MADISON, Wis. -- It would be easy to classify Northwestern's basketball team as snake-bitten given all the injuries the Wildcats have recently sustained. Then again, perhaps that term doesn't do justice to the level of damage inflicted on the team. Most snake bites, after all, wouldn't sideline someone for an entire year.
In Northwestern's case, five players are out for the season due to injuries or academic issues. Forward Jared Swopshire, the team's leading rebounder, became the latest victim when he injured his right knee Feb. 9 against Iowa. He underwent season-ending arthroscopic surgery three days later. The rest of the casualties are standout forward Drew Crawford (torn labrum), forward Sanjay Lumpkin (wrist), center Chier Ajour (knee) and guard JerShon Cobb (academics).
That means Northwestern (13-13, 4-9) will use eight remaining scholarship players, including a boatload of freshmen, when it tries to steal a victory at home against No. 19 Wisconsin (18-8, 9-4) at 8 p.m. CT Wednesday. The Wildcats face an uphill struggle simply to remain at .500 and earn a possible berth into the postseason NIT.
If Northwestern didn't have bad luck this season, it would have no luck at all.
"Unfortunately for Northwestern, they've had more than their share of injuries," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. "It's always good to have guys that have been through the rigors of the Big Ten. And now we're winding down. For freshmen, this league can be a tough league on you."
It has been especially tough on Northwestern, which started three freshmen — guard Tre Demps, forward Mike Turner and forward Kale Abrahamson — during a 62-41 loss against Illinois on Sunday. The Illini used a 26-0 run to obliterate the Wildcats, whose first sub off the bench, Alex Olah, was another freshman.
"I'm not happy with the way guys played," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. "On the other hand, they're playing more than they really should, if I can say that. …
"That's not to be used as an excuse, but there's a reality to it. I have to keep coaching them hard and maybe in the long run it's a really good thing."
Despite the lack of a veteran presence, Northwestern poses a difficult challenge because of its style of play. The Wildcats run a Princeton-style offense, which emphasizes passing, motion and backdoor cuts. Northwestern has used that model to beat the likes of Illinois and Minnesota — both teams vying for NCAA Tournament spots.
"They've been able to slow teams down," Badgers forward Sam Dekker said. "That's how they've gotten some key wins to their season so far. They don't have the best record that we've played this year, but that's a team that can beat teams. We don't want it to become a trap game for us."
Added Badgers point guard Traevon Jackson: "If you don't know how to defend it, then you definitely can get lulled to sleep and they'll be scoring buckets. They run it to a T."
The Badgers have made a habit of playing poorly following important victories during the Big Ten season. Wisconsin knocked off No. 2 Indiana on the road and proceeded to lose to Iowa the next game. Last week, Wisconsin followed its overtime victory against No. 4 Michigan with a loss at Minnesota.
On Sunday, Wisconsin put together one of its most complete performances in a 71-49 dismantling of No. 13 Ohio State.
"We've had a trend this year that we should try to bring to a halt after a big win," Dekker said. "A lot of times, we've taken one on the chin."
A loss on Wednesday would be catastrophic to Wisconsin's Big Ten title hopes. The Badgers are two games behind Indiana and Michigan State but have the easiest remaining schedule among those teams.
Of the Badgers' five remaining regular-season games, just one comes against a team headed to the NCAA Tournament (Michigan State). The other opponents — Northwestern, Nebraska, Purdue and Penn State — are 12-40 in league play.
Wisconsin has moved up to a No. 5 seed in several mock NCAA Tournament brackets and could continue to climb with a strong showing in the final month of the regular season.
Carmody, for one, has been impressed by what he's seen, particularly after Badgers point guard Josh Gasser suffered a season-ending ACL tear less than two weeks before the team's first game. Compared to Northwestern's injury issues, that loss doesn't seem so bad.
"Bo's doing a great job," Carmody said. "We all know he can coach. That happened early and he just plugged a couple guys in there to take over.
"… It's a good group. I just think he's pieced it together very well. More than pieced it together. Just done a tremendous job."
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