Wisconsin Gets Wolfpack In Challenge

The 2010 Big Ten/ACC Challenge matchups were officially released yesterday and some prognosticators already give an edge to the Big Ten. The general consensus is that Wisconsin should prevail over N.C. State on Dec. 1 in the friendly confines of the Kohl Center.

There is no reason to get deep into the matchup's specifics until this fall, but interesting tidbits abound as this popular series continues into its second decade ...

:: Wisconsin is one of only seven teams that have played in all 11 Challenges so far, due to the two conferences' size inequality over the years. The ACC had only nine active members until 2005 and has had 12 since 2006.

:: When the Big Ten had more members, a pair of randomly selected teams rotated in and out of the challenge every two years. Now that the ACC is larger, it's last-place team sits out of the competition the following year, leading to what some view as a slight advantage for that conference.

Before jumping to conclusions, one thing to consider is how good the ACC's "odd man out" actually wound up performing that season. The ACC usually does luck out, but the Big Ten may have dodged a bullet in 2007:

Only two times did the Big Ten cellar dweller miss the Challenge the following year (Penn State, 2003-04).

:: The Badgers are tied with Northwestern for the most road losses (5) of any team in the series, while posting the Big Ten's best home winning percentage (.750). N.C. State is nearly a mirror image to Wisconsin in terms of past challenge success. The tilt with the Wolfpack will be UW's fifth home game in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

Both Maryland (@Penn State) and Wake Forest (home vs. Iowa) are 5-0 at home.

:: While Wisconsin will try to reach the .500 mark all-time in this series, the Big Ten is going for its second-straight win to swing momentum in its favor. After starting out competitively (the ACC led 20-15 overall after four years), the Big Ten got pummeled, 36-15, between 2003 and 2007.

April Showers Bring May Offers

The past week has been relatively newsworthy for Wisconsin from a recruiting perspective, despite the summer doldrums setting in.

It all started just over a week ago on April 30 when Ben Brust won his second appeal to re-sign within the Big Ten after his release from Iowa. All signs pointed toward Brust choosing either Wisconsin or Northwestern.

While Brust was playing in an academic all-star game out in California, the AAU circuit was heating up in Indiana, where 6'10" supernova Anthony Davis exploded at the Spiece Run 'N Slam tournament. The Chicago Perspectives star promptly received a scholarship offer from Wisconsin that Sunday.

But Davis wasn't the only Illinois big man who caught the coaching staff's eye. Benet Academy center Frank Kaminsky of the Illinois Wolves, another 6'10" senior-to-be, received the same offer following his visit to Madison on Thursday. That move pushed the number of confirmed outstanding scholarship offers from the Badgers for the 2011 class into double-digits, with six of those players hailing from the Land of Lincoln.

Then on Friday night, Brust officially signed on to play for Bo Ryan during his official campus visit with Duje Dukan. Bo will look for Brust to do some of the things Jason Bohannon provided from the shooting guard position for the past four years. All in all, he's a pretty nice late addition to the 2010 class.

The news was not all perfect, however. One of Wisconsin's major Illinois targets, Mycheal Henry, was reportedly coming to Madison today, but chose on Monday to commit to the Illini instead. Henry picked Illinois over Wisconsin and Georgetown. Brust's commitment probably didn't have any bearing on Henry's choice, seeing as there is much more of a log jam at the wing positions in Champaign than here. Bruce Weber's team will be loaded for the next several years, though he definitely has high expectations to achieve.

The fast-rising Henry appeared to be a good fit for the Badgers, who told Henry he would fill the role of a go-to scorer on the team. Personally I was hoping that George Marshall could have done some recruiting for UW to that end, but the draw of the home-state school was too strong. Let's hope Marshall stays true.

I still have not gotten word on whether Milwaukee Vincent sophomore Phillip Nolan actually made it to campus last week for a visit as anticipated. Some speculated that Nolan was on the verge a receiving in offer for the 2012 class. Jarrod Uthoff is the next name to listen for in 2011.

: : :

As Wisconsin attempts to reel in three more players for 2011, it was a slight disappointment to hear who the team hosts in next season's Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Badgers will be able to invite recruits to a battle with North Carolina ... State.

However, I do like the idea of the league top teams going on the road. If Purdue, Michigan State and Ohio State are as good as advertised, each has a good chance of winning in any venue against any team. That means many of the swing games will be held in Big Ten arenas for a change. See, I can be optimistic sometimes ...

Wisconsin Stares Down the Devils

Nearly perfect.

That's the only way I can describe Wisconsin's wire-to-wire, 73-69 victory over No. 6 Duke to all but clinch the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. In fact last night, I could not even articulate the joy when Jordan Taylor's free throw fell true with two seconds remaining.

