Departing Seniors vs. The Record Book

Now that the books have closed on the careers of Trevon Hughes and Jason Bohannon, it's time to take a look at what statistical mark they actually left on the program. The duo graces many of Wisconsin's career leaderboards after a successful senior campaign that brought both players all-conference honors.

Hughes was Second Team All-Big Ten and made the conference's All-Defensive Team this season. Bohannon, the 2007-08 Sixth Man of the Year, was a Third Team All-Big Ten choice and received Wisconsin's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award as well.

As expected, Bohannon finished among Wisconsin's all-time best in career free throw percentage when he set a personal best (87.3%) from the charity stripe in 2009-10. But J-Bo's steady contributions also allowed him to shatter the school record for minutes played in one season with 1,214, topping Kam Taylor's old mark. The Iowan ranks second all-time with 135 game appearances, behind only Krabbenhoft (136).

Pop, on the other hand, started 100 of the 132 games he played in his career, good for eighth and fourth respectively. His most prolific accomplishment was passing Michael Flowers to rank third in career steals. Hughes also edged Joe Krabbenhoft by one assist to reach the Top Ten in all-time assists.

But Jordan Taylor may surpass Hughes in assists as soon as next season. Not to be out-done by his older teammates, Taylor tied for the 7th-most assists in a single season, tying Mark Vershaw and Wes Matthews with 118 dimes. The sophomore also boasted the third-best assist-to-turnover ratio in Wisconsin history (3.03:1). But it was Jon Leuer, despite missing nine games, who got the only honorable mention league honors for the Badgers.

Player - Career Steals (Season Total)
1. Mike Kelley - 275
2. Tracy Webster - 183
3. Trevon Hughes - 177 (55)
4. Michael Flowers - 171
5. Mike Wilkinson - 169
6. Michael Finley - 168
7. Devin Harris - 164
8. Trent Jackson - 151
9. Hennssy Auriantal - 133
10. Claude Gregory - 131

Player - Career Assists (Season Total)
1. Tracy Webster - 501
2. Mike Heineman - 388
3. Michael Finley - 371
4. Mike Kelley - 344
5. Tom Molaski - 335
6. Mark Vershaw - 311
7. Devin Harris - 295
8. Arnold Gaines - 290
9. Michael Flowers - 278
10. Trevon Hughes - 277 (86)

Player - Career 3-Point Field Goals (Season Total)
1. Tim Locum - 227
2. Kirk Penney - 217
3. Michael Finley - 213
4. Jason Bohannon - 212 (68, tied for 9th-most in a season)
5. Trent Jackson - 193
6. Devin Harris - 187
7. Trevon Hughes - 175 (74, tied for 4th-most in a season)
8. Tracy Webster - 167
9. Sean Mason - 166
10. Kammron Taylor - 163

Player - Career 3-Point Field Goal Attempts (Season Total)
1. Michael Finley - 631
2. Kirk Penney - 561
3. Jason Bohannon - 559 (175, tied himself for 8th-most in a season)
4. Devin Harris - 499
5. Trevon Hughes - 487 (187, 5th-most in a season)
6. Tim Locum - 481
7. Sean Mason - 471
8. Kammron Taylor - 430 (tie)
8. Trent Jackson - 430 (tie)
10. Tracy Webster - 406

Player - Career Free Throws (Season Total)
1. Alando Tucker - 520
2. Michael Finley - 456
3. Claude Gregory - 433
4. Danny Jones - 408
4. Clarence Sherrod - 408
6. Mike Wilkinson - 394
7. Devin Harris - 362
8. Trevon Hughes - 334 (107)
9. Sean Mason - 332
10. Dick Cable - 316

Player - Career Free Throw Attempts (Season Total)
1. Alando Tucker - 817
2. Danny Jones - 599
3. Michael Finley - 593
4. Claude Gregory - 586
5. Mike Wilkinson - 534
6. Clarence Sherrod - 522
7. Joe Franklin - 476
8. Trevon Hughes - 464 (150)
9. Paul Morrow - 449
10. James Johnson - 429

Player - Career Free Throw Percentage (Season)
1. Rick Olson - .870
2. Tim Locum - .856
3. Jason Bohannon - .848 (.873, 6th-best single-season mark)
4. Wes Matthews - .817
5. Mike Carlin - .804
6. Dick Miller - .801
7. Kammron Taylor - .795
8. Sean Mason - .794
9. Clarence Sherrod - .782
10. Devin Harris - .778

Player - Career Minutes (Season Total)
1. Alando Tucker - 4,247
2. Mike Wilkinson - 4,023
3. Rick Olson - 3,962
4. Michael Finley - 3,945
5. Jason Bohannon - 3,749 (1,214, most in Wisconsin single-season history)
6. Mike Kelley - 3,712
7. Danny Jones - 3,623
8. Mark Vershaw - 3,466
9. Trevon Hughes - 3,438 (1,077)
10. Kirk Penney - 3,416

Senior Night

Wisconsin seniors Jason Bohannon and Trevon Hughes have a chance to finish the season with the most career wins of any Badgers. It will take four more victories and the task continues tonight against Iowa on Senior Night.

