This season the Badgers have had to recover from the loss of top scorers Kammron Taylor and Alando Tucker from last year's squad. One of the important players who has emerged to fill that vacuum is junior forward Marcus Landry.
This season he has worked to expand his game and become a more complete player. He has come on in full force since the Big Ten season started, leading the team in shooting percentage.
I just know that Marcus has had the experience now to be the kind of guy who should be able to handle tough situations, [and he] is counted on to handle that. He's a competitor,"" head coach Bo Ryan said. ""He's done a good job, he's trying to do better and if he wasn't trying to do better, it'd be hard to be on this team.""
Landry, a Milwaukee native, came to Madison in 2005 despite fielding a scholarship offer from then-defending champion Connecticut. Marcus's brother Carl was starting for Purdue (another team that recruited Marcus) at the time, but Marcus said he wanted to stay close to home.
Landry's first season was not a smooth one. He did average six points, 3.1 rebounds and 15.4 minutes per game but was ruled academically ineligible for the second half of the season.
The next season he bounced back, playing the sixth most minutes of any Badger. He shot 52 percent from the field, but only 56 percent from the free throw line (down from 71.4 percent the year before). Landry led the team in blocked shots and carved out a niche in the rotation, often being out on the floor late in games. He even started the final six games of the season after forward/center Brian Butch went down with an injury.
His role this season has grown even more prominent. Now, as a full-time starter, he is averaging 11.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
In Big Ten play, he upped those numbers to 13.8 points and 5.6 rebounds while hitting 45.5 percent of his threes and 81 percent from the charity stripe. He has scored in double digits in ten of his last 13 games and registered his first career double-double in the Badger's win over No.11 Indiana.
""I knew it was coming last year, that he would have big year this year. It's his time now,"" junior forward Joe Krabbenhoft said. ""He's a hell of a player, but more importantly, he's a great teammate.""
Landry has a skill set that fits perfectly into Bo Ryan's inside-outside swing offense. He can attack opponents on the low block but also is capable of hitting jumpers from mid-range to as far out as the three-point line.
""He brings everything ... He's an intimidating player out there,"" Krabbenhoft said. ""He's learning the game very well. He's learned from his brother, he's learned from Alando [Tucker], so he is a combination of that, and that's a scary thing.""
Landry echoed that, saying he also tried to adopt many of the off-court positives his brother and Tucker practiced.
On defense, he has the ability and mindset to muscle with people in the post andthe athleticism to be a good shot blocker at 6'7'. This year he has been asked to play more defense on the perimeter, and he has stepped up to the challenge.
""He's had some tough post people he's had to guard,"" assistant coach Gary Close said. ""He's had to play defense both inside as well as out, so he's making good, steady progress.""
Landry has also made strides in his ability to make his teammates better. This year, he is averaging 1.4 assists per contest and has one more assist in 22 games than he had in all 36 games he played last season.
""[Landry] has slowed his game down. He's very patient. He's making great passes, great reads, good decisions,"" Krabbenhoft said.
Landry has shown vast improvements from last season by concentrating on all the little things and by being well rounded.
""He's just becoming a very complete player, and he has worked hard at it, so I'm happy to see the success for him out on the court,"" Krabbenhoft added.
Throughout Landry's career at Wisconsin, he has also had to handle something far more important than a basketball. He is married and has two children - a son, Marcus Jr., and a daughter named Mariah. His wife Efueko played basketball at Marquette from 2002 to 2007, meaning that this is the first year where the family can live together in Madison.
""This year it's made a big impact on me, having [Efueko] and the kids here. I'm eating right, not going out getting McDonalds, then hitting the road,"" Landry said. ""It makes it more family oriented. It's right here, not 90 miles away, so it makes it a lot better.""