GAME NOTES: The Minnesota Golden Gophers travel to Madison to take on the 15th- ranked Wisconsin Badgers, who are fresh off an impressive Big Ten road win. Minnesota was last in action on Tuesday night when it dropped an 84-60 decision to Illinois in front of a shocked home crowd. Not only are the Illini a mediocre team this season, but the Gophers entered that contest having won two straight games by double figures. Minnesota is 15-8 overall under first-year head coach Tubby Smith, but the program is a disappointing 5-6 in conference. As for Wisconsin, it is 20-4 overall and 10-2 in league play, and the club has won 13 games at home this season. The Badgers found themselves locked in a road battle with an outstanding Indiana squad on Wednesday, and the fact that they were able to escape with a 68-66 victory was impressive. Wisconsin continues to chase Purdue in the Big Ten standings, and the Boilermakers may just be the nation's most surprising team. Wisconsin easily handled Minnesota a couple of weeks ago by a 63-47 final, but the Gophers still lay claim to a 97-87 lead in the all-time series.

Dan Coleman leads Minnesota in scoring this season with 13.1 ppg, and he is pulling down 6.3 rpg to go along with 26 blocked shots. Lawrence McKenzie adds 10.9 ppg for the Golden Gophers, and he leads the club with 71 assists. The third and final double-digit scorer on the roster is Spencer Tollackson with 10.8 ppg on 51.6 percent shooting from the floor. Minnesota is netting 72.3 ppg overall while yielding 63.8 ppg to the opposition. Blake Hoffarber scored 11 points for the Gophers against Illinois on Tuesday, and Lawrence Westbrook pitched in 10 points. The three double-digit scorers mentioned above combined for only 18 points, and Minnesota shot a mere 33.3 percent from the floor. Meanwhile, the Illini were permitted to knock down 58.8 percent of their field goal attempts.

Brian Butch was the hero for Wisconsin against Indiana on Wednesday, as he banked in a three-pointer with five seconds remaining that proved to be the difference in the game. Jason Bohannon scored 18 points off the bench for the Badgers, who got 15 points from Michael Flowers. As for Butch, he finished with 13 points. While Wisconsin only scored three points from the foul line, the club only committed nine turnovers, clearly key to the win. Overall this season, Butch leads a balanced offensive attack with 12.7 ppg to go with 6.9 rpg. Trevon Hughes checks in with 12.5 ppg, and Marcus Landry adds 10.9 ppg. Wisconsin is generating 68.8 ppg while limiting opponents to 55.3 ppg on 38.9 percent shooting from the floor.

Wisconsin will win with relative ease today, as it defends its home court valiantly. Expect another solid effort at both ends of the floor by one of the nation's most steady and predictable teams.