Sure, I gave the Badgers a chance in this game, but realistically, I did not expect the Badgers to put together the perfect game it would take to beat the Dukies. As it turned out, UW only turned the ball over five times, including once on a shot-clock violation. That is perfection in my book. Wisconsin turned Duke over 11 times with some timely blocked shots and steals, which the Blue Devils (6-1) could not duplicate with their own defense.

Even so, Wisconsin (5-1) didn't need everything else to be flawless after all. For example:

- It's hard to believe Wisconsin, who started the game shooting nearly 70% from the floor, wound up with lower FG, 3FG and FT percentages than Duke, but still won. [box score]

- It's hard to believe that while Kyle Singler scored at will in the first half (7-of-10 FGs) and scored a game-high 28 points, Wisconsin still won. Just as surprising was that Bo Ryan did not hesitate to throw different defenders at him. Even when it seemed Singler was wearing through a new Badger defender, the combinations eventually wore him down.

Bo has an infinitely wiser basketball mind than me, but is often so set in his upperclassmen-centric, man-to-man ways that his fairly short leash on junior Tim Jarmusz was refreshing. The second attempt was redshirt freshman Ryan Evans, who also couldn't slow Singler in the first half. As Jay Bilas pointed out at halftime, Bo's most effective defense was actually the smaller, quicker Taylor at the end of the first half. But to start the second half, there was Keaton Nankivil isolated on Singler. Then Bo switched back to the Evans & Taylor duo that got the job done down the stretch.

- It's hard to believe that even though Jason Bohannon could not buy a bucket from outside (0-6 on 3-pointers) or keep up with Andre Dawkins (who hit three straight treys in a 1:40 stretch) at the end, and Jon Leuer went ice cold in the second half, Wisconsin still won. God bless Trevon Hughes.

Hughes was mercurial in victory. He did not have a single turnover. He took a lot of shots from every range, but hit them (68.7 eFG%) for a career-high 26 points. The threat of his penetration allowed a few 3-point daggers from the bigs. My only gripe is that he didn't demand the ball on the final possessions, when UW got a bad shot from Evans and a lot of dribbling from Taylor.

- It's hard to believe that without the eight free throw attempts that came when Duke was deliberately fouling, Wisconsin was again on its way to attempting fewer free throws than its opponent made. And UW still handed Duke it's first-ever loss in the Challenge.

The most important factor in beating Duke was the 19-9 lead the Badgers quickly built in the first five and a half minutes. Apparently Wisconsin does remember how to play with a lead (unlike last year). Hughes said it best in the post-game when he talked about the team staying very loose in the early going, which enabled the Badgers to hit all their open looks. This was possible thanks to great passing and ball movement from each player, highlighted by the team's season-high 17 assists.

Oddly, the only one of my pregame keys to winning that Wisconsin accomplished was rebounding, where they battled Duke to a 32-32 draw. When you consider that several clutch rebounds to preserve the win came from the inexperienced Evans and the 6'2" Bohannon, you can see even more clearly the total team effort.

An almost unbelievable win.

T-Minus Duke And Counting

There was a point on Tuesday when it looked like Indiana could pull off a mammoth upset and push the Big Ten out to a 4-0 start in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, with a capable Michigan State squad yet to play.

We all know what happened after that. With the ledger knotted at 3-3, it will come down to games like Minnesota-Miami, Wisconsin-Duke, and Ohio State-Florida State to determine if the midwest's finest can claim it's first victory in this 11-year battle. So far, things have gone according to chalk (my own predictions are only 5-1).

Duke brings the nation's 6th-ranked team into the Kohl Center for a game where Wisconsin has nothing to lose. But that doesn't make the task any easier, it just makes failure more acceptable. Jon Leuer played admirably two years ago in defeat and should be the team's first offensive option. The visitors will get an athletic upgrade in their own front court, however, if freshman big man Mason Plumlee can play big minutes in his return from a wrist injury.

In typical Bo Ryan fashion, the Wisconsin head coach is downplaying the significance of UW's rematch with the Blue Devils:

"We've faced a lot of teams with good three-point shooters, and you can't make up a defense just for one game. You know, you get your matchups, you get your tendencies, just like we do against every other team, and you play it from there."

It's refreshing to hear that the players let on a little, though.

"[Bo] is telling us don't overthink the game, that it's just another one on the schedule," senior Trevon Hughes said. "But everyone knows the implications of this game."

The team is probably just glad to get a home game again in this series. To earn the upset, the Badgers will have to get to the free throw line, rebound well and hit their shots. The Blue Devils do not turn the ball over, play great team defense and have been rebounding well. Duke is also one of the most efficient offensive teams in the land. Sound familiar?

But the Dukies struggle to get to the charity stripe, much like the Badgers. Nolan Smith can get to the rim, but is not quite as skilled as other perimeter players who have given Wisconsin fits in the past. Newcomer Andre Dawkins has also given Duke a lift at guard. But I don't think either player can handle Hughes.

