Is three day’s enough time for Trevon to clear his mind, re-focus, and become the leader again?

Wisconsin Badgers (12-5, 3-2) Illinois Fighting Illini (16-3)

Head to Head Matchups (Matchups are not official and are subject to change)

Trevon Hughes vs. Chester Frazier- Chester Frazier

Typically I would give this matchup to Trevon Hughes, however there is just no way I could justify picking Hughes at this moment. He has played very poorly in nearly every facet of these past three games, and seems to be in a bit of a funk. In order for the Badgers to win, Trevon needs to make better decisions with the ball and that includes his shot selection, which has been very poor as of late. On the contrary, Chester Frazier has been the glue that has kept the Fighting Illini together. While Frazier’s scoring production may not look very impressive, his contributions to the Illini are very critical. He distributes the ball very well, and leads the Big 10 in assists.

Jason Bohannon vs. Trent Meacham- Trent Meacham

This is an intriguing matchup, as both players really like to shoot the three and are very good at it. Bohannon has been on a bit of a cold streak as of late, but expect for JBO to get back on track in the near future.

Joe Krabbenhoft vs. Demetri McCamey- Even

It will be interesting to see what Illinois does to contain Joe Krabbenhoft. At 6-7, Krabbenhoft has a good five inches on McCamey. I expect that Alex Legion will be in the lineup quite a bit as well.

Marcus Landry vs. Mike Davis- Marcus Landry

There is no doubt that Marcus Landry is one of the most talented Seniors in the Big 10. He isn’t your typical back to the basket forward, but he nonetheless has the ability to take over a game. Matching up with Landry is Mike Davis, a 6-10 power forward. This may be a matchup problem for Landry due to the size and athleticism of Davis. If Landry can get involved early on in the game, this is the Badgers for the taking.

Keaton Nankivil vs. Mike Tisdale- Mike Tisdale

Nobody know’s what Bo Ryan is going to do with the five spot on Saturday. For the time being, I am going to assume that Nankivil will be back in the starting lineup due to his solid showing against Iowa. Nankivil scored six points making all three of his attempts, and pulled down three boards. He will have the task of guarding Illinois’ most dangerous offensive threat in 7’1 Center, Mike Tisdale. Tisdale has a great mid-range jump shot, and if you leave him open he will take advantage of the opportunity.

Wisconsin Bench vs. Illinois Bench- Even

If there is anything positive that could possibly come from Wednesday’s loss to Iowa, it was the play of freshmen point guard Jordan Taylor in the second half. Taylor provided the offensive spark the Badgers badly needed, which included the 25 foot three-pointer that forced the game into overtime. Although the Badgers didn’t take advantage of their second opportunity, Taylor continued to shine in overtime, scoring the Badgers first five points. With little or no production from any of the five freshmen on the roster this year, this is something the Badgers needed badly. On the other hand, Alex Legion provides a spark off the bench for Illinois. The transfer from Kentucky averages 6.1 points to go with 2.1 rebounds.

Bo Ryan vs. Bruce Weber- Even

A rivalry renewed? Before 2007, the Wisconsin/Illinois rivalry was one of the most anticipated games in Big Ten Country. The rivalry has lost a it’s fire from a few years back, but now Bruce Weber has his team looking to compete for a Big 10 Championship. Both coaches have had their fair share of success against each other. Bo Ryan has a 4 game currently has a four game winning streak against Illinois, whereas Bruce Weber ended the Badgers 38 game home winning streak in 2005.

Analysis
It’s not so sunny in Badger Nation these days. There was no defensive communication by the Badgers on Wednesday. As a unit, they ran poor defensive rotations, and had no idea when to switch or when to stay with their own man. This often times led to a lot of mismatch problems and utter confusion. The Badgers will not be able to afford these defensive mistakes when they face a much better Illinois squad this Saturday. After throttling Ohio State 67-49 on Tuesday, Illinois comes in as one of the hottest teams in the Big 10. ILLINOIS 70-68.

Coble is Dirk (A Stiles Production)

