UCLA Basketball vs. Wisconsin: 2017 game preview, TV schedule, prediction
Wisconsin basketball is currently on a two-game losing streak. Can they right the ship in their upcoming battle against UCLA basketball?
Tip Time: 7:30 p.m. ET on Nov. 21
TV Schedule: ESPN3
Location: Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO
In the second day of games of the Hall of Fame Classic, UCLA and Wisconsin will both be looking to recover from their losses of the night before. Both of these teams look to be potential NCAA Tournament teams and would love to add a quality victory this early in the season. Let’s take a look at each team and the key matchup of the game.
Wisconsin Badgers (2-2)
Don’t let the Badgers’ record fool you; this is a very good team. They are led by All-American Ethan Happ, who is practically a walking double-double. Around Happ, there is plenty of talent but it is fairly inexperienced. Pretty much every member of this young team has shown flashes of greatness in the first four games of this season, but they will need to develop more consistency.
Wisconsin Badgers Basketball
In each of Wisconsin’s last two games, they have struggled to close due to the lack of a go-to perimeter scorer or defender. Against Xavier, Trevon Bluiett exploded in the last two minutes to defeat Wisconsin while the Badgers struggled to find offense. Then, when the Badgers cut their deficit to just two against Baylor, guard Manu Lecomte went on a 5-0 run on his own while in the middle of scoring 10 of the Bears’ final 13 points. For the Badgers, they need a guy to step up in these crunch time situations and know that they should be the one to take the big shot.
Against UCLA, the Badgers will have an advantage in the interior but could really struggle to defend the elite Bruin athletes on the perimeter. Their key to the game is dominating the glass while also maintaining a lead. Although they are talented enough to make a comeback like they did against Baylor, it is important that they are the team in front down the stretch.
UCLA Bruins (3-1)
The biggest story surrounding UCLA at the beginning of this season has been the suspension of three players due to stealing in China before their season opener against Georgia Tech. Aside from the off-court issues of those three players, the Bruins are still off to a decent start in this season. They have a solid win over Georgia Tech and their loss has come against an underrated Creighton squad.
Through the first four games of their season, four UCLA players are averaging in double-figures. In addition to having two extremely talented freshmen in Jaylen Hands and Kris Wilkes starting for the team, there are a couple of veterans in Aaron Holiday and Thomas Welsh. The Bruins are known as an offensive team and they will be difficult to stop in this game.
The biggest issue for UCLA entering this game will be their defense. Wisconsin is not an incredibly good 3-point shooting team but Ethan Happ can completely dominate the paint. The key for UCLA will be making the rest of this Wisconsin team beat them while allowing Happ to get his own. The Badgers’ offense often times runs through the scoring and passing of their star so UCLA will need to limit his ability to create for his teammates. Being able to limit Happ’s impact is hard to do and that will be up to Welsh.
Key Matchup: Wisconsin’s Happ vs. UCLA’s Welsh
The post play in this game could be the difference. Ethan Happ might be the All-American but Thomas Welsh is very solid in his own right. The most important part of this matchup is who controls the glass. Both of these players are very solid rebounders and controlling the glass could have a monster impact on the pace of this game.
If UCLA is able to control the glass, they will want to get out and run on Wisconsin while creating transition opportunities for easy buckets. If Welsh is consistently pulling down misses and limiting second-chance opportunities for the Badgers, then UCLA’s athletes could quickly get out to an early lead.
On the other hand, if Happ and the Badgers are winning the battle of the boards, then the game could be slowed down to better fit their pace. In the last few years, Wisconsin has shown the ability to play faster than they did in the mid-2000’s but they will want to slow this game down so that the pace does not favor the Bruins too much.
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In the end, this game will come down to if Wisconsin is able to limit the transition opportunities for UCLA. The Bruins are a high-scoring team but the Badgers are disciplined defensively and could control the glass and therefore the pace. Ethan Happ is going to get his buckets inside and hopefully this is the game somebody else steps up to play consistent minutes as a secondary scorer for Wisconsin.
Final Prediction: Wisconsin 81, UCLA 75