For a Duke perspective, check out the Duke Basketball Report.

2009 Big Ten/ACC Challenge Tips Off

It's time to wake up basketball fans. Maybe you find yourself still sleeping off the tryptofan that you gorged yourself on over the Thanksgiving holiday, stuck in football mode and awaiting the bowl matchups. If that's the case, your missed a slew of great season-opening tournaments on the hardwood.

Even though the Big Ten did not fare as well as expected in those tourneys, the conference gets an immediate mulligan starting tonight. Virginia hosts Penn State in the first game of the 2009 Big Ten/ACC Challenge at 6 pm CT. ESPN is advertising the Challenge on air, but there has been no hype for it online. And I don't blame them since the Big Ten has never won the event.

This is a stretch of games that can change national perception. Though the Big Ten is traditionally viewed as a plodding conference (especially when compared to the ACC), its teams have actually been playing at a fairly average pace through the first weeks of the season.

Tonight's game is one of the toss-up games that most people feel needs to swing the Big Ten's way in order to snap the ACC stranglehold on the challenge. Virginia (4-2), who played uptempo last year, is now coached by Wisconsin's favorite son Tony Bennett -- who has been known to lead slow-paced teams. By early indications, Penn State (4-2) is playing slower than average yet again.

The Challenge's marquee matchups begin in earnest on Tuesday, with the Wisconsin-Duke contest slated for 8:15 pm CT on Wednesday to help conclude the event.

So if you still want to sleepwalk through the college basketball season until March Madness, watching the Big Ten embarrass itself again in a BCS bowl and sobbing over Brett Favre's success, you can check online football odds at BetUS.

If you'd rather watch potential history in the making, check out ESPN for the next three nights. Even though it's still early, we will learn a lot about how the Big Ten can live up to its preseason hype and starting making some definitive statements about what problems each team will face this year. I am holding out hope for the conference, but don't have the best feeling about this one. On the bright side, if I go under .500 on my picks, there's a 50/50 chance the Big Ten pulled this thing out:

: : : Monday (predicted winners in orange)
6:00 CT - Penn State @ Virginia (ESPN2). Virginia might be rebuilding, but Penn State is the type of team that a Bennett-coached club will beat.

: : : Tuesday
6:00 CT - Wake Forest @#4 Purdue (ESPN). Purdue is carrying the Big Ten's banner right now. They have the talent and experience to get the job done. Wake just has Al-Farouq Aminu.
6:00 CT - Northwestern @ N.C. State (ESPNU). No Coble, no problem. The 'Cats are playing well and play their throwback style well, while the Wolfpack's resume is pretty weak.
6:30 CT - Maryland @ Indiana (ESPN2). Maryland is ripe for the picking, but Indiana is not quite ready for prime time.
8:00 CT - #9 Michigan State @ #10 North Carolina (ESPN). This one will hurt the most. If MSU can win the battle behind the arc, the Spartans can win, but UNC's front line is special.
8:30 CT - Virginia Tech @ Iowa (ESPN2). No words necessary.

: : : Wednesday
6:15 CT - Illinois @ Clemson (ESPN). Déjà vu? The Illini are reeling right now and Clemson is always playing well at this time.
6:15 CT - Minnesota @ Miami (ESPNU). Minnesota's 4-2 record is not as bad as it looks, since they fell to two decent teams. I believe in Tubby's guys to quiet the rising storm in Miami (6-0).
6:30 CT - Boston College @ Michigan (ESPN2). Big Blue must bounce back.
8:15 CT - #6 Duke @ Wisconsin (ESPN). I reserve the right to change my mind come Wednesday. Who guards Kyle Singler?
8:30 CT - #21 Florida State @ #15 Ohio State (ESPN2). This should be a nice game. Having at least one big man will help OSU slow Solomon Alabi, and the home court pushes the Buckeyes over the top.

ACC 6, Big Ten 5 ... miss it by *that* much.

A Big Time Recruit and a Big Time Opponent

Still pretty swamped, but several pieces of very big news landed today ...

First off, Mark Miller is reporting on Wishoops.net that Bo Ryan has offered a scholarship to J.P. Tokoto of Menomonee Falls. This is the first offer extended by Wisconsin to a member of the the 2012 class.

Because Tokoto is so young -- one of the youngest ever to receive an offer from Wisconsin as Miller points out -- none of the recruiting services have rated him yet. But the 6'5" freshman is a very well known commodity in basketball circles. Expect him to get the same kind of hype as Jamil Wilson got throughout his career (5 stars?). Tom Crean sure knows about him and Indiana will be just one of the household names following in Wisconsin's footsteps here.

Tokoto plays AAU ball for the 15U Wisconsin Playground Warriors, as well as up with the 16U team. He is lengthy, athletic, skilled and intelligent. Think about having Brian Butch's skills in Ryan Evans' body. And according to Menomonee Falls head coach Ben Siebert, maybe a little Kevin Love?

