MADISON, Wis. — Nobody goes to a dinner party expecting to leave before the main course has even been served.
That's essentially what Wisconsin's basketball team has done the past three years at the Big Ten tournament. Players stay just long enough to nosh on bread and soup, only to slip quietly out the side door without disturbing guests just as the meal is getting good.
The Badgers have played well enough during the regular season to earn a bye in their conference tournament all three seasons. Yet they have lost their first game each time, sent packing before the semifinal round.
As Wisconsin prepares for another appearance in the Big Ten tournament, talk already has surfaced among teammates that not a single player on this year's roster has won a game there.
This year, the Badgers are hungry for more.
"You leave your stuff in the hotel, you go to the game, you expect to come back and play the next day," Wisconsin center Jared Berggren said. "To lose on that first night, it's disappointing. You have family and friends make the trip, and they're all booking their hotels for the whole weekend.
"You kind of let everyone down when you lose that first game. It's something we don't want to do again."
No. 4 seed Wisconsin (23-8, 12-6 in Big Ten play) — which earned a bye yet again — plays No. 5 Indiana (25-7, 11-7) at 2:30 p.m. ET Friday in the quarterfinal of the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis. Indiana defeated No. 12 Penn State 75-58 to advance to Friday's game.
Wisconsin players certainly are hoping there won't be a repeat of recent history.
Many college basketball fans likely remember last year's Big Ten tournament game involving the Badgers, even if they wish the memory could be pushed out of their mind entirely.
Third-seeded Wisconsin lost 36-33 to No. 6 Penn State in the lowest-scoring game in tournament history. The Badgers shot a paltry 15 for 51 from the field (29.4 percent) and 2 for 21 from 3-point range.
It took nearly 36 minutes for a Wisconsin player other than Jordan Taylor and Jon Leuer to make a basket that day.
"It's one of the few games I don't remember many details to because there wasn't much to it, obviously," Badgers guard Josh Gasser said. "It was probably one of the worst games that we played all year and just left the worst taste in our mouth that we've had. Obviously we don't want that to happen again."
During coach Bo Ryan's first 10 years at Wisconsin, the Badgers have lost their opening Big Ten tournament game six times, even though they were the better seed on each occasion.
Over the past three seasons, Wisconsin has gone 35-17 in Big Ten regular-season play, making its 0-3 tournament mark even more confounding. In 2009, No. 4 Wisconsin blew a seven-point lead with five minutes remaining and lost 61-57 to No. 5 Ohio State. And in 2010, No. 4 Wisconsin dug itself a 16-point hole and lost 58-54 against fifth-seeded Illinois.
"It's been ugly games, but sometimes you've got to find a way to win ugly games, and we haven't been able to do that," said Taylor, the Badgers' standout senior making his last tournament appearance. "No matter what the game is like this Friday, we've got to try to find a way to win."
Wisconsin played Indiana once this season and defeated the Hoosiers 57-50 on Jan. 26 in the Kohl Center. Four Badgers scored in double figures, led by reserve Ben Brust's 13 points. Ryan Evans (12 points), Mike Bruesewitz (10) and Taylor (10) also reached double digits.
Christian Watford and Verdell Jones III each scored 12 points to pace the Hoosiers, who led 27-25 at halftime of the teams' earlier matchup. Jones' status for Friday's game is uncertain after he suffered a sprained right knee against Penn State on Thursday.
The Badgers just missed out on an opportunity for a share of the Big Ten regular-season title this year, finishing one game behind Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State. Still, Wisconsin finished fourth in the conference — the 11th time in 11 seasons under Ryan in which the Badgers have placed in the top four.
Whether that regular-season success translates into at least one victory in the conference tournament remains to be seen.
"We can beat anyone we play," Gasser said, "and we can probably lay an egg to anyone we play."
Recent history at the Big Ten tournament has certainly proven that last point to be true.
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