Big Ten play resumes this weekend with Wisconsin playing a home game against Indiana. Can the Badgers hold down their home court?
TV schedule: Tuesday, Jan. 2, 7:00 p.m. ET. ESPN
Arena: Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin
Who exactly is this Indiana 8-6 (1-1) team? Coming into the season, it was supposed to be a down year under first-year head coach Archie Miller. It looked that way in the very first game of the season with the Hoosiers losing by 21 to Indiana State.
But then, this team played some great basketball, including giving previously No. 1 Duke all they could handle for over 30 minutes and actually knocking off a ranked Notre Dame team in overtime.
Then just two days later, the Hoosiers lost to Indiana-Fort Wayne by 20 points — the second defeat in as many years. This team has yet to have a streak of longer than three wins and looks to be a team that could beat Michigan State and then lose to Rutgers in the very same week.
The key player for Indiana is junior forward Juwan Morgan, who leads the team in both points (15.3) and rebounds (7.2). In the Fighting Irish win, he had a career-high 34 points on 13/17.
Morgan could at times be matched up with the top player for the Wisconsin 8-7 (1-1) in Ethan Happ. The junior forward leads the Badgers in all the main categories, with 16.4 ppg, 8.2 rpg, and 3.5 apg. Besides him though, there’s just been no consistency with the rest of the roster. Freshman Brad Davison is the only other player who averages over double-digits with 11.7 ppg.
Wisconsin has won four straight games, which came right after losing four out of five, with a one point win over Penn State sandwiched in between. Offense has never the program’s strong-point, but a defensive rating ranked in the high 100s, has made matters worse for this season.
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The next three games for the Badgers are Indiana, Rutgers and Nebraska, all must-wins for any glimmer of hope for an at-large. It’s almost impossible to predict these two teams based on the season so far, but, with the game at home, I’ll go with Happ in a big night.
Prediction: Wisconsin 64 – Indiana 60