"He’s so very talented and he’s only going to get better. The first thing that you notice about him is his rebounding. Our whole fast break is predicated on him getting the rebound and launching the outlet pass."

Given the new rules about recruiting players in April, it was great to see Ryan and Greg Gard jump on this by getting on-site right away at a Menomonee Falls open gym, just days after keeping close tabs on Tokoto's performance on the AAU circuit via text messaging. They want this kid badly.

Needless to say, this is a pretty nice day for Tokoto's family and Badger fans alike. Since many have been merely counting down the days until this offer was official, Hoops Marinara already has a recruiting open thread ready to go for Tokoto.

: : :

The second bombshell of the day is word that Wisconsin will host Duke on Wednesday, December 2 as a part of next year's Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Badgers will be looking for a little payback after the 82-58 spanking they received at the hands of the Blue Devils two years ago.

I was so pumped up for Wisconsin's first trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium. That team had a lot of good pieces despite the loss of Tucker and Taylor. But the chance to put a Badger stamp on the college basketball landscape was a disaster, thus my tempered enthusiasm this time around.

On the bright side, this is a true home game at the Kohl Center (not any of this Bradley Center garbage). Plus, despite the fact that while Duke has posted great records the past two years, the program has not quite lived up to its old standards of dominance lately, so I do not forsee any potential embarrassment. If junior Gerald Henderson bolts to the NBA as expected, Duke is really the two-man team of Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer. Those are two very good players, but not exactly the swarming winged studs that gave Wisconsin fits in the first meeting.

BadgerBeat.com covers all the angles here and here.

: : :

And finally, though it's not Badger-related, one-time Louisville commit Jeremy Tyler has announced he is skipping his senior year ... of high school! Tyler, one of the top-rated juniors in the land, plans to play in Europe for the next two seasons as a professional. The young power forward may wind up in Spain. Dan Wetzel disects the matter over at Yahoo! Sports.

This may end up trumping last year's Brandon Jennings fiasco, especially since it comes on the heels of the bizarre Rick Pitino extortion case. After the departure of Pitino's son from Louisville to the coaching bench at Florida, some think the Cardinal empire is starting to crumble.

Another Brick In The Wall

My dream will have to wait another year. Not only did the ACC display its superiority again, but Duke emerged unscathed. The Big Ten improved overall to five wins this year, but eight of the 12 ACC teams still have a .500 or better record in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

Now, sure most of the games were close and there were positive moments. Unfortunately, the marquee teams from the ACC lambasted the "best" teams from the Big Ten. Purdue laid an absolute egg. That performance will have people drooling over Duke for weeks, fair or not. Kyle Singler is very good though and he shut down Robbie Hummel.

Top-ranked North Carolina sealed the deal by running away from Michigan State. Will a home team win at Ford Field at all this year?! The game was entertaining at the start, however, the Spartans simply do not stack up inside -- especially without Goran Suton. I am still waiting to be impressed by Raymar Morgan with my own two eyes.

Other thoughts, with the help of the Big Ten blogosphere:
Minnesota looked very aggressive Tuesday and could definitely be a player in the Big Ten. The Gophers have been trained to hound the perimeter and try to swat every shot attempt. This enabled them to control the tempo. Two players stood out. Damian Johnson is long and athletic. Freshman Colton Iverson is not a looker but looks real good in the post. Iverson is a player I imagine most Badger fans can respect. If you were looking for the next big man in the conference to worry about, see this kid in two years. Minnesota should be scary at that point with Royce White and Rodney Williams also on the roster.

Obviously, Ohio State benefited from the ejection of Jack McClinton and thus, turned the tables on Miami in the second half. McClinton made his first four 3-pointers before he got the boot with about 10 minutes left int he first half. Ho hum, another road win, one of six in the challenge.

After seeing the pathetic finishes by Illinois and Iowa, all you could do was vomit. For the Illini to not get a shot off is unforgivable and the Hawkeye freshman missing (badly) on the front end of a bonus situation is pure heartbreak. If either of those finishes flipped, the Big Ten would have a big smile on its face right now. Penn State added another very weak finish on Wednesday but still managed to escape Atlanta with a nice win over Georgia Tech. The Nittany Lions made some minor mistakes in press break mode, like passing up an easy basket that would have put them up six points, and looked terrible form the charity stripe. Part of the problem was failing to get the ball to their best free throw shooters each time.

The fans back in State College probably chewed their nails off, but they have a reason to be optimistic about their backcourt. I really like is PSU's sophomore point guard Talor Battle, who teams with senior Stanley Pringle to form a quick, offensive-minded pair. Former Badger recruiting target Iman Shumpert posted a nice line as well.

