The Wisconsin men's basketball team is fresh off a solid tournament appearance at the Maui Invitational and its biggest win of the season to this point. Head coach Bo Ryan and his players look to keep the momentum rolling into one of their most anticipated matchups of the season.
Wisconsin (4-1) grabbed a third-place finish in the annual pre-season tournament in Hawaii last week, winning two games and losing one. Although the Badgers fell to Gonzaga, Wisconsin beat a pair of excellent opponents in the Arizona Wildcats and No. 21 Maryland.
In each game, a different player stepped up to lead the Badgers.
Senior guard Trevon Hughes scored 24 points in Wisconsin's victory over Arizona, while sophomore guard Jordan Taylor led Wisconsin with 19 in a losing effort against Gonzaga.
Against Maryland, senior guard Jason Bohannon scored 20 points and was 4-for-5 from beyond the arc.
The Badgers' success against two quality opponents early on showed Ryan a lot about this team.
""They want to compete, they're tough, they can bounce back, and they can handle a little adversity, foul trouble, [and] the ball not going in,"" Ryan said.
The Badgers certainly need all the toughness they can muster up as they look ahead to possibly the most important non-conference regular season game Wisconsin has hosted in many seasons. The Badgers welcome the No. 5 Duke Blue Devils to the Kohl Center this Wednesday as part of the annual ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Wisconsin did not host a game in the event the last two seasons, but the Badgers have knocked off the last three ACC oppnents they faced, including Florida State in last year's NCAA tournament.
In the 10 seasons the challenge has existed, Duke has never lost a matchup, going a perfect 10-0. However, the Badgers have the second most wins (four) in the Big Ten in the history of the event.
Although Duke has easily rolled by many stellar Big Ten teams in past years, Ryan and the team welcome the matchup.
""We're just happy to be getting a quality opponent for our preparation, for our fans, for our players,"" Ryan said.
The Blue Devils are 5-0 this season, and have won every contest by at least 10 points. Duke has also scored over 100 points in two games and has a 25-point average margin of victory on the season. The Blue Devils are fresh off winning the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament last week, defeating the No. 12 University of Connecticut to take home the championship.
Despite the fact Duke has compiled 14 straight winning seasons, including three Final Fours and an NCAA championship game in that span, Wisconsin's preparation will not change this week.
""No matter who we're playing, let's get to work and let's prepare and let's do it. There aren't any changes for this from my standpoint,"" Ryan said.
