Wisconsin is normally a powerhouse in college hoops but the season has taken a few wrong turns. Now they face a Nebraska team that is trying to build a Tournament resume.
TV Schedule: Tuesday, Jan. 9, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Arena: Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska.
The game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Nebraska Cornhuskers was supposed to have a different narrative. The Badgers are normally looking to tack on another win to their Big Ten record and Nebraska would be playing the role of spoiler. Now Wisconsin seems deflated and Nebraska is just starting to pick up momentum.
The Wisconsin Badgers picked up a big win against Indiana just one day after the New Year. That was supposed to turn the ship around. Then they fell to Rutgers on the road and everything seems lost again.
Nebraska only had a few opportunities to do something positive in the non-conference part of their schedule. They lost four games. Defeats at the hands of Kansas and Creighton are fine and losses to St. John’s and UCF aren’t the best but aren’t bad either.
The Cornhuskers defeated Boston College, the same team that took down Duke a month ago. Momentum finally came when they beat Minnesota by 10. A 15-point victory over Northwestern also feels good to them. Nebraska lost by 12 to Purdue on Saturday, but the Boilermakers are in discussion to be a one seed right now.
The Wisconsin Badgers enter this one 9-8 and playing for pride. Nebraska is 11-6 and needs to pick up wins like these.
Nebraska has four guys averaging in double-figures. James Palmer Jr. is a junior guard who is averaging 15.3 points per game, 4.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Glynn Watson Jr. is also a junior guard putting up 12.4 points per game, 3.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. The junior forward transfer from Georgetown Isaac Copeland is averaging 12.1 points per game and 6.8 boards per game.
Anton Gill is a senior guard who comes off the bench averaging just over 10 points per game. Evan Taylor is a guard who starts and averages 8.3 points per game. Jordy Tshimanga is their big man at 6’11 who goes for 3.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
Nebraska plays a solid two off the bench. Forward Isaiah Roby joins Turner as a key bench contributor and drops 6.7 points per game.
Thomas Allen will get into the game where he averages 11 minutes per game, but only played five against Purdue. Duby Okeke has played in every game but doesn’t play any more than 9 minutes per game. Tanner Borchardt has only played in 12 out of 17 games but recorded nine minutes against the Boilermakers.
The Wisconsin Badgers, on the other hand, are fueled by just two guys.
Ethan Happ is the junior All-American forward who averages 16.7 points per game, 8.4 rebounds per game and has the ability to pass with 3.5 assists per contest. Brad Davison is the true freshman warrior guard. He averages almost 12 points per game while shooting 38% from behind-the-arc.
It’ll be interesting to see if Greg Gard reverts back to starting Brevin Pritzl (8.7 points per game) after he sustained a concussion right before the Indiana game. He came back for the game against Rutgers, didn’t start, but put up starter’s minutes.
Khalil Iverson and Aleem Ford both start. Iverson battles at times down low and gets around eight points per game. Ford tends to knock down 1-2 three-pointers per game while averaging a little over six points.
Freshman big man Nate Reuvers is the guy who started twice in place of Pritzl. He averages 5.5 points per game, almost three boards and has the ability to knock down a shot from downtown (6 3PM).
After those six guys, the Wisconsin Badgers are slim. Consequently, they have three either current or former walk-on’s who will get some time. Guards T.J. Schlundt and Walt McGrory and forward Aaron Moesch are what Wisconsin has resorted to.
Next: Week 8 Big Ten power rankings
The Wisconsin Badger basketball team has problems finding scorers. They don’t have the normal three-point shooter to bail them out. Most noteworthy, they are shooting under 70 percent from the line.
Nebraska has balanced scoring. Six players have 10 or more made 3-pointers. This is a very unselfish group of players who average 15 assists per game. Nebraska believes with a good month of January, they can make a run for the NCAA Tournament.
Prediction: Nebraska 66 Wisconsin 60