In other Wednesday action, Indiana lost big to Wake Forest as expected, and Michigan proved me wrong by getting shell shocked to the tune of 46 points in the second half. Luckily, Northwestern picked up the slack with a convincing romp over Florida State. Could that be a spark towards something more for the Wildcats?

That put me at a paltry 5-5 on my predictions. There's always next year ... for me and for the Big Ten.

A Big Night Ahead for the Big Ten

Just one more thought on last night's game before I make some picks for the remaining ACC/Big Ten Challenge games:

When an opposing player simply goes "en fuego" like A.D. Vassallo did, you can play all the great defense you want after he gets the ball and it just won't matter. In those rare times, the defense must shift to denying him the ball. I understand why Wisconsin did not, considering Vassallo was merely keeping the Hokies in the game for most of that time. It wasn't until the lead shrank in the final minute that he could actually win it for Virginia Tech.

What scares me is a combination of two things. One, I don't Wisconsin has a smart shutdown guy on the roster right now that could chase a taller shooter around if the Badgers really needed to cool a guy off. Secondly, Bo Ryan is far too stubborn in his straight-up, pack it in man-to-man defense to ever try something like that, even if it is completely logical.

On to the picks ...

With the Big Ten leading 1-0, Tuesday's games feature a few toss ups that the conference must win heading into the final five games on Wednesday if it hopes to topple the ACC. Enjoy the great college hoops feast, with all games being broadcast on ESPN's family of networks.

: : : Tuesday (Predicted winners in orange)
7:00 ET - Ohio State @ Miami. I think if this game was later in the year, I would pick the Buckeyes and the upset, but the youngsters at OSU have only played three real games together and a road win in the Challenge is too much to ask.
7:00 ET - Iowa @ Boston College. The Hawkeyes are bad -- I cannot believe freshman Anthony Tucker is Iowa's best player. Home team takes it.
7:30 ET - Clemson @ Illinois. A must win for the Big Ten. Clemson (7-0) started out hot last year too and of course it did not mean squat. In a clash of styles, I'd like to give Bruce Weber the benefit of the doubt, but the history of this series causes me to reconsider.
9:00 ET - Duke @ Purdue. Can Purdue out-Duke the Blue Devils with perimeter feistiness and outside shooting? I like the Boiler defenders better (Kramer, Jackson, Moore and Johnson inside) and there is no way Duke is the fourth-best team in the country.
9:30 ET - Virginia @ Minnesota. This is the only game I truly expect the Big Ten to win.

: : : Wednesday (Predicted winners in orange)
7:00 ET - Indiana @ Wake Forest. Blowout city. Sorry Crean!
7:00 ET - Michigan @ Maryland. Great matchup between two teams who are hanging their hats on big upsets in the early season. The Terps are reeling after two straight losses and John Beilein's funhouse offense and zone defense might be the ticket to a huge Big Ten win on the road (against my better judgment).
7:30 ET - Penn State @ Georgia Tech. I had this game earmarked for an upset alert until I realized that GT's "bad wins" (Mercer, Jacksonville) weren't all that bad. I think the Nittany Lions will give the Yellow Jackets tough run in a battle of two-word mascots.
9:00 ET - North Carolina vs. Michigan State @ Ford Field (Detroit). Every one is handing this game to UNC and I feel like a lemming today.
9:30 ET - Florida State @ Northwestern. Home court doesn't mean much in Evanston.

My count is another 7-4 win for the ACC, but there are few that can go either way for sure. Counting Wisconsin's victory, I am forecasting five wins by road teams. As long as Purdue can give Duke their first-ever loss, I will be happy.

Meeting the Challenge

The current joy of being a Wisconsin basketball fan is being able to see your team silence a turbulent home crowd with a game-winning shot in a big road game for the second year in a row. In a scene vaguely reminiscent of Michael Flowers' game-changing final sequence against Texas last year, Trevon Hughes calmly glided down the floor in a tie game and nailed a tough floater in traffic with less than a second left to beat Virginia Tech. The basket struck an opening blow for the Big Ten in its annual quest for national respect against the big, bad Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Badgers had been unable to corral VT's A.D. Vassallo during the second half as he single-handedly dismantled a fairly comfortable Wisconsin lead down the stretch. Vassallo's 3-pointer with seven seconds left sent the home crowd into pandemonium, yet distracted the team from organizing its full-court pressure and anything else other than token defense. That same pressure had given Badgers like Hughes, Joe Krabbenhoft and Jason Bohannon fits for the previous minute, allowing the Hokies to chip away.

Virginia Tech's momentary lapse (or more likely, a deliberate strategy) proved to be serendipitous, as Hughes was unimpeded in his progress down court. He even appeared to get fouled prior to his release. Following a brief celebratory reaction themselves, Krabby gathered the team quick enough to ensure VT got no easy looks at a half-court heave.

