This Saturday, the UW men's basketball team will take the Kohl Center floor for its first exhibition game of the season, a matchup with Augustana College.
Augustana College is a Division II school located in Sioux Falls, S.D. Last season, the Vikings finished with a 22-9 record before falling in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Division II Tournament. Like this year's Badgers, the Vikings are a young team, composed of nine freshmen and sophomores. Junior guard David Foster is Augustana's top returning scorer, averaging 11 points per game last season.
Although the game doesn't count toward Wisconsin's record, the Badgers know how valuable exhibitions can be for a smooth transition into the beginning of the regular season.
We're looking to make a statement,"" senior forward Marcus Landry said. ""These are very good games that you're looking to get comfortable and weigh out some things. You have to get in the comfort zone of everything, so that's what we're looking for.""
Last week, Landry was selected as a member of this year's Big Ten Preseason All-Conference Team after averaging 11 points and five rebounds for the Badgers last season. Landry also made his presence known in last year's postseason, as he was named the Big Ten Tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
But Landry will need some help if the Badgers hope to match their high level of play from last season. Junior guard Trevon Hughes returns after averaging 11 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals per game during his year as a starter. Junior guard Jason Bohannon is the reigning Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year and will look to improve his play from last year after playing crucial minutes in head coach Bo Ryan's system. Lastly, senior forward Joe Krabbenhoft returns after starting in all of Wisconsin's games last season while averaging 7.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per contest.
Krabbenhoft has a unique connection to this particular opponent. He attended Roosevelt High School, located in Sioux Falls and close to the Augustana College campus. He was selected to the first-team all-state team as a senior after leading Roosevelt to a third-place finish at the all-state tournament. Krabbenhoft is still closely connected to Viking head coach Tom Billeter, who served as one of Krabbenhoft's coaching mentors and pushed Krabbenhoft to attend Wisconsin.
Wisconsin won the conference championship last season and is predicted to finish in third place in the Big Ten, behind both Purdue and Michigan State. But Krabbenhoft says that although the team is honored to be viewed as an elite contender once again, the Badgers are more concerned about their own goals.
""It just gives everybody a chance to talk about it in the media, which is good to get our names out there, but we're only worried about where we're at right now,"" Krabbenhoft said. ""We're worried about getting better so we can be where we want to be in March, and that's the top of the Big Ten and in the tournament. To get to that point, it's going to take a lot of hard work.
There's a lot of improvement going on.""
Saturday's tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Kohl Center.
