The UW men's basketball team went 2-1 in a rare week where it played three games in seven days. After wins against Minnesota and Penn State, the Badgers earned the school's first-ever No. 1 ranking Monday. They faced a rude awakening Tuesday, however, as Michigan State gave UW its second Big Ten loss, 64-55. Here is The Daily Cardinal's weekly report:
Player of the Week:
Alando Tucker
In six halves of basketball Tucker dominated four of them and completely disappeared in the other two. Tucker was only 2-of-13 in the first half against Penn State and the second half at Michigan State combined. That includes going 1-of-5 from beyond the arc. In the other four halves played last week, however, Tucker shot just under 60 percent from the field, going 9-of-15 from three. He scored 59 of his 67 points in those four halves.
Ignoring the 40 minutes Tucker was silenced, the senior was brilliant and up until the second half of Tuesday night's loss, he probably had taken over the National Player of the Year race. He will have to hope the voters ignore his 1-for-7 second half performance against MSU. A big game in Columbus, Ohio Sunday would help.
X-Factor of the Week: Marcus Landry
Freshman Jason Bohannon (11 points, 3-of-4 from three against Penn State) was a lock for this honor before Landry showed up in East Lansing, Mich. Tuesday. Landry single-handedly kept Wisconsin in the game against Michigan State. The sophomore was 6-of-10 including going 4-for-6 from 3-point territory. He complemented the scoring with five rebounds.
The outside shooting is something that Landry has done before, but not in mass quantities like he did Tuesday. The bottom line is, even though Wisconsin lost at Michigan State, Landry and Bohannon provided a glimpse at the future of Badger basketball.
On deck: Ohio State
Do not pout for too long Badger fans because the game of the year is still going down Sunday. UW (12-2 Big Ten, 26-3 overall) travels to Columbus, Ohio to face Ohio State (13-1, 25-3) in a battle between two teams ranked No. 1.
There is still plenty to play for as Wisconsin knows that if they finish the season with two wins they will earn at least a split-Big Ten title and the No. 1 seed in this year's Big Ten Tournament. Sunday's game could also end up determining which Big Ten team will receive a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Game of the Week: Duh!
The No. 1 team in the AP poll takes on the No. 1 team in the ESPN/USA Today poll at 3 p.m. Sunday.