First and foremost, this was a great college basketball game. At last, I think even non-Wisconsin fans could agree that it was truly enjoyable to watch. All the elements were there: star power heating up at the right time (Vassallo), a valiant comeback by an underdog, a slighted team with a possible chip on its shoulder (UW), and both teams shooting the lights out.

It is time to embrace the Badgers as a team of shooters; last year was no fluke. Virginia Tech hit 11-of-15 from behind the arc and 26-of-51 (51%) overall from the field. Yet Wisconsin one-upped the Hokies by connecting on 12-of-18 3-pointers en route to 51.1% overall shooting. [box score]

Vassallo was the great Hokie hope in the end, striking from 30-feet out on a few occasions as he posted 24 of his game-high 30 points after halftime, thanks to six treys. I kept yelling at the TV that #40 was the only guy the Badgers needed to guard, yet he kept getting great looks. Oddly, he was best guarded on his final shot that tied the game.

UW really needs to tighten up its perimeter defense before league play starts, but the problem seems to be that guys like Bohannon and Tim Jarmusz have to allow quicker players a cushion so they do not get blown by off the dribble. This is where the development of Rob Wilson comes into play. Wilson, by the way, provided a great early spark for the team in this game.

Jon Leuer gets my nod for UW's player of the game. He sank both of his shots from long distance and showed the offensive versatility and aggressiveness that has had fans (and coaches) salivating for about a year now. Even his attempted put-back dunk that rimmed out had me out of my seat. Leuer finished with 17 points on 11 attempts to go along with six rebounds and two blocks.

Landry missed only one shot and finished with another studly line: a team-high 18 points & 4 assists, plus two more blocks. Lo and behold, J-Bo knocked down three treys after missing his first couple of open looks. A great night all around.

The elephant in the room of course is the "Big Donut" put up by VT's Jeff Allen. Hampered by a few ticky-tack fouls (and some even dumber, obvious fouls), Allen played only 15 minutes and had two points.

Had Allen not fouled out, I think the dynamic of the game changes and as crazy as it sounds, it may not have been as close. With Allen in the game, maybe Vassallo wouldn't have gotten a chance to catch fire. Marcus Landry was holding his own -- and more -- offensively with Allen doing all he could to slow the goggled one. Landry went wild from outside, hitting all four of his 3-point attempts. He did not have to worry about guarding Allen himself, though, as Keaton Nankivil picked up the assignment to begin the game. But no doubt, Allen's absence allowed guys like Leuer a reprieve on defense.

Savor the flavor: replay of the last 12 seconds [video]

Thanksgiving Hokies

Monday night's ACC/Big Ten Challenge showdown at Virginia Tech seems a fitting finale to last week's Thanksgiving festivities. I give the school credit for having a unique nickname and mascot like the Hokies, but I do not envy it one bit. Did you know a hokie is a castrated turkey? What kind of a fight do they expect to give a ravenous Badger? And you VT fans out there who might want to set me straight on the original meaning of the term, I don't think calling your sports team the "Hoorays" is any better.

One thing we can all agree on is that a win in this game will not come easy. Virginia Tech's Jeff Allen shed 20 pounds in the offseason and has shredded opponents in his first six games. He will be an interesting foe for Marcus Landry. The 6'7", 240-lb. Allen is averaging a double-double this season, one of three Hokie starters scoring at least 16 ppg so far.

The Hokies (4-2) appear to go to only about eight players deep in meaningful games. Besides scoring guards A.D. Vassallo and Malcolm Delaney, one name to keep an eye on would be freshman forward Victor Davila, who will probably be quick off the bench in the post. Thanks to Doug Bowman of Hokie Haven [subscription] for the heads up. Doug and I exchanged notes on this one and both think it's a very even match on paper. Virginia Tech's only two losses have come by a combined five points.

Badgers tune up with win over Panthers
I was able to catch the second half of the UW-Milwaukee tilt and actually had pretty decent success with the Big Ten Network's live video stream. I did notice the occasional lags that others have complained about, which seemed to increase in length and frequency as the game wore on, which probably would end up being a major problem over the full course of a game.

As for the game action itself, it seemed to be a continuation of what we've been seeing from Wisconsin recently. Trevon Hughes hit all four of his 3-pointers and is stroking the ball perfectly right now. Hughes led the team with 16 points. Conversely, J-Bo still can't buy a bucket. [box score]

Joe Krabbenhoft had his way against an over matched Milwaukee team and posted a double-double (12 pts, 10 rebs). I miss the days when the Panthers were tournament darlings and gave the Badgers a bit more of a battle in this game. Oh well. At least Jon Leuer seems to be finding his niche in the offense right now. I am counting on Hughes and Leuer to power the Badgers offensively Monday night, but Bohannon looms as the X-factor.

