Tuesday night's game was the Alando Tucker show. The sophomore forward single-handedly kept the Badgers in the game early on and did the little things down the stretch, proving he has returned to the level of play which fans saw in his first season. He finished with a career-high 27 points, playing all but three minutes in the Badgers' 69-64 victory over the Maryland Terrapins. Tucker began the game by scoring 16 of the Badgers' first 20 points in less than 11 minutes worth of action. He played 19 minutes in the first half and without him the Badgers would have had trouble.
\[Alando] is a tough player to guard. He's got a great, quick first step,"" senior guard Sharif Chambliss said before taking his praise a step further. ""He is the strongest player in basketball, pound-for-pound. All Maryland could do was foul him and hope that he missed his free throws.""
Unfortunately for the Terps he shot well from there too, making 10 of 13 in the opening 20 minutes and going 11 for 15 total.
""I thought at times we had some good defensive players on him but he still got to where he got fouled and he did a heck of a job,"" Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams said.
As one fan said eloquently, ""You can't stop him so you might as well just tackle him.""
Tucker found himself guarded more heavily in the second half but still found ways to help the team, grinding out steals and forcing fouls in the paint on both ends of the floor.
""[In the second half] we finally got smart and didn't get up on him too far and tried to make him shoot it over us,"" Williams said. ""It helped a little bit but I thought he was the key because he got them whatever confidence they needed.""
Tucker spent much of the night guarding junior forward Nik Caner- Medley, Maryland's leading scorer coming into the game. Tucker, however, forced Caner-Medley to turn the ball over six times.
But for Tucker it was more than just a big game. Most importantly to him, it was a good response after a road loss to Pepperdine last weekend.
""I just wanted to show the players that we were coming off a tough loss, but we can still stick together and do team things,"" Tucker said. ""It was a statement game. There were a lot of doubts out there.""
It was a statement game for the Badgers as much as it was for Tucker. The game showed he can be a big-time player, like he was when he earned Big Ten All-Freshman honors. After playing just four games last season before being sidelined with injury, Tuesday showed Tucker is near full health.
""For a year he was sitting down, still working through some things to make sure it doesn't happen again. It's always on his mind, [but] he is playing now, so I was smiling,"" Head Coach Bo Ryan said.
As long as he stays healthy, he has the experience and the mindset to play many roles for the Badgers. He can be a leader and a statement player-helping his team through rough stretches and putting up big numbers. But he has also shown that he is comfortable in playing a supporting role and letting other players step up.
There is no doubt that throughout the season the Badgers will need Tucker to fulfill both roles, and if he does, the team will have a chance to win each and every game.
