The Badgers will look to begin a new winning streak Thursday night as they host the Indiana Hoosiers in what will be the 155th meeting between the two teams.
Wisconsin (13-4 overall, 3-2 Big Ten) will look to capitalize off the confidence they gained in last weekend's victory over the Fighting Illini where they put up 49 points in the second half, their second highest scoring half of the season.
The Badgers have dominated Indiana recently, winning 12 of the last 15 match-ups, including six-straight games. Those six-straight victories have come by an average of 19.3 points per game, and although these numbers are eye-popping, UW assistant coach Gary Close says you can never count out a Tom Crean coached team, especially the one he has now at Indiana.
""[Indiana] is making steady progress,"" Close said. ""In this league sometimes you aren't rewarded with victories necessarily but they're going in the right direction.""
After battling with Crean for a number of years while he coached at Marquette, UW's staff has become quite familiar with many of his team's tendencies and characteristics. Although this can be an advantage, it doesn't change the coaching staff's process in preparing for Crean's Hoosiers.
""It might speed up the process a little bit … but teams change from year to year, teams change during the season and that's part of scouting,"" Close said. ""This team is doing a lot more things well than they've done in the past —they're on the verge of being a pretty good basketball team.""
Having played him both while he was at Marquette for his final season in 2007-'08, and now twice during conference play, a few of the seniors have come to respect Crean over the years. Along with the coaches, they see the similarities between all of Crean's teams and are well aware of their tenacity—a direct result of their coach.
""One thing we know they're going to do is play tough, it's going to be forty minutes of [hard-nosed basketball],"" senior forward Keaton Nankivil said. ""That's Coach Crean's personality rubbing off on his players—they're always tough.""
The Big Ten has emerged as one of the toughest conferences in the nation this season and may be at its best in almost a decade. Many struggling programs, including Indiana, are now beginning to feel the pressure.
The Hoosiers defeated Michigan in their last contest, but were on a stretch prior to that game where they lost six straight, including two to Big Ten contenders Minnesota and now No. 1 Ohio State.
Regardless of the level of competitive muscle that the Big Ten flexes this year, the Badgers remain confident while also knowing that nothing is guaranteed when fighting for a conference championship.
""That's the nature of the Big Ten, everybody's a tough game,"" senior forward Jon Leuer said. ""It's going to be a tough Big Ten race and we're looking forward to being in the thick of things.""
