BY RICK BOZICH
Special to FOXSports.com
This is the season when Wisconsin was supposed to disappear from the shrinking collection of seven programs that have appeared in every NCAA tournament since 1999.
Of course, some people whispered that was supposed to happen last year.
And the year before that.
And …
Well, you understand. But you’re also probably surprised that Wisconsin is a member of the Splendid Seven, which features sexier powers like Kansas, Michigan State, Duke, Texas, Arizona and Gonzaga.
But this is supposed to be the end of that glorious run, right?
“We heard before the season that some people were picking us ninth in the Big Ten,” said Trevon Hughes, the Badgers’ senior point guard. “Maybe 10th. It was shocking.”
Why do people persist in saying these harsh things about Bo Ryan’s program?
“It’s our style of play,” Hughes said. “They don’t like it. Too slow. If the TV isn’t broke, why try to fix it? We’re athletic, but people think everybody else is more athletic.”
Think again.
Despite a burp during a 54-47 loss at Michigan State Wednesday, the Badgers have roared back into the national rankings by winning 12 of their first 15, handling Duke, Arizona, Maryland and Ohio State. They are nine for nine in the Kohl Center, and guess what team appears in Madison Saturday for the first Game of the Year in the Big Ten?
14-0 Purdue.
“This is a huge stretch for us,” Hughes said. “We have to stay consistent. Coach tells that we don’t have to make great plays. Just be consistently good, and you’ll be great.”
All the vital signs that annually percolate inside one of Ryan’s teams are evident in these Badgers. A year after Wisconsin ranked an uncharacteristic 201st nationally in field goal defense, finished 20-13 and wheezed into the NCAA tournament as a No. 12 seed, the Badgers now rank 47th in that trademark Ryan category, limiting opponents to 39 percent.
Opposing teams have 51 more turnovers than assists, and although Jon Leuer, a 6-foot-10 center, is their only starter taller than 6-foot-8, the Badgers sit at better than plus-five on the boards.
With Hughes and Jason Bohannon, a pair of senior guards, Wisconsin ranks third nationally in turnovers, averaging 10.1 per game. It’s the same formula — swing offense, refusal to play a single possession of zone defense and unyielding persistence — that Ryan has used to win at least a share of three Big Ten regular-season titles.
“Coach hates turnovers, bad shots and guys that don’t want to play great defense,” said Hughes, whose nickname is “Pop.”
“He told us in his entire career, his teams played zone on one possession and the other team scored, so he’s never using it again. At practice, we always start with 25-to-50 possessions of hard work on defense.”
Some coaches panic if they can’t work a couple of McDonald’s all-Americans into their lineup. Ryan has built the best conference winning percentage in Big Ten history with unflappable kids like Hughes.
He’s a New York City native who grew up in Queens thinking that Felipe Lopez of St. John’s was the most wonderful college player on the planet. He looked like a perfect candidate to play in the Big East.
His parents had another plan. They placed him at St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy in Delafield, Wis., after the eighth grade.
Their goal was to develop his academic and leadership skills, not to make certain Trevon knew how to break a zone press. He learned to accept discipline and 6 a.m. wake-up calls.
Besides, Hughes will tell you that when he arrived at St. John’s, he was convinced he was more likely to quarterback a college football team than a basketball team.
“I loved football more than basketball,” he said. “I thought that was my game.”
Bo Ryan had a better idea, convincing Hughes that he was “destined” to play for Wisconsin.
“At first, I laughed,” Hughes said. “Destined? But the more I thought about it, I wondered if he was right.”
There is no longer any reason to wonder.
Try to find another 6-footer who averages five rebounds, makes better than 41 percent of his 3-pointers, has blocked eight shots and averages 16.5 points. The 26 points Hughes dropped on Duke in a 73-69 victory against the Blue Devils on Dec. 2 put the Badgers back in the national conversation.
“It’s not just me,” Hughes said. “Our big guys do a great job of blocking out so I can get to the glass and rebound.”
Despite Wisconsin’s powerful start, which also includes a victory against Marquette, Hughes understands that the 11-day, four-game stretch that started with the Michigan State defeat Wednesday will probably determine if Wisconsin can contend for another Big Ten title: At Michigan State, followed by Purdue in Madison, at Northwestern and at Ohio State — a team the Badgers beat by 22 on New Year’s Eve but will have Evan Turner back for the rematch in Columbus on Jan. 16.
"Whatever gets us the wins, that’s what we’ll have to do,” Hughes said.
