UW men's basketball head coach Bo Ryan has not lost very many games this season, but he did lose a bet with the media last Saturday after junior forward Marcus Landry's 21 points gave UW their fifth different 20-plus scorer in five straight games.
If that's ever been done I'll buy everyone in this room a diet pop in the back, because they're free,"" Ryan said.
Little did he know, two other Division-I teams had already done it this season. Seton Hall accomplished the feat from Nov. 28 to Dec. 22 and Providence from Dec. 19 to Jan. 5.
But on Monday, Ryan said he did not have to pay up because those streaks did not happen during conference play.
One thing is for sure, though. The feat is very impressive for all three schools, and here at Wisconsin the coaches and players are loving it.
""It's the only way we're sitting where we're sitting,"" Ryan said.
Landry even predicted that his classmate Joe Krabbenhoft would make it six straight games Tuesday night against Michigan. Unfortunately Landry was wrong, but no one was criticizing Krabbenhoft for coming up short when two of his five points came on a late turnaround jumper in the lane to help secure UW's 64-61 victory over the Wolverines.
""I was just talking to [freshman forward Jon Leuer] in the locker room,"" Krabbenhoft said after the win. ""And Jon goes, 'I think they know who I am now.' He stepped up big last game [with 25 points] but this team is just so balanced.""
So balanced that while Leuer failed to score against Michigan, UW nearly had five players in double digits. Landry and senior guard Michael Flowers led the way with 14, while Hughes had 12. But freshman guard Jason Bohannon just missed double figures with nine points and senior forward Brian Butch finished with eight.
It's a far cry from last year's team which, through all its success, was plagued with the lack of a consistent third scorer. That is why it may not be that surprising that five different opposing Big Ten teams allowed a different 20 point scorer in five straight games.
""Marcus has been saying it great all year,"" Krabbenhoft said. ""Any given night anybody can step up and I think that is such a great advantage to us because teams don't know how to prepare for us maybe. Obviously they do prepare, but who are they going to try and stop? Trevon? Well then you got to worry about Marcus. Are you going to try and stop Butch? Then [senior center Greg Steimsma] comes in and gives us a huge boost.""
Who knew losing Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor would be such a good thing? Well, Ryan is not totally convinced that coaches are struggling against UW because they pick one guy to shut down.
""If you're saying that they can't zero in on one guy, conversely do you think the other coach is really saying, 'Well they don't really have anybody who's that good?' I don't think that's the case,"" Ryan said.
But one player who is good and is helping the balanced scoring with his passing is Hughes. Landry said Tuesday that Hughes is a huge reason why so many players can get as many open looks as they have been getting.
""You probably don't realize it, but Trevon has made us all better than we normally play,"" he said. ""Last year it was playing roles and getting rebounds and distributing the ball because we had two great players that could score at will. And now we have Trevon, somebody who's running the point who's a great player also.""
So what happens if the entire team goes cold? Well, the Badgers will probably lose, but the same thing happened last year when Tucker or Taylor would struggle. This team is eight deep when it comes to potential double digit scorers, and that's a lot of guys to go cold on the same night.
""We got so many guys that can contribute and that's just huge,"" Krabbenhoft said. ""I think that this team has a good future in front of us and we are just going to keep taking it day-by-day because we got to get better.""
