Having stacked up three consecutive double-digit wins, the Wisconsin men's basketball team appears to be regaining the momentum it was building before its loss to Indiana two weeks ago.
The Badgers will travel to Minneapolis Wednesday for their second border-battle of the season, already boasting a 23-point win over Minnesota at the Kohl Center last month. However, coach Bo Ryan said he expects the Gophers to come out swinging the second time around.
""Loose,"" he said Monday, when asked how Minnesota has played recently. ""Loose and hard.""
In addition, Minnesota will have center Spencer Tollackson back in the lineup for just the third game since his return from a hand injury. During the seven games Tollackson missed, the Gophers were 2-5, their only wins coming at home against Southeast Louisiana and Purdue.
The 6'9"", 265-pound Tollackson is currently averaging 13 points and six rebounds per game, although he scored 23 in a loss against Iowa last week.
""They're a better team with him on both ends of the floor,"" Ryan said.
Wisconsin will not only be visiting its fiercest rival Wednesday night, but also the hometown of starting point guard Kammron Taylor, who won a state basketball title at Minneapolis North High School.
Ryan said he was aware of the homecoming but that it would change nothing about the team or Taylor's approach to the contest.
""Let's practice and prepare for this next game,"" Ryan said he told the senior guard. ""If it happens to be in Minneapolis, it's in Minneapolis.""
Although Taylor is Wisconsin's second leading scorer, Minnesota's defense will center around senior forward Alando Tucker. The favorite for Big Ten Player of the Year and co-Big Ten Player of the Week passed the 2,000-point mark Saturday, becoming one of only UW two players to ever reach that milestone. But Ryan was quick to point out that Tucker has established himself as a team player since the beginning of his college career.
""I've said all along that he's not a guy that's ever come in here with the idea he's going to gun, jack, be somebody that's trying to set personal goals ahead of team goals,"" Ryan said, pointing out that Tucker ""doesn't take bad shots.""
""Alando gets the big picture,"" he added.
With Tucker and a host of other potent scorers, the Badgers will certainly be favored over the 9-16 Gophers. But Minnesota's arena, affectionately known to locals as ""The Barn,"" presents its own challenges to players and coaches alike.
Both benches, for example, sit several feet below court level, leaving coaches to pace the sidelines by themselves. Ryan said he often feels like a ""sore thumb"" when coaching at The Barn, but said appearance is his smallest concern.
""The coach I first came here with, Bill Cofield, split his pants the very first minute of the first game that he ever coached there,"" Ryan said, describing a failed attempt to climb from the court to the bench. ""So what I try to do is not put myself in that position.""
