The No. 22 Wisconsin men’s basketball team (4-1) kicks off in-state play tonight when they welcome Wisconsin-Green Bay (4-1) from the Horizon League. The Badgers have never lost to the Phoenix in 10 meetings, eight of which have been played in Madison.

Green Bay has been a dramatically different team since head coach Tod Kowalczyk took over the top perch two years ago. After two seasons under Tom Crean at Marquette, Kowalczyk has transformed a program regarded as a perennial Horizon League doormat during the Mike Heideman era into a team picked to finish third in the conference in this year’s preseason poll. A year ago, the Phoenix posted a 17-11 record, good for third in the conference, after a sixth-place finish in 2002-03.

“We know they’re going to come out and they’re going to run their stuff and they’re going to be efficient,” Badger forward Zach Morley said. “They’re not going to be trying to do more than they can do. They’re not in what everybody calls one of the big conferences, but they’re still going to give us everything. We’ve got to be out here and play a hundred percent.”

The Phoenix resurgence can be largely attributed to Kowalczyk’s recruiting. Only one player currently on the Green Bay roster, guard Matt Rohde, was on the team when Kowalczyk took over.

Green Bay has started off the 2004 campaign nicely, with its only loss coming at the hands of No. 16 Michigan State. Granted, that loss was by a margin of 58 points, but the Phoenix has won all of its other contests entering tonight’s game.

Point guard Javier Mendiburu keys the Phoenix attack. While Mendiburu ranks fourth on the team with 8.3 points per game, make no mistake — Green Bay’s offense runs through the Spaniard, as evidenced by his average of 10.0 assists per game.

“Javier is the quarterback and he is the leader of this team,” Kowalczyk said. “He’s an extremely confident player.”

Mendiburu missed two games, including the Michigan State loss, with an ankle injury, but has been durable since returning, playing 38 and 37 minutes, respectively, in wins over Chicago State and Weber State. The senior was also selected to the preseason All-Horizon League second team.

“I don’t know if our offense quite clicked well enough when he was not in the game or when he was hurt,” Kowalczyk said. “But I do think winning the Southeast Missouri game was a great thing for our program because our other players finally realized, ‘Hey, we can play and win without Javier.’”

Last season, in his first year in Green Bay, Mendiburu led the Phoenix in assists and posted the first triple-double in school history despite coming off the bench as the team’s sixth man. Before transferring to UW-GB, the Badalona, Spain native spent two years at Indian Hills Community College, where he roomed with Badger forward Zach Morley during his sophomore season.

“[Mendiburu]’s going to be a lot different than any guard we’ve seen so far,” Morley said. “He plays point guard for them and he’s not one of those guards who’s going to blow by you with his quickness or athleticism. He’s got a real crafty, old-man-type game and he’s probably the best passer I’ve ever played with, and it’s just, if you’re open, he gets you the ball.”

Sophomore forward Josh Lawrence has had a breakout season in his second year of college ball, averaging 15.4 points per game to lead the team on 62.5 percent shooting from the field and 55.6 percent from behind the three-point line. Lawrence has tallied new career scoring highs in the last three contests.

Last season’s leading scorer, senior guard Brandon Morris, will be missing from the Phoenix lineup, as he is ineligible for competition until Dec. 29, when the Resch Center hosts the Oneida Bingo & Casino Classic.

Green Bay’s second leading scorer is sixth man and junior college transfer forward Benito Flores. Flores, who hails from the Dominican Republic, is averaging 14.0 points and 7.8 rebounds per contest and totaled a school-record seven steals against Weber State.

With arguably the most talented Phoenix squad in recent memory, Green Bay is hoping to finally pull the upset after falling to the Badgers in both contests under Kowalczyk by an average of 16.5 points.

“Obviously we’re the underdog, but even if you’re the underdog you still want to win the game,” Kowalczyk said. “But I think it’s a great thing for our program to play this game. I’m very grateful to Bo Ryan for allowing this game to be played, and it’s certainly a great thing for Green Bay basketball that we have a chance to play against the University of Wisconsin.”