Wisconsin is shooting a combined 33.3 percent from the field in their last three Big Ten conference games.

Bo Ryan

Those three consecutive poor shooting nights have resulted in three-straight losses for the Badgers, who now find themselves at 1-3 in Big Ten play, good for ninth place.

Ryan says Wisconsin's shooting slump has nothing to do with the effort of his players.

"I've never worried about that part of it," Ryan said Monday. "I would be concerned if guys weren't playing hard.

"I just, as a coach and coaching staff, we present situations in practice that simulate games and felt pretty good about what we had going going into the Michigan game based on the results of specific possessions, shooting percentages, taking care of the ball.

"And you're going against yourself, and you're trying to let the other team play as hard as they can, get into us, create tough situations, and it was competitive."

In practice, Ryan is teaching the Badgers how to handle games in which they don't shoot particularly well.

Ryan says it's ultimately up to the players to get themselves out of a shooting slump.

"Sometimes in a game it doesn't always play out the way it's supposed to," he said. "So what do you do?

Brust has cooled off since the beginning of the season.

"The next time you get in practice, you present the same things, and the players are the ones, they're young men. They're going through something in their lives involving a competitive situation and how to deal with it and how to handle things.

"That's up to them. So they're the ones that really can give you a better answer. We're going to try to get them better. We're going to try to encourage them, which we do all the time. Sometimes you got to get on them."

The Badgers are still looking for players to help them end their shooting woes.

Ryan says he'd be open to changing around the rotation should some players step up in practice.

"Well, I can't trade any of the guys, so a lot of times your minutes are dictated by how you're playing at the time or if you're in foul trouble," he said.

"But we always tell the guys in practice, anybody that wants to keep making a statement and get more minutes or get out there on the court, there are always places to show it.

"You have to remember, we're the ones that have to make things happen. Where you are, you get to talk about it afterwards.

"So we're just trying to make things happen, and we're trying to make good things happen that helps the team and we'll see about who gets what.

"But people around here earn things, I can tell you that."