It is ironic that they face the Hawkeyes in their final home game since Bohannon is practically the prodigal son of Iowa basketball and Iowa was the other school on Hughes' final list as well. The butterfly effect would tell us that the quality of Iowa basketball could be substantially different today if Iowa had signed this pair.

Steve Alford and Iowa were fresh off a second-place Big Ten finish and a tournament title that year. The Hawkeyes signed a 5-man class, two being JUCOs, but only one was a guard. Needless to say, Iowa would have loved to have Pop or J-Bo or both. Could that have kept Alford from getting canned? Perhaps not. But the Todd Lickliter era would have been completely different and Wisconsin would have been worse off, especially last season.

The reality is the the power has shifted toward Madison -- Bo Ryan and his senior guards are a big reason why.

Hughes has always been one of my favorite Badgers, despite his flaws and I've enjoyed watching him grow as a leader on this team. Bohannon, on the other hand, has earned a ton of respect just this year and is currently playing the best basketball of anyone on the team. J-Bo will never light the room with a great interview like Hughes might, but both players have come up big in the clutch in their final season together.

A win would assure Wisconsin the #4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, now that Illinois has dropped to 10-7 in conference. The Buckeyes wrapped up a share of the title Tuesday in its final league contest, officially killing UW's title hopes.

Experienced Duo Knocks Out Wildcats

In a game where Wisconsin's lack of front court experience had everyone nervous, the senior back court said resoundingly, "don't worry 'bout it."

Jason Bohannon used a variety of moves to pull the Badgers even, 27-27, in a slowed-paced first half against Northwestern. Bohannon led all scorers with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting, in spite of hitting only 1-of-5 on his 3-pointers.

Bohannon then passed the torch to Trevon Hughes. Hughes, apparently unsatisfied with his reputation as an ACC sniper, completely took over down the stretch. After 33 minutes of terrible shooting, Hughes caught fire, turning a three-point deficit into a seven-point lead that #13 Wisconsin (14-3, 4-1) never relinquished. Pop hit five of his last six shots, including 4-of-5 from distance to scratch out a 60-50 road victory in Evanston. [box score]

Both of the seniors played all 40 minutes. Sophomore Jordan Taylor logged 37 minutes in his first start, notching 7 assists and zero turnovers. Hughes led a balanced rebounding effort (each starter grabbed at least five) with 7 boards. Still, the three-guard lineup looked pretty gassed with five minutes to play, especially Taylor. But Bo Ryan's thoughtful timeout before the last media timeout allowed the team to maintain the momentum that Hughes was providing.

Having Hughes and Taylor on the floor together is very comforting when playing a trapping team like Northwestern -- I am not nearly as nervous as I would have been two years ago. This is a game that the team might have let slip away even last year. Hughes' sense of the moment and emotional leadership prevented that from happening.

For a some great new background info on one of tonight's stars, head over to Luke Winn's article at SI.com. It is very insightful, clearing up some common misnomers about the nickname "Pop" and digging a little deeper into Hughes' path to Wisconsin. I found it ironic that a national writer brought some of these items to light (I may have missed it if local articles covered this stuff years ago), so Winn should be applauded for that.

After picking up a huge win versus the Wildcats (12-4, 1-3), the Badgers will prepare for another important road game against red hot Ohio State. Like the Wildcats, the Buckeyes will throw some zone at Wisconsin so this was good preparation for Saturday.

Ohio State (12-5, 2-3) doesn't have much in the big man department either, so you might see roughly the same rotation (ie: no Jared Berggren). Mike Bruesewitz was efficient on the offensive glass, but the three reserves totaled only 18 minutes among them. In the absence of Jon Leuer, fatigue is going to be an increased risk.

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Oh, and this is also awesome: Club Trillion founder Mark Titus strikes mixtape gold. [video]

Hughes and Bohannon Leaving Their Mark

Senior Trevon Hughes pushed his way onto Wisconsin's all-time Top 10 for career steals earlier this season, one of two categories in which I expected him to leave a permanent mark before he leaves the program. Right now he is eighth on the thefts list and has a shot to catch guys like Devin Harris, Michael Finley and even Michael Flowers if he excels.

The way things are progressing, however, I could be wrong about Hughes winding up on the all-time assists ladder. It's more likely that he will enter the school's top ten lists in the 3-point and free throw categories actually. When it comes to dimes, Jordan Taylor is this team's leader. Taylor is also well ahead of Hughes' career assist pace and could be headed onto that list in a few years himself.

