(Sports Network) - The 25th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers are extremely tough to beat at home, and they are heavily favored in tonight's non- conference clash against the SIU-Edwardsville Cougars. SIU-Edwardsville opened its season in South Carolina, as the team competed in the Charleston Classic from Friday through Sunday. After back-to-back losses to College of Charleston and East Tennessee State, the Cougars rolled to an 83-72 triumph over Western Michigan, the program's first victory over a Division I opponent. There is a good chance that Wisconsin will be the toughest foe that SIU-Edwardsville will face all season.

The Badgers opened their season on Saturday with a 68-61 triumph over Long Beach State. They won a school-record 31 games last season are the defending Big Ten regular season and tournament champions. Despite the loss of some key components, coach Bo Ryan still has enough talent in place to contend in the conference.

Wisconsin won its only previous meeting with SIU-Edwardsville by a 100-74 final in 1972.

Several players contributed to the victory over Western Michigan for SIU- Edwardsville. Aamir McCleary led five double-digit scorers with 21 points, and Nikola Bundalo added 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor from his center position. Barry Wellington posted 12 points, Aaron Garriott chipped in 11 points, and Mark Yelovich added 10 points. The Cougars connected on 57.4 percent of their field goal attempts and limited the Broncos to 39 percent shooting from the floor. Through three outings, Yelovich is scoring a team- high 15.3 ppg on 52.9 percent shooting from the field. Wellington checks in with 13.7 ppg, and McCleary is scoring 12.0 ppg. The Cougars are being outrebounded by four boards per contest, but they have shot the ball much more efficiently from the foul line than their opponents.

Trevon Hughes, who scored 11.2 ppg last season, is expected to be a major offensive performer for Wisconsin in 2008-09. The same can be said of Marcus Landry, who tallied 10.8 ppg a year ago. In the season opener against Long Beach State, Landry exploded for 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor. He played 34 minutes and knocked down 3-of-5 three-pointers. Jason Bohannon tallied 12 points in 36 minutes, and those two players overshadowed a disappointing six-point showing by Hughes, who made good on only 1-of-6 field goal attempts. The Badgers outrebounded their opponent by five boards and scored 10 more points from the foul line. Coach Ryan always teaches the importance of tight team defense to his troops, and that is a major reason why the Badgers have been so successful in recent years.





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