Wisconsin takes on Mississippi in the NCAA West Region second round in Kansas City this morning.

Which means the Badgers’ biggest defensive challenge is Ole Miss’ Marshall Henderson, reports the Wisconsin State Journal’s Jim Polzin:

After leading Ole Miss to a 66-63 over Florida in the SEC tournament title game on Sunday in Nashville, Tenn., Henderson was asked about being named the most valuable player of the tournament after being relegated to the coaches’ All-SEC second team earlier in the week.

“I guess that’s just a shot at all the other coaches out here,” Henderson told reporters. “They’re losers. They didn’t win the tournament, we did. We went in with a chip on our shoulder. Maybe they’ll be smarter next year.”

Instead of resting up for the NCAA tournament, Henderson got back to Oxford, Miss., and celebrated with some friends.

At 4:22 a.m. Monday, he tweeted he had just won “10 in a row in pong.” Henderson left it to his followers’ imagination whether he was referring to ping pong or beer pong, a popular drinking game among college students.

Suffice to say UW coach Bo Ryan has no one with Henderson’s, uh, personality on his team. Nor would he.

The State Journal’s Tom Oates points out the Badgers’ problem on the other side of the floor:

After struggling to contain guard penetration early in the season, UW became another in a long line of defensive dynamos under coach Bo Ryan. Offense, on the other hand, has been a season-long mystery for the Badgers.

At times, UW scores with stunning efficiency, passing the ball inside and kicking it back out for wide-open 3-point shots. At other times, the Badgers rely too much on 3-point shots and just keep firing them whether they’re dropping or not. That has led to long droughts and embarrassing shooting percentages.

The biggest mystery is how UW’s offensive production can change so quickly, often within the same game. Even when the Badgers play well on offense, it seldom lasts more than two or three games.

That’s not good enough for long-term success in the NCAA tournament, which is why the length of UW’s run is tied directly to the efficiency of its offense. No matter how well the Badgers play defense, they’re going to have to score because the droughts at the end of both halves that sunk them against Ohio State in the Big Ten title game will do the same in the NCAA tournament. …

UW’s offense took a step up near the middle of the Big Ten season when guard Ben Brust and forward Sam Dekker became more aggressive in seeking their shots. In the Big Ten tournament, two other developments contributed to another offensive jump by UW.

First, Ryan did a masterful job against Michigan and Indiana of isolating players such as Ryan Evans and Jared Berggren in the post and Dekker and Traevon Jackson on the perimeter, giving them room to attack off the dribble. Evans in particular did a great job of facilitating the offense, which was a new role for him. …

Getting away from the defense-oriented Big Ten should be a breath of fresh air for UW, but that doesn’t mean the path will be easy. Although it plays at a fast pace, Mississippi still holds opponents to a respectable field goal percentage. Kansas State, Gonzaga, Pitt and Ohio State — all strong defensive teams — are potential opponents for UW later in the West regional.

If the Badgers get that far, that is.