And finally, if you cannot see the floor in a game where your team's lead stretched to 26 points late in the game, you might want to redshirt. It is increasingly apparent that Jared Berggren will end up going that route. He and J.P. Gavinski were the only two Badgers stuck to the bench all game. Ian Markolf appears to have passed Gavinski on the depth chart.

The Morning After

I have a Duke hangover.

Let's start with the bright spots of Wisconsin's 82-58 drubbing at the hands of the Evil Empire:

(1) The Badgers were only outscored by one point in the second half.
(2) Jon Leuer earned himself some more playing time by putting the ball in the hole, and finishing at the hoop in limited minutes.
(3) Brian Butch was UW's most effective player when he was on the court.
(4) Jason Bohannon, who seemingly cannot get off his own shot from the perimeter, actually created his own shot by putting the ball on the floor.

The bad? Wisconsin's worse game of the season showcased deficiencies far too similar to those of years past. The last time I was this hopeless watching a game was ... the Ohio State loss in last year's Big Ten Tournament. As a team, Wisconsin is not nearly as good as other schools when it comes to making open shots.

This game was characterized by too many turnovers and terrible passing -- I guess playing at Cameron Indoor Stadium for the first time was a factor.

First and foremost, I am going to stop referring to Wisconsin as a premier defensive team. This team was scrambling all over on defense, slow to recover to wide-open shooters who were draining 3-pointers all night long. That phenomenon is a result of playing too much help defense because the players cannot stay in front of their own defensive assignment in the man-to-man set. Again, it's not the first time we've seen this either.

The Duke game also proved that Trevon Hughes has a long way to go before he can be mentioned alongside former Badger greats at his position. TOO MUCH DRIBBLING!!! The Blue Devil pressure had him reverting to the freshman Truh-von, not the supposedly new and improved TREY-von that we saw against the creampuffs. He needs to learn to recognize times when making a shot would be really nice, but missing a quick shot badly will absolutely kill the team's chances of clawing back into a game.

Trevon was not the only one without an A-game. I'm holding to my earlier statement that we need to give Marcus Landry another month or so to show up, but in the meantime, give Leuer some of his minutes. At least offensively, a freshman is showing the kind of aggressiveness that fans were expecting out of a junior starter. One of UW's immobile big men (Butch) was saddled with foul trouble and the other (Stiemsma) was practically MIA. In fact, the Wisconsin height advantage meant nothing since the big men were getting blocked by guards and defensively, the big men aren't agile enough to block a guard's shot in the paint without crashing into them.

Bo Ryan is not above criticism here either. Coach K outcoached him last night. Talent disparity aside, the Duke staff had its team executing far better than Wisconsin's staff did. Some people vehemently defend the type of players that Bo recruits and in the same breath never criticize his coaching either. But you cannot have it both ways. Either Bo needs to step up the recruiting to get more players who "get it" and can execute at a high level within his system or Bo just isn't that great at coaching top-flight talent.

I think Bo's strict adherence to the swing offense is detrimental to the team occassionally. The system is great for having big men pop out and shoot, but what happens when they are no good at shooting? Which of Wisconsin's guards can post up? And is there anyone capable of getting them the ball if they did? In any case, it appeared as though Duke did an excellent job of keeping the ball out of the post, which is a death sentence in the swing. Bottom line is Duke looks like a Top Ten team. The Badgers are don't even have directions to that ballpark.

Hey, at least I didn't make a big deal out of this game or look forward to it for months or anything ... call me a glutton for punishment, but I already can't wait for these two teams to play each other again.

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Challenge update: Thankfully Indiana pulled through against Georgia Tech, so I'm still barely alive on my modest 4-7 prediction. Considering I was picking UW only out of principle, I'd say chalk is going all the way this year. A young Purdue team looked like they were going to help me out, but they folded at the worst possible time against Clemson, like a poker player chasing a flush.

2007 Big Ten/ACC Challenge

Less than 24 hours until tip-off: No. 7 vs. No. 20

Wisconsin fans have to wait one more day to lock horns with one of the most storied college basketball programs ever, but this year's Big Ten/ACC Challenge began tonight. It got off to a pretty rough start, I might add, with Iowa dropping a dreadful game at home to Wake Forest. The Hawkeyes missed 11 of their 18 free throw attempts, halting any possible comeback from the 16-point halftime deficit.

The ACC teams get four out of five at home tomorrow night. Unfortunately, the one Big Ten host is Indiana, already a heavy favorite versus Georgia Tech. Before I prognosticate, keep in mind that the Big Ten has never won this challenge. No matter how confident I am going into the week, the ACC always wins the majority of the swing games and pulls a minor upset or two. The fact that I have little hope for the conference to reverse the trend this year can only mean good things.

The one game that I think might surprise some people starts at 6:30 CST. Is the Tubby revolution for real in Minnesota? The Gophers will have to go on the road to prove it, but Florida State is a beatable foe.

