Looking to string together wins for the first time in conference play, Wisconsin hopped on the back of junior guard Jordan Taylor and squeaked out a 69-60 home win over Indiana.
In a game that saw the Badgers trail for much of the game, Taylor was the lifeblood of UW's offensive production, continuing to keep a hot hand after a 17-point first half and finishing the game with 28 points to go along with eight rebounds and four assists.
""He wasn't afraid to attack and make things happen,"" UW head coach Bo Ryan said. ""As people are starting to find out, Jordan is a pretty good player.""
""I think Jordan Taylor is not only one of the premier guards in the league,"" Indiana head coach Tom Crean noted. ""I think he's one of the premier guards in the country.""
Though the Hoosiers came into Madison just 1-4 in conference play, they put up the best fight of any visitor to the Kohl Center thus far this season. Holding the lead for the majority of the contest, IU rode sophomore guard Jordan Hulls' 10 first half points en route to as much as an eight point lead in the first half before Taylor cut the lead to four with a key three just before the buzzer.
""They got it going early and we didn't match their intensity,"" Taylor said. ""Especially on the defensive side of the ball.""
After trading buckets early in the second half, Wisconsin finally went on the run the Kohl Center crowd was anticipating, capping off an 8-0 spurt on three-point play by sophomore forward Mike Bruesewitz.
The lead then swung back and forth for the next two minutes before a Taylor lay-up put UW on top for good, and the Badgers then gradually iced the game from the free throw line.
While they failed to make a free throw attempt in the first half, Wisconsin's aggression coming out of the break led to 17 free throw attempts and 16 pivotal points from the line.
Though a tight victory over a struggling Hoosier team wasn't exacted the way Badger fans would have scripted things, a win is ultimately just that: A win.
""The Big Ten is just going to be like this,"" Ryan said. ""We said it in October and we're saying it now""
Now 4-2 in the conference, UW now heads on the road for a crucial Big Ten contest against Northwestern. While Sunday's match-up will probably be overshadowed by a certain event 16.9 miles to the south at Soldier Field, the Badgers' quest for a conference road is certainly worth at least forgoing the pre-game.
Despite struggling in the conference at just 3-4, Northwestern possesses a high-powered offense led by junior forward John Shurna. Shurna is first in the nation in three-point shooting at 54.5 percent, accounting for a large portion of his 19.5 PPG, third in the Big Ten.
Add in the high school gym-like atmosphere at Welsh-Ryan Area and you have a recipe for disaster that many Big Ten teams have uncovered the hard way in recent years and one the Badgers desperately hope to avoid.
