Wisconsin basketball will be seeking its first win of the season as the team returns home to face Eastern Illinois after losing its season-opener.
Wisconsin basketball nearly pulled off an upset of a preseason nationally-ranked opponent in its first performance of the 2019-20 season. Throughout the entirety of the Badgers’ season-opener, the squad hung around with Saint Mary’s and even held a three-point lead with one minute to go in overtime. And while it was a still a strong showing by the team, on the whole, that game has left a sour taste in many fans because a resume-building opportunity seemed to slip away down the stretch.
Now, though, the Badgers should look to use that loss as motivation moving forward. There were several positive takeaways from that performance but also some teaching points as well. Wisconsin is projected to play one of the nation’s most difficult non-conference schedules this season so using their next two matchups with Eastern Illinois and McNeese State as tune-up games could be critical for the squad moving forward.
The first of these contests with come against Eastern Illinois. This will be Wisconsin’s first game in the Kohl Center this season and the team will be very heavily favored. The Badgers will enter this matchup as the No. 44 overall team in KenPom while the Panthers, who lost to Texas Tech by 25 in their opener, are slotted at No. 253. Wisconsin will likely be a 20+ point favorite and it will be intriguing to watch the team’s deliberate offense against Eastern Illinois’ porous defensive unit.
This game will take place at 8pm ET on Friday, Nov. 8. Now, with the tip-off quickly approaching, let’s dive a bit deeper and analyze some key areas for success for the Badgers.