you want to get that out of your system.""
The young Badger team was clearly rattled and overmatched by the talented Blue Devils last Monday night, who opened up a 23 point halftime lead and dominated the entire game.
Bo Ryan's Badgers pride themselves on playing fundamentally solid and outslugging their counterparts with grit and hustle, but Duke's pressure defense and high-flying offense flustered the Badgers. The team gave up 18 turnovers and gave up 17 fast-break points.
Unlike last season, Wisconsin does not have the offensive firepower to overcome mental mistakes and turnovers due to the graduation of the Big Ten Player of the Year Alando Tucker and sharp shooter Kammron Taylor.
The Badgers must learn how to withstand pressure, which they did not do against Duke.
""We need to make sure we make the right reads and stay within our offense,"" said Wisconsin assistant coach Howard Moore.
The Badgers had worked themselves back into the AP top-25 for the first time this season at No. 20, prior to the game against Duke. Wisconsin had been playing solid basketball and had won it first five games.
A big part to the Badgers' early season success has been the emergence of Trevon Hughes. The sophomore point guard is ranked third in the Big Ten in scoring with an average of 18.2 points per game. Hughes also is second in the conference with 15 steals and leads the Badgers with 19 assists.
However, the Badgers do not have the consistent go-to scorer this year like they have had in the past with the likes of Tucker and Devin Harris. This puts even more pressure on the team's point guard to distribute the ball and give his teammates open chances to score.
""[The Duke loss] was a good experience for us, but we need to handle the pressure,"" said Hughes. ""I need to get better every day and learn from my experiences.""
Wofford plays in the mid-major Southern Conference - a conference that has produced some quality NCAA Tournament teams in the last couple of years. The Terriers have only two seniors on their roster and their top four scorers are all freshman or sophomores.
Nevertheless, the young Terriers are flying high coming off their third straight win last Monday where they beat Toccoa Falls 85-35. While the Division II Tocco Falls Eagles may not be on the same echelon as Duke, the 50 point win gives the Terriers great confidence heading into their game against the Badgers.
In their game against Tocco Falls, five Terrier players scored in double figures and the team shot an astounding 64 percent from the field.
The Terrier's only game against a ranked opponent thus far this season was their first game in which they lost 67-45 to No. 19 Arkansas. Wofford held tough in the first half trailing by only four points at halftime before getting handled in the second half.
