It was supposed to be a breather for No. 23 Wisconsin.
Coming off their first Big Ten loss of the season, the Badgers were scheduled to play the Bison of North Dakota State, a team barely above .500 in its third year of the transition process from Division II to Division I.
Instead of a breather, the Badgers were left beaten.
Wisconsin (14-4, 4-1 Big Ten) fell 62-55, snapping its 27-game non-conference home winning streak.
“It brings everybody back down to Earth, and it’s reality,” said Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan, whose team had won 68 of its last 71 games at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.
Ryan insisted his team did not overlook North Dakota State, citing the 22 offensive rebounds and 24 forced turnovers as evidence of his team’s effort.
The victory was undoubtedly the biggest ever for North Dakota State’s program. North Dakota State held Wisconsin to 22 percent shooting on 16 of 72 from the field.
“It was just a tough day for us, and we couldn’t get it to go down,” Ryan said. “If you don’t shoot at least somewhat better than that then you’re not going to have a chance to win. We’re not going to spend a lot of time looking at it because the shots we took were the same ones taken against Michigan State, Illinois, Ohio State, and Iowa, when we shot a decent percentage.”
Wisconsin also will advance without two of its top reserves, neither of whom played against North Dakota State. Center Greg Stiemsma is taking a temporary leave of absence from the team due to medical reasons, while forward Marcus Landry has been ruled academically ineligible.
Wisconsin faces Penn State (10-6, 2-3) and Michigan (13-3, 3-2) this week.
THE FIFTH WHEEL?
Four players have started every game for No. 11 Michigan State (15-4, 3-2) this season, but finding the fifth starter – a power forward – has been a question mark for coach Tom Izzo.
After starting five different power forwards in 17 games, Izzo may have found his answer.
Senior Matt Trannon has started the last three games for Michigan State, each of which the Spartans won.
A two-sport athlete, Trannon missed the first eight games of the season while still playing wide receiver for Michigan State’s football team. On the football field this season, Trannon caught 40 passes for 573 yards and led the team with four receiving touchdowns.
On the hardwood, Trannon is averaging 5.0 points per game and 4.0 rebounds per game. In Michigan State’s double-overtime victory over Ohio State two weeks ago, Trannon scored a career-high 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while making his first start of the season.
“I just think the energy and the athleticism he gives us is something we’ve always had here that we didn’t have earlier in the year,” Izzo said. “A 6-6 guy that can guard three or four positions is so valuable anywhere, anytime. But this year, in this league, it’s especially valuable.”
NOTES
Three weeks into the Big Ten season, No. 13 Indiana (12-3, 4-1) and Wisconsin find themselves in a very familiar position – atop the Big Ten standings. For the third consecutive year, both teams have jumped out to 4-1 conference starts. In the 2003-2004 season, Wisconsin started the Big Ten season 6-1 while Indiana started 5-1 before posting their 4-1 marks last season – In addition to Indiana and Wisconsin, five other teams find themselves within one game of first place – Greg Brunner, the Big Ten’s leading rebounder, grabbed 23 rebounds during Iowa’s triple-overtime victory over Minnesota – The Big Ten remains in first place in the Ratings Percentage Index. The ACC is second.
Reach Michael Schlossberg at [email protected].
