Hoosiers, Badgers trying to climb in standings

Time is starting to run out on the IU men's basketball season.\nWith three conference games and only one guaranteed Big Ten tournament game, each battle grows exponentially in importance.\nThe first of these battles takes place at 1 p.m. Saturday as Wisconsin (17-7, 8-5 Big Ten) invades Assemblay Hall.\n"If we can beat Wisconsin, that will get us 17 wins and guarantee us a .500 record in the Big Ten, and that should be enough to be considered for the NCAA tournament," interim head coach Mike Davis said. "But I think we need to win at least one or two more games after that."\nThis might not be the biggest or most important game of the year, but freshman forward Jared Jeffries said he knows it has important implications.\n"I think this game is key for us to get a seed we want in the Big Ten tournament and into (the) NCAA tournament," Jeffries said. \nBeating Wisconsin hasn't been an easy task recently for the Hoosiers. IU dropped a 49-46 decision to the Badgers in the first conference game of the season, and lost 56-53 in the final conference game of last season. Both losses came in Madison.\nLike last year's team, which played in the Final Four, this year's version of the Badgers is known for playing tough defense.\nWisconsin is No. 1 in scoring defense in the Big Ten, allowing only 55 points per game. It is third in the conference in field goal-percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot an average of 39 percent from the floor. Senior guard Mike Kelley is second in the league in steals with 49.\n"He's always playing one step ahead of the play, while most guys play two steps behind," Davis said. "He's definitely the best defensive player in this league."\nWisconsin's defense adds to a growing problem for IU -- offensive execution. \n"The key thing for us is to get our execution back to where it was a week or two ago," said junior center Kirk Haston, who was held scoreless for the final 18 minutes of IU's last game, a 66-57 loss Tuesday at No. 5 Michigan State.\nBut credit is due to IU's two recent opponents, Michigan State (21-3) and No. 3 Illinois (21-5), which are in first and second place in the Big Ten; the Illini are one game ahead of the Spartans.\n"For the last two weeks, I think the four teams that have been playing well are Michigan State, Illinois, Wisconsin and us," Davis said. "I think Wisconsin is playing very well."\nThe Badgers defeated Minnesota 64-54 Wednesday night, behind 21 points from sophomore guard Kirk Penney, who nailed five three-pointers. Penney leads the league in three-point shooting, hitting 44 percent.\n"You can't let Penney have a second to set up his shot, or you might as well put three points on the board for them," Haston said.\nThe Hoosiers must also rebound the ball better than they did against Michigan State, the league's best rebounding team. IU allowed 20 second-chance points to the Spartans.\n"You have to rebound with a sense of urgency," freshman guard A.J. Moye said. "You can't tiptoe to it. You can't wait for the ball to come to you"