For about five minutes or so, I was focused on studying for my exams that I have tomorrow. I haven’t picked up a book in a couple of months and I thought tonight would be my opportunity. But then I saw Northwestern was beating Michigan State and even more amazingly Kevin Coble was doing his best Dirk Nowitzki impersonation. Which leads me to my next point – they might be the same person or even more likely, twins. I know you’re probably thinking to yourself, “Man, this guy is out of his mind. That’s impossible, how dumb are you?” But listen up, it’s really not that far-fetched and it’s a conspiracy theory that I have now come to believe. Rather than focusing on the last couple of minutes of the thrilling game and listening to Jim Jackson scream about a rebound off a free throw or something of the like, I started doing research and I think I struck gold. Just take these enclosed pictures of teenage Dirk and current-day Coble as perfect evidence. In fact, I thought they were the same picture until I noticed teenage Dirk’s unbelievably sweet hoop earring (why did he ever get rid of that?). If you’re still wondering how they could be twins given the age discrepancy, I’ll try my best to explain and do it as quickly as possible. What I came up with is that first and foremost they were separated at birth and both were put up for adoption by their German parents. Dirk was adopted by another German family, while Coble would be adopted by an American family. A bowl-cutted Dirk would grow up to be drafted into the NBA as only a teen, while Kevin would get the shorter end of the stick and be not quite as good at the game of basketball. When things didn’t quite pan out for Kevin after high school and he didn’t have any scholarship offers, he decided to look elsewhere and joined the army. After Kevin completed training, rather than being deployed, he was asked to be a part of an army cryogenics experiment, to which he agreed. Kevin was frozen in time, forgotten, and would not be found for a couple of years. When he was finally discovered by a young boy named Nat in a vacant warehouse and taken to the boy’s home to secretly live in a tree house, he rediscovered his passion for the game of basketball. (If all this sounds to you like the plot from Forever Young, it kind of is. You see, Forever Young is based on a true story. The true story that is Kevin Coble’s life). From there, Coble found his way to the Northwestern campus and joined the basketball team. Still not a believer? Well then, I don’t know what to tell you. Personally, I tend to believe that they’re the same person. I mean, have you ever seen the two in the same room?

-Stiles

Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Wisconsin Badgers

Wisconsin Badgers (12-5, 3-2) Iowa Hawkeyes (11-7, 1-4)

When: 7:30 p.m., Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Head to Head Matchups (Matchups are not official and are subject to change)

Trevon Hughes vs. Jeff Peterson- Trevon Hughes

The Badgers seem to live and die by Trevon Hughes' handling of the ball. Here is the tell-tale stat… in the Badgers five losses, Hughes has 18 turnovers. In their 12 wins, Hughes has 13 turnovers. The Badgers will need Trevon’s best efforts to win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Jason Bohannon vs. Matt Gatens- Even

The most coincidental matchup of the night. Two former Iowa High School rivals that both happened to win Iowa’s “Mr. Basketball” and “Gatorade Player of the Year” face off against each other. Both can light if up from beyond the arc and are key offensive components for each team’s success. This is a matchup where Bohannon's much improved on-ball defense will need to be utilized.

Joe Krabbenhoft vs. Jake Kelly- Krabbenhoft

Krabbenhoft will have his hands full in guarding Kelly who is actually a shooting guard playing out of position at small forward. You never know what he can do offensively, but you can always expect Joe Rugged to be solid on the defensive end of the court. Just does what is asked of him!

Marcus Landry vs. Cyrus Tate- Marcus Landry

This matchup will all depend on Cyrus Tate’s health. If Tate is healthy, this will be a fun matchup to watch all game long. Tate is a solid interior player for Iowa and is the only player they have that can matchup defensively on Landry. He averages 7.4 points per game and leads the Hawkeyes in rebounds with 6.3 per game. It is unknown what to expect from Tate in his first game back, but Badger fans can always expect a solid effort from Landry.

Keaton Nankivil vs. David Palmer- Even

David Palmer had not started a game for Iowa until last week against Purdue. Iowa was destroyed, but Palmer did not disappoint. The 6’9 PF/C displayed a complete arsenal on the offensive end of the court, scoring 19 points and bringing down 8 boards. If that’s not enough to scare you, he also hit two three-pointers against the Boilermakers. Nankivil has yet to play consistently for the Badgers, but is technically solid and is due for a breakout game eventually. If Palmer can consistently perform the way he did against Purdue last week than the edge goes to Palmer, otherwise this is an even matchup.

Wisconsin Bench vs. Iowa Bench- Wisconsin

Interesting fact- In his first 16 games for the Hawkeyes, Devan Bawinkle had 66 FG attempts on the season… all 66 of them were three point attempts. With or without Cyrus Tate, Iowa will have nobody in their rotation over 6’6 coming off the bench. Jon Leuer has continued to be the Badgers most consistent scorer and should have a big role in tomorrow’s game. Last week, Leuer almost single-handedly led the Badgers back into contention against Minnesota in overtime.

Bo Ryan vs. Todd Lickliter- Bo Ryan

Bo Ryan has the 2-0 advantage over Todd Lickliter and his Iowa Hawkeyes. Nearly a week after the Badgers struggled to finish off Minnesota, Bo should have his team motivated to play a full game against Iowa. The Badgers have had their fair share of success at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and I see no reason for that to change this year. To go along with my theme from earlier in the week, Bo-lieve!

Analysis:

Injuries have crippled Iowa in recent weeks. Cyrus Tate sprained an ankle against Minnesota, Guard Jeff Peterson broke a bone in his left wrist against Ohio State, and Jake Kelly has a sprained left thumb. As a result, Iowa has struggled in the Big 10. Wisconsin should be able to take advantage of Iowa's misfortunes. The Badgers have four players 6'7 or taller and should be able to exloit the undersized Hawkeyes throughout the game. Wisconsin 78-60.