Forgive the average fan of Wisconsin men’s basketball if he or she isn’t overly excited about the Badgers being one of only 16 teams still alive for a national title. After all, Sweet 16 appearances are nothing new in Madison.
With this year’s appearance, Wisconsin has now advanced to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament in two consecutive years and in three of the last five. Since Bo Ryan took the helm in 2002, the Badgers have been to the Sweet 16 five times. Only Duke, Kansas, Michigan State, and North Carolina have more appearances during that span.
Yet the average college basketball fan and even the occasional expert still seem to rank Wisconsin’s program a solid step below the behemoths of the game. Perhaps this is rightly so. While the Badgers have been a fixture in the Sweet 16, they have failed to get over the hump, losing in the regional semifinal four of those five years and in the regional final in 2005.
“To become a powerhouse program you have to be able to win and we have won,” Wisconsin senior guard Jordan Taylor said. “But definitely we have to start taking advantage of opportunities like this.”
Thursday night, Taylor and the Badgers will have their moment of opportunity as they face top-seeded Syracuse (33-2) in the East Regional Semifinals in Boston.
Although the Orange are without sophomore center Fab Melo—who is out for the tournament with eligibility issues—they remain perhaps the most athletic team in the nation. Playing out of a patented zone that is just as much a part of their offense as it is their defense, the Orange play a style of basketball that is in direct contrast to that of the Badgers.
“I definitely think there will be a learning curve,” UW sophomore guard Ben Brust said of preparing for Syracuse. “But I think we’ve played a lot of different teams this year…so we just have to take everything we’ve learned throughout the year and just apply it to what they’re doing.”
One advantage the Badgers will have is that they are just about the best in the country at taking care of the ball. While Wisconsin is the second best in the nation, turning the ball over just nine times per game, the Orange are in the top 20 when it comes to forcing turnovers, creating 16.4 per game this season. In two NCAA Tournament games this year, Syracuse has cashed in to the tune of 19.5 points off turnovers per game.
“They force people where they want them to go and I think when you back down from that and just go back into a shell, I think that’s when they impose their will on teams,” Taylor said. “I think we just have to stay aggressive and try to just keep attacking them and go into the teeth of that zone. It’s the Sweet 16. It’s definitely not for the faint-hearted.”
But the necessary tradeoff for any zone comes on the glass and Syracuse is as susceptible to giving up offensive rebounds as just about any team in the country. Even in the Big East, a conference not exactly known for physical play underneath the basket, the Orange gave up nearly 15 offensive rebounds per game. While they won their third round matchup with Kansas State, Syracuse gave up a staggering 20 second-chance points to the Wildcats, who were only able to score 59 points in total.
“Part of the reason why they give up so many offensive rebounds is the reason why the defense is so good. It’s so active and they are flying around that at times they get themselves out of position,” UW assistant coach Gary Close said. “I think it’s going to be important for us to get offensive rebounds because they are so good at shutting down the first shot.”
Having come full circle from Jan. 9, when they stood at just 1-3 in Big Ten play, the Badgers are now just two games away from a Final Four appearance that would be their first since 2000.
“We’ve come this far,” sophomore guard Josh Gasser said. “Might as well finish this thing off.”
