This weekend the Wisconsin men's basketball will begin a new season with another chance to build on its success under head coach Bo Ryan. The season kicks off this Sunday when the Badgers host the Long Beach State 49ers.
Under Ryan, the Badgers have won all seven home openers and 10 consecutive home openers overall. The Badgers have won those games by an average of 27.7 points.
Expectations are high once again for Wisconsin, the defending Big Ten Conference Champions. The Badgers are currently ranked 21st in the preseason USA Today Poll, and 25th in the AP Top-25. In addition, Wisconsin was picked to finish third in the conference this year in a preseason poll conducted by Big Ten coaches and media.
The Long Beach State 49ers play in the Big West Conference. The 49ers boast eight NCAA tournament appearances and 15 former All-Americans, but struggled mightily last year, finishing with a 6-25 record, including an eight-game losing streak to end the season.
However, Long Beach State will have higher expectations for this season, as a vote by the league's media and coaches picked the 49ers to finish eighth and fifth, respectively.
Leading the 49er attack is returning senior guard Donovan Morris. Morris was named a CollegeHoops.net Preseason Mid-Major All-American, averaging a team-best 21.2 points and 5.2 rebounds for Long Beach State last year. Morris was also a first-team All-Big West member last season after scoring nearly 34 percent of the Long Beach State's total points. He also finished second on the team with 72 assists.
Long Beach State head coach Dan Monson enters his second season with the 49ers. The Badgers are quite familiar with Monson, who coached for eight seasons at Minnesota before his move to Long Beach State, producing five winning seasons.
Prior to Minnesota, Monson also led a 1998-1999 Gonzaga team to a 28-7 record, a WCC championship and a NCAA Elite 8 appearance.
The Badgers are coming off exhibition victories against Augustana and UW-Whitewater. Senior forward Marcus Landry averaged 15.5 points and five rebounds in those two contests.
Sophomore guard Jason Bohannon looked strong in his first two games as an official starter, averaging 11 points and 4.5 rebounds. And sophomore forward Keaton Nankivil showed vast improvement in his game from last year, with seven rebounds apiece in both of Wisconsin's games.
Despite winning both exhibitions by margins of more than 15 points, the Badgers still showed plenty of room for improvement. In Tuesday's matchup against UW-Whitewater, the Badgers committed 12 turnovers and 19 team fouls, accounting for 29 of UW-Whitewater's 47 total points.
Landry says it will be crucial for the Badgers to fix their mistakes from game to game.
We need to get better as a team,"" Landry said. ""That's what we try to do here. We just want to keep improving.""
Sunday's season opener will begin at 3 p.m. and will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.
