By Marc ZarefskyThe Daily Northwestern
With 21 points in Wisconsin’s 74-62 win over Iowa on Saturday, Badgers senior Alando Tucker became the 23rd player in Big Ten history to eclipse the 2,000 point plateau for his career.
Tucker is second on Wisconsin’s all-time scoring list, 127 points behind San Antonio Spurs guard Michael Finley.
“He doesn’t approach a game with (an attitude of), ‘How many can I get?'” Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. “He approaches a game with, ‘How can I, as an individual, help this team?’
“With Alando Tucker, you can look at all his shots over his four years, and he doesn’t force things. It isn’t about Alando. He does a lot of things the right way, and it isn’t about forcing the issue.”
Tucker entered Saturday’s game with 1,999 career points after scoring 24 points in a 71-58 win over Penn State last Wednesday.
Tucker’s 45 points and 15 rebounds in his last two games earned him his third conference player of the week honor this season, sharing the recognition with Ohio State freshman point guard Mike Conley Jr.
Who’s number one?
The debate is on over who should be the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. So far the two front-runners clearly are Ohio State freshman center Greg Oden and Texas freshman forward Kevin Durant.
Whether either will forego the rest of his college career for the pros still is unclear. But if both do, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, whose team is one of only two to face off against both stars this season, has opinions on both players.
“They really, truly are two of the (most) opposite-end-of-the-spectrum guys you can get,” Izzo said of the 6-foot-9 Durant and the 7-foot Oden. “Durant is a freak of nature in a way. He’s so long, and he’s so athletic, and he handles the ball so well, and he can shoot it from such deep range.
“If you watch him play, I’m not sure you can find a weakness.”
As of Tuesday, Durant led the Longhorns with 24.9 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game.
Oden is the Buckeyes’ leader in the same categories, averaging 15.3 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 3.6 blocks per game. Unlike Durant, Oden missed the first seven games of the Buckeyes’ season after having surgery on his dominant right hand.
“Oden is not as polished as Durant,” Izzo said. “I don’t think we know the full Oden yet. I think that’s why the comparison is unfair.
“(Durant’s) just more multi-dimensional right now, and I think a lot of it will come down to what a team is looking for. They’re both incredible players.”
A Little Charity
Despite Iowa’s loss to Wisconsin on Saturday, the Hawkeyes remain on a mission to reach the NCAA Tournament, and their performance at the free-throw line over the course of the season has allowed the team to keep hope of a tournament bid alive.
The Hawkeyes lead the Big Ten, and are ninth in the nation, in free-throw percentage, averaging just less than 76 percent as a team.
“They have good free-throw shooters,” Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson said. “I think the key to (having) a high shooting percentage (as a team) is that your best players have to be the ones getting fouled.”
And that’s just what Iowa has done. The Hawkeyes’ two leading scorers, senior Adam Haluska and freshman Tyler Smith, also are the team’s two best free throw shooters. Haluska is second in the Big Ten, averaging more than 83 percent from the foul line, while Smith is twelfth in the conference, shooting close to 73 percent.
Reach Marc Zarefsky at [email protected].