As for Wisconsin ... coming into the season, I really liked how the Badgers matched up with the Devils. I would have predicted a victory in October. However, after getting to see each team play a couple of times, I give Duke the edge by virtue of the greatest home court advantage in the nation.

If I had seen a little more out of Landry, Butch and the freshman so far, I would be more at ease. Landry still could have a breakout game, though, because he will be challenged from the start. He cannot disappear. I really want to see how he responds on both ends of the court to facing a younger player like Kyle Singler. A big game from Landry gives UW a good chance at winning.

As I see it, Duke perimeter players have a distinct advantage as shooters and playmakers, with Hughes being an exception. Pop will definitely eat up Greg Paulus. Duke is playing more aggressively and explosively, however, so Hughes has to be focused from the onset and avoid getting rattled by pressure and his first road test of the year. This should be his coming out party nationally, possibly in the same way that Tucker dominated Pittsburgh last season. The game is one of two gems in ESPN's challenge lineup, so it doubles as a good recruiting tool for Bucky.

Wisconsin cannot afford to get behind by very much at any point. The bottom line is that every Badger needs to play well to pick up the victory in a hostile environment against Duke. As I've said before, I think Michael Flowers will be the catalyst. Can he guard Gerald Henderson or DeMarcus Nelson and still be efficient offensively? He hasn't been very effective for a full game yet.

But I'm contradicting myself anyway and picking Wisconsin to beat the Evil Empire out of principle. Counting the Iowa game, I see the Big Ten posting a 4-7 record and retreating to the Midwest with its tail between its legs yet again. *Sigh* ...

(predicted winners in bold)
Wake Forest @ Iowa - LOSS
Georgia Tech @ (15)Indiana
Northwestern @ Virginia
Minnesota @ Florida St.
(20)Wisconsin @ (7)Duke
Purdue @ (18)Clemson
North Carolina St. @ (13)Michigan St.
Boston College @ Michigan
Illinois @ Maryland
(2)North Carolina @ Ohio St.
Virginia Tech @ Penn St.

Yes, that's the road teams winning 5 of 10 ...

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Not sure what ultra-young players are grabbing the UW staff's attention recruiting-wise, but a couple of youngsters are already making their mark for Milwaukee Bay View. Freshmen Darnell Harris is a 6'6" forward who teamed with Johnnie Lacy to beat defending champion Oshkosh West last week.

Dancing With The Devils

The match-up that Badger Nation has been longing for years is now an official reality with the announcement of the pairings for the ninth annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge: Wisconsin will travel to Duke for an 8 pm (CT) tip-off on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007.

It is not humanly possible for someone to be a more biased fan than I will be during that game. It is the first-ever meeting between my alma mater and my most hated sports team of all-time. The over/under on the number of times I wish physical harm on a Duke player has opened at 18 ½.

This seems like the ideal time to prop up one of my favorite web destinations of all-time: Truth About Duke. A nice stop for the Blue Devil-basher in all of us.

The scheduling news continued today when the Big Ten revealed that next year the conference schedule will increase from 16 to 18 games. Now, I'm not saying Bo is popping Cristal over the change, but hopefully he's relaxing with a good scotch and enjoying the step towards a true 20-game round-robin setup. It's a win-win situation. The teams and coaches get a more balanced schedule. As fans, this means a longer Big Ten season and thus, more good games.

Wisconsin fans should like what they see with the non-conference slate and feel confident that extending the conference season does not necessarily mean sacrificing quality non-conference opponents. The university is in the midst of finalizing its new series with Texas, which replaces the home-and-home with Pittsburgh. In addition to the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge, the Badgers also play Georgia again and can always count on Marquette to be formidable.

So much for the lack of Wisconsin basketball news.

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Former UW interim head coach Brad Soderberg is out at St. Louis University. Soderberg had an average five-year run, but never made the NCAA tournament with the Billikens. Soderberg won 20 games, a personal best and a first for St. Louis since 1997-98. His conference record dipped from 10-6 to 8-8 in the Atlantic 10 Conference this season, but there is speculation that St. Louis wanted to shake up some excitement for its new arena that open over a year from now.

The timing is pretty bad, both for Soderberg and the university. Nothing like bringing in a coach who will automatically be two months behind. St. Louis had also just gotten a commitment on Friday from SF Marcus Relphorde of Chicago. Oops, sorry kid. Hopefully St. Louis was not the only shot at a big-time scholarship for Soderberg's son either. (Kramer lit up the middle school competition in Sun Prairie back in the day).

Maybe controversy just follows Brad Soderberg. Just like his departure from Wisconsin, he was let go after a decent season ended on a sour note. Although St. Louis' 60-40 loss in the A-10 tournament semifinals cannot hold a candle to UW's 2001 NCAA disaster, both exits came with some outcry.

I'm sure the mentor is not happy. Unlike Bo, Dick Bennett might be having an angry scotch after this news.