Michigan basketball team heads to Wisconsin's tough-to-win-in Kohl Center
Wisconsin basketball coach Bo Ryan says his players are the main reason the Badgers are 10-0 this season at home. (Photo: Associated Press)
Michigan hasn’t won at Wisconsin since Dec. 30, 1999, a Kohl Center losing streak of eight games. Next up for Michigan: An 8:30 p.m. road game Wednesday against the No. 18 Badgers.
Wisconsin (14-4 overall, 4-2 Big Ten) is 10-0 this season at home and has won 15 consecutive home games. Under ninth-year coach Bo Ryan, Wisconsin is 130-10 at the Kohl Center. That’s the third-best home winning percentage in the country. Kansas (94.4 percent wins at home) and Duke (93.2 percent) have been better.
This year, Wisconsin’s average margin of victory at home is 21.4 points and includes wins against Duke, Marquette, Ohio State and Purdue. Michigan is 1-3 on the road this season.
Ryan, though, isn’t a total believer that there is something about the Kohl Center.
“But I think our fans have been, everybody thought leaving the Field House and coming to the Kohl Center, that they would lose the noise level and the pressure cooker that the Field House would offer up at times.”
Nothing’s changed. And this is what Michigan (10-7, 3-2), fresh off a win over then-No. 15 Connecticut and winners of four of its last five games, must face as it tries to resurrect its season.
Michigan coach John Beilein, in many ways, agrees with Ryan. He doesn’t think there is anything about the aura of the building, which opened in 1998. He looks more at the consistency of the coach.
“Bo Ryan just has a program that they do not, they do not beat themselves. They just do not beat themselves,” Beilein said. “When you go on the road and play and they play just tremendous fundamental basketball, when you’re on the road just like any other time you’re on the road, you need to be a lot better than the other team to win because of the, just the familiarity and the crowd and the whole thing.
“When you play Bo Ryan teams, wherever he’s been whether he was Division III national champion or he was at Milwaukee or wherever he was, they don’t beat themselves. That’s the key to winning at home.”
Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.
Comments
dogface
Thu, Jan 21, 2010 : 11:46 a.m.
If our coach was as ugly and mean and intimidation as Bo Ryan, we'd win more. We've had a long succession of nice passionless coaches--never a technical foul. In the big ten, if you want to win, you've got to work the officials--just like Bo and Izzo!
XTR
Tue, Jan 19, 2010 : 5:19 p.m.
Play the way they played against Uconn and they will beat Wisco. Defense, hussle, steals, fastbreaks and 3 point shots. Of course, if UM did that whole season they would have more wins than 10 and less loses than 7.
lugemachine
Tue, Jan 19, 2010 : 4:15 p.m.
So THAT'S what Bo Ryan looks like when he smiles..