WISCONSIN BADGERS

Wisconsin Badgers jump four spots to No. 5 in Amway coaches poll

Jeff Potrykus
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - Nigel Hayes noted after Wisconsin’s latest victory the correlation between a team’s poll position and the tenacity of the opponent.

“The scary thing is, the smaller that number is next to your name the harder games get,” Hayes said after UW’s 65-60 victory over unranked Indiana on Sunday at the Kohl Center. “We know that as that number gets smaller the bull's-eye gets bigger.”

The numbers next to UW got smaller Monday and the bull's-eye no doubt grew just a bit.

UW (20-3, 9-1 Big Ten) moved up four spots to No. 5 in the Amway coaches poll and three spots to No. 7 in The Associated Press poll.

The Badgers, who have won seven consecutive games and 16 of their last 17, faces host Nebraska (10-13, 4-7) at 8 p.m. Thursday.

The Cornhuskers suffered an 81-70 loss Sunday at Iowa, their seventh in the last eight games.

UW is the highest-ranked Big Ten team in both polls.

Purdue (19-5, 8-3), which handed UW a 66-55 loss in West Lafayette, is No. 18 in the coaches poll and No. 16 in The AP poll.

Maryland (20-3, 8-2), which suffered a 73-72 loss to visiting Purdue on Saturday, is No. 22 in the coaches poll and No. 21 in The AP poll.

Jeff Potrykus can be reached at jpotrykus@journalsentinel.com or twitter.com/jaypo1961.

Badgers forward Nigel Hayes looks to pass to a teammate.