Player - Career Steals (Season Total)
5. Michael Finley - 168
6. Devin Harris - 164
7. Trent Jackson - 151
8. Trevon Hughes - 141 (19)
9. Hennssy Auriantal - 133

I keep forgetting about Jason Bohannon since he has been pretty quiet this year, but he is obviously one to watch as he rises up the all-time 3-pointer charts. Against Cal Poly, J-Bo drew into a tie in the Wisconsin record books for both 3-pointers made and attempted [box score]. Hopefully he can break free in both categories against Milwaukee.

Bohannon is on pace to finish fourth and third, respectively, on those lists in addition to being a near-lock to hold one of the highest FT shooting percentages in school history when he is done.

Player - Career 3-Pointers (Season Total)
6. Tracy Webster - 167
7. Sean Mason - 166
8. Kammron Taylor - 163
9. Andy Kilbride - 162
9. Jason Bohannon - 162 (18)

Player - Career 3-Pt FG Attempts (Season Total)
4. Tim Locum - 481
5. Sean Mason - 471
6. Jason Bohannon - 430 (46)
6. Kammron Taylor - 430
6. Trent Jackson - 430

Trevon's Team

In Bo Ryan's first eight seasons at Wisconsin he never had the same full-time starting point guard three years in a row. Now, in his ninth season as head coach, he has senior Trevon Hughes.

Remember that even though Devin Harris started as a freshman, Travon Davis was the starting point guard in Bo's first season. So Hughes, the kid from Queens, has bragging rights among Badgers in the Ryan era.

The 2009-10 Badgers have some good things going for them and Hughes is chief among those. But this year's team also has the burden of answering a lot of questions about it's own identity and whether last year's struggles were just bumps in the road or an indication of things to come.

When Hughes burst onto the scene as a sophomore, some fans saw him destined for the NBA; as his career unfolded, others blamed him for everything that went wrong for the Badgers. Hughes probably has been one of the more polarizing talents in recent memory.

Here what we know: Hughes will finish his career in Wisconsin's Top 10 all-time in steals and assists. He has been honorable mention All-Big Ten the last two seasons. Last season he posted career highs in minutes, 3-pt FG and FT percentage, assists, points and rebounds per game. His assist-to-turnover ratio has improved significantly.

In his second year as a starter, Hughes developed the knack for the big play, as his game-winning shots in the final seconds beat both Virginia Tech and Florida State last year. His teammates call him Pop, but you can call him the "ACC Killer." (Duke even brought in it's next point guard a year early to prepare for Hughes).

There is room for improvement, no question. Hughes must improve his shooting from the dreadful 34.4% mark (32% on threes) he posted in Big Ten play last season. He needs to be more vigilant in probing the defense, especially when the team looks to him to create as the shot clock winds down. Too often in the past two seasons, we have watched Hughes milk the clock before firing a bad 3-pointer. Those shots kill his shooting percentages and do not tax the opposing defense. Wisconsin will also need Hughes to play his best defense consistently.

Maybe most importantly, the coaches are expecting more leadership out of their senior guards. Hughes has learned how to be a leader from both Joe Krabbenhoft and Alando Tucker. He said he is up to the challenge.

"That's part of being the point guard; it comes with the territory," Hughes said on Media Day. "Joe was more outspoken and I like to lead by example. The team always looks to the point guard so I have to be on top of my game each and every day. I need to be more vocal."

On the court, Hughes led his team last year by pacing the Badgers in scoring 11 times. Only 13 times was a player other than Hughes or Marcus Landry (10x) the leading scorer. With Landry gone, you know teammates will be expecting Pop to lead the way again.

Bo Ryan runs the show off the court, but between the lines the proverbial buck stops with Hughes. It's his team and his time.

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To see more of Hughes' career accomplishments, check out these resources:
Wisconsin Basketball 2009-10 Prospectus [pdf]
Wisconsin Men's Basketball Record Book [pdf]

Underrated Senior Guards?

While most people are looking at several of the younger faces to step up and determine Wisconsin's level of success this year, the Badgers are going only as far as their senior backcourt takes them.

Fox Sports' Jeff Goodman posted his list of the country's top 20 backcourts in 2009-10, but UW's Trevon Hughes and Jason Bohannon missed the cut. Perhaps it was simply the relatively unknown depth behind the starters that allowed schools like Seton Hall and Xavier to make the list instead. When I asked Goodman where he thought the Badger duo would place in the rankings, he tweeted back:

"Wisconsin's guards were in the next five - somewhere in the 20-25 range. Very underrated."

So maybe the Badger guards are just a microcosm of the entire Wisconsin team this year. They are both just off the radar and are being given token respect ... but no one sees them as a threat. Look for the Badgers to have a big year if Hughes and Bohannon can prove people wrong. Maybe they'll even give the Big Ten teams that did make the list -- Michigan State (#1), Ohio State (#3) and Purdue (#18) -- a run for their money.