It would be easy to label Friday’s clash between No. 9 BYU and No. 23 Wisconsin in Salt Lake City represents an opportunity for the Badgers to gain revenge for their NCAA Tournament second-round loss eight months ago.But that would ignore the obvious. The Cougars (3-1) and the Badgers (4-0) are significantly different than they were on March 22 – when BYU never trailed but had to survive John Tonje’s missed 10-foot fadeaway on the game’s final possession to claim the 91-89 win in Denver.The Cougars retain four players from that game who combined for 46 points in 77 minutes, though it might be only three available returnees if big man Keba Keita cannot shake the apparent concussion he suffered Saturday against UConn.The Badgers, meanwhile, retain three players who teamed up for 27 points in 65 minutes in that upset loss to BYU.While both squads have been folding important new players into their rotations, the Badgers and Cougars have reached this early-season summit in different fashions.Wisconsin, with three new starters and four reserves joining the fray, opted for four buy games at home and drilled Campbell, Northern Illinois, Ball State and SIUE by an average of 28.3 points.Third-year Badger John Blackwell and San Diego State grad transfer Nick Boyd have proven to be a complementary backcourt combo. Boyd averages 20 points per game while Blackwell, one of 50 players named to the Wooden Award watch list, averages 19.5 points.Third-year Badger Nolan Winter (14.3 ppg, 9.3 rpg) and Portland transfer Austin Rapp (11.8 ppg) are similarly complementary up front as both can score and pass from all over the floor.”We need this type of test that’s coming,” said Wisconsin coach Greg Gard. “Not only Friday, but next week in San Diego, too. I think we’ve gotten to a point where we need to see what’s coming. We know the challenge it’s going to be. I think this group is ready for it. They’re hungry for it.”
