An inside look at Wisconsin and three other top teams

	Michael Flowers may not be a true point guard, but he is unmistakably efficient. Al Tielemans/SI
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My job is always a lot of fun, but there are some weeks when it really, really doesn't suck. This week was one of them, as I hit the road for two highly anticipated matchups. I was in Madison on Tuesday to see Wisconsin defeat Ohio State 72-69. On Wednesday night, I was in Lawrence, Kan., to watch the Jayhawks whup up on Oklahoma State, 87-57.

I am a (hoop) thinking man, as you all know, and I like to go to these games to get a first-hand gauge of the teams' respective strengths and weaknesses, the kind you can't get from simply watching the games on TV. Also, being at the games gives me a chance to talk off the record with the coaching staffs, which provides me with an even better sense of what I should be thinking about when I think about these teams.

So, my fellow Hoop Thinkers, here's what I think about....

Wisconsin

Most of the postgame attention Tuesday night naturally went to Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor, who scored 42 of the Badgers' 72 points. But if Wisconsin continues to get the kind of contributions from its supporting cast as it got against the Buckeyes, a Big Ten title is all but assured.

First of all, I am a huge Michael Flowers fan. I was a little surprised after the game when coach Bo Ryan told me he didn't consider Flowers, a 6-foot-2 junior, to be a "true" point guard because I believe very few teams get that kind of mature floor leadership. On Tuesday, he had a typically efficient-but-unspectacular game: 10 points (on 5-for-9 shooting), three assists, one turnover, three steals and two blocks. That put him at 56 assists (3.29 per game) to just 21 turnovers for the season. Pure point guard or not, Flowers can play for me any day.

Elsewhere for Wisconsin, Brian Butch, who exploded for 27 points in the Badgers' big win over Pittsburgh on Dec. 16, did not score, but the other role players were terrific -- especially 6-7 sophomore Marcus Landry, who besides playing rugged defense against Ohio State big-man Greg Oden and grabbing four offensive rebounds, also made two three-pointers despite coming into the night having made just five all year. All told, Wisconsin rotated seven big bodies on Oden throughout the night -- Tucker, Butch, Landry, Jason Chappell, Greg Stiemsma, Kevin Gullikson and Joe Krabbenhoft. If you're counting at home, that's 35 fouls to give.

Still, Wisconsin has two lingering concerns as it moves ahead. The first is free-throw shooting. The Badgers made just 17-of-29 from the line (58.6 percent) and are ranked seventh in the Big Ten this season at 68.7 percent. That played a major role in allowing Ohio State to come back.

The second -- and in my mind, more potentially fatal -- problem is the Badgers are not a prolific three-point shooting team. Even with Landry having an atypical night, and even with Taylor going 3-for-6 (he is third in the league at 49.1 percent), this team only made five trifectas compared with Ohio State's 12. The Badgers are ranked fourth in the Big Ten in three-point percentage (37.9 percent), yet they are ninth in threes made per game (5.71). That means they have to play better for longer in order to go on big spurts, which leaves them less margin for error.

Look at it this way. It took Wisconsin almost six minutes to push a three-point lead into a 16-point advantage midway through the second half. Yet, it took the Buckeyes less than a minute to erase a 10-point deficit at the end, thanks largely to two deep Ron Lewis threes. Even though Wisconsin basically dominated the game, Ohio State got a clean look from behind the arc that would have sent the game into OT. That's the power of the three-pointer, and right now Wisconsin doesn't have it.

Ohio State

Buckeyes coach Thad Matta stopped short of calling the Wisconsin loss a moral victory, but it's not a good sign that he took palpable comfort in seeing his team fight back, as opposed to folding like they did at Florida on Dec. 23. (Perhaps all of Ohio State's teams should stay away from Florida.) For all the hype and excitement surrounding this young team, it's easy to forget the Buckeyes only have one quality win, at home against Indiana. Having lost at North Carolina, Florida and Wisconsin (no shame in any of those), their best road win came last Saturday at Illinois, which is increasingly looking like an NIT team.

I also sense Matta is itching more and more for the day when Oden can play without the soft cast he is still wearing on his surgically repaired right wrist. The novelty of seeing the 7-footer make left-handed free throws has worn off. Oden, who had just 10 points in the Wisconsin loss, was cleared to play last month because the wrist had healed past the point where reinjuring it was a concern. Now the issue is Oden's range of motion and flexibility. Matta told me after the game that while he expects the cast will come off at some point this season, he has no idea when that will happen. And even when it does, Oden will probably have to wear some type of support the rest of the year.

Another chink in the Buckeyes' armor is Michael Conley Jr.'s lack of range from outside. The freshman point guard is just 4-for-23 from behind the arc this season (17.4 percent). It was obvious on Tuesday that part of Wisconsin's game plan was to give Conley plenty of space, which allowed Conley's defender to cheat on the Buckeyes' other three-point shooters. That Conley still manages to slice his way to the rim as often as he does just shows you how talented he really is.

I was also surprised to see Ohio State play so much zone, far more than they have played at any point this season. This may have limited the Badgers' ability to cut, but it also enabled them to get 13 offensive rebounds in the second half. (For the game, Wisconsin outscored Ohio State 18-5 on second-chance points.) When Buckeyes assistant John Groce looked at the first-half stat sheet and saw the Badgers only had one offensive rebound, he presciently warned his guys Ryan was going to notice the same thing and get after his players to hit the offensive glass.

And yet, despite all these problems the Buckeyes were still a Jamar Butler three-pointer away from sending the game into overtime. That's how high their ceiling is. If they can get Oden healthier, take better care of the ball, get a little tougher and get Conley to make a few jump shots, then this is going to be one scary basketball team.