Varsity - The Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics

Varsity - February 27, 2014

Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.

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20 // VARSITY February 27, 2014 BY MATT LEPAY // VOICE OF THE BADGERS THE VOICE P erhaps Wisconsin basketball associate head coach Greg Gard said it best after Tues- day's 69-58 victory against Indiana. "If there was ever a tale of two halves, the definition was probably this game," he said. In the first 20 minutes, the Bad- gers simply could not shoot straight as they missed 20 of their first 27 shots. In the second half, the Bad- gers knocked down 62 percent of their field goal attempts and hung 50 points on the Hoosiers en route to Wisconsin's sixth-straight vic- tory. Helping spark the second-half rally was senior guard Ben Brust. After some recent nasty struggles with his stroke, Brust started to heat up, hitting three long range shots. It was fun to witness. Brust is one of those players who ― as a coach might say ― just goes about his business. That approach has worked very well. Last Saturday, Brust became the 38th member of Wisconsin's 1,000-point club. Going into Sunday's game at Penn State, he has 1,012 career points. Of those, 1,002 happened after his freshman year, when he played all of 45 minutes. Clearly, business picked up beginning with Brust's sophomore season. Now he joins a rather exclusive group to hit the four-digit scoring figure. It should be noted of the 38 members of this fraternity, 12 have hit that number with Bo Ryan as the coach. "A lot of good company, a lot of good players, said Brust. "Past teammates who set a good example for me to see how they get to the job done here at Wisconsin. "I have to credit all my team- mates and everyone who has been with me, but I don't want to talk like it's the end because hopefully we still have a long way to go." Very true. There are three regu- lar-season games remaining, plus the Big Ten tournament, then the NCAA tournament. While nobody knows for sure how long the Bad- gers' run will last, there is reason to believe the next few weeks could be very interesting. The Badgers jumped out to their best-ever start at 16-0. After a loss to Indiana in Bloomington last month, the road became very bumpy, with five losses in six games before this latest hot streak. From having nothing but roses thrown their way to suddenly having people wonder whether the Bad- gers would win another game, this team seems to have held everything together. "We haven't really changed much," Brust said. "Coach (Ryan) is still pushing us at practice every day." "Even when we weren't win- ning, I still think this group stayed pretty close, and I think that is what helped us recently." With six straight victories, there are more roses coming Wisconsin's way. There are plenty of facts to support the claim that this team has one strong tournament resume. The Badgers have beaten the first-place teams in the Big Ten, ACC, SEC, Atlantic 10 and the Horizon League. It is proof positive that when they play at their best, they can beat the best. At the same time, when the Bad- gers are a bit off, they ― like every- one else ― can be vulnerable. The Big Ten has examples on a nearly nightly basis. "You never know. You have to be ready for anything," said Brust. "It's crazy." Crazy indeed. But it sure is fun to watch. With March approaching, Badgers on a roll

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