MADISON, Wis. (AP) -Wisconsin couldn’t ask for much more momentum heading into the Big Ten Conference season.
The Badgers secured its first Top 25 ranking in more than a month on Monday, sneaking in at No. 25, thanks to a dramatic win over then-No. 9 Texas on Saturday. Michael Flowers won the game for the Badgers with a 23-foot 3-pointer with just over 2 seconds left to play, then stole the inbound pass to secure the win.
But Wisconsin Coach Bo Ryan wasn’t about the dwell on the big win, or the ranking, Monday.
“Plane touched down and we’re getting ready for Michigan,” Ryan said. “All that’s over.”
The Badgers (10-2) start conference play on the road Wednesday against a struggling Michigan (4-8) team.
Wisconsin was uneven in the early part of its schedule leading up to the Texas win. While the team handily beat unranked opponents, it was clobbered by then-No. 7 Duke and lost by five to in-state rival Marquette, ranked No. 11 at the time.
The Texas win was huge for Wisconsin not only for the fact that the team showed it could beat an opponent ranked in the Top Ten, but they did it on the road and without their top-scorer.
Trevon Hughes, a sophomore guard, missed the Texas game after spraining his ankle during practice on Friday. Ryan said Monday that Hughes was rehabilitating his injury but did not practice Sunday or Monday. He didn’t say when Hughes might return.
Through the first 11 games Hughes averaged 15.1 points to lead the Badgers.
The ranking marks the second time this season and the first time since Nov. 26 that Wisconsin has appeared in The Associated Press’ Top 25. It was No. 20 just before the 24-point thrashing by Duke on Nov. 27.
“It won’t affect how we do things,” Ryan said of the team’s reappearance in the rankings. “You’re only as good as your next one. … The ranking thing, that doesn’t have an impact at all with us or anything I do as a coach.”
Also on Monday, senior Brian Butch was named Big Ten player of the week. Butch scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the 67-66 victory over Texas. Butch is averaging 13.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game his season.
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