The No. 17 Wisconsin men's basketball team won all seven of its games over the Winter Break and have an early lead in the Big Ten standings.
Behind hot shooting and a number of players who have reached double figures, Wisconsin (4-0 Big Ten, 14-2 overall) is on an eight-game win streak, including its first road win over a top-10 team since 1980.
In six games on the win streak, UW has shot better than 48 percent and averaged 56 percent over its last two games. Four different players have scored 21 or more points in the last five games, making it impossible for opposing defenses to key in on one player - much like Big Ten teams were able to do on Alando Tucker late last season.
The winning streak started Dec. 12 at UW-Milwaukee and the Badgers added two home wins against UW-Green Bay and Valparaiso before heading to then-No. 9 Texas Dec. 29.
Wisconsin 67, Texas 66
After a blow-out loss at Duke in November and tough loss at home against Marquette earlier in December, no one gave the Badgers a chance in Austin, Texas. When sophomore guard Trevon Hughes injured his ankle the night before the game, it seemed as if the Badgers were well on their way to their third loss of the season even before tip off.
Who knew that an ankle injury to UW's leading scorer might be the best thing that could have happened to the Badgers that weekend and for the rest of the season?
Without Hughes, Wisconsin hung with Texas for much of the game, but when the Longhorns jumped out to an eight point lead with 14:50 remaining, it seemed the Badgers just did not have enough offense. But that was when a number of different players came to the rescue at exactly the right times. Sophomore guard Jason Bohannon, who started in place of Hughes, hit two critical three pointers in the second half. Butch stayed aggressive and consistent the entire game en route to a game-high 21 points.
Junior forward Kevin Gullikson added nine points of his own in the victory.
Still down three with a 1:14 to go, the Badgers proved that they wanted it more. Off a Bohannon miss, senior guard Michael Flowers pulled down a key offensive rebound and after a 30-second timeout, junior forward Marcus Landry brought UW within one with a tough turnaround jumper with 18 seconds left. A foul sent A.J. Abrams to the line where he split his two free throws, leaving Wisconsin down 66-64 with 11 seconds left.
That's when Flowers, who had only made one field goal in the game, used a screen from Butch at the top of the key and drained a three with two seconds left. As if that were not enough, the senior did not waste a nano-second celebrating. Instead, he stole the inbound pass and threw it high in the air right before flying out of bounds as the clock ran out.
For UW, it was a statement win. It was a huge non-conference victory right before the Big Ten season started, and the Badgers have not looked back.
Wisconsin 70, Michigan 54
Winning back-to-back road games is never an easy thing to do, but UW certainly made it look that way.
Proving that they had put their win over Texas to bed, the Badgers jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back. They led by 16 at the half behind a barrage of 3-pointers by Jon Leuer. The freshman forward went 5-for-5 from beyond the arc and finished with a career high 25 points.
No one seemed surprised on the Wisconsin bench, however. For Bo Ryan's squad, it was just another instance of another option stepping up. Hughes returned to the lineup, but did not start, scoring five points in 28 minutes.
Wisconsin 64, Iowa 51
This one was by no means a pretty win, but UW went back to their bread and butter, pounding the ball down-low to Butch, who scored a game-high 22 points.
The Badgers held a 28-22 halftime lead despite the Hawkeyes shooting 53 percent, mainly because Wisconsin kept possession of the ball and limited the amount of shots Iowa was able to take.
Only one Hawkeye, senior Justin Johnson, reached double-figures (13 points) and Wisconsin improved to 2-0 in Big Ten play.
We really could have been effective in the first half if we would have had both guys [Butch and Landry] firing on all cylinders, but Brian got it done,"" head coach Bo Ryan said. ""We just have to make sure we are consistent with the other guys in there too.""
Landry was only 1-for-8 while finishing with 5 points.
Wisconsin 70, Illinois 60
Things did not look bright for the Illini coming into the Kohl Center Jan. 10. Illinois had lost three straight games - all at home, and junior guard Chester Frazier was not expected to play.
Frazier did play, however, and the Illini gave the Badgers a gutsy performance that fell short in part to Hughes having a career night on ESPN.
Hughes scored 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting and added five assists and six steals. Hughes had been playing slower on purpose since his ankle injury, playing under control while being more selective with his shots. On this night, he was able to score while being selective.
""I know at times Coach Ryan, just listening to TV comments while we're watching tape, he gets maybe a little frustrated because [Hughes] tries to do too much,"" Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said. ""But I thought today he was solid and just stayed within their system and took the shots that he earned.""
Wisconsin 80, Penn State 55
This was just not the Nittany Lions' day. Penn State missed their first seven shots and lost their best player, senior forward Geary Claxton, for the season with a torn ACL.
However, it was Flowers' day. The senior guard was hot from the start and finished with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting. He shot 5-of-6 from 3-point range and added five assists and six rebounds.
Senior forward Greg Steimsma also looked good, hitting all four shots he took in just 11 minutes of action. He finished with 10 points and blocked three shots.
The Badgers now return home for two straight games, starting Saturday night against Northwestern.
