Big Ten Basketball: Buy or sell Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Purdue and Wisconsin?

Wisconsin Badgers – 11-4 (3-2)

Seeing the Badgers ranked has been a nice surprise, considering that it hasn’t gone the way many expected coming from the preseason. Chucky Hepburn was a breakout candidate but is averaging 13.0 ppg and 3.4 apg. These are perfectly reasonable stats but certainly not at the level of replacing former Big Ten Basketball Player of the Year Johnny Davis.

Instead, it’s been a combo of him and freshman sharpshooter Connor Essegian, a double-digit scorer that leads Wisconsin with 46% from three-point range. And the forward duo of Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl has been great, each averaging around 13.0 ppg and 6.5 rpg.

But this team doesn’t have a ton of depth and can’t afford to lose anyone. Without Wahl, the Badgers have lost the last two games and nearly lost to Minnesota as well. There’s an element of luck to this team, with six of its 11 wins having a margin of victory of five points or fewer.

Wisconsin is certainly a threat to beat anyone in the Big Ten when healthy. They’re a quality defensive unit that also ranks in the top 50 in three-point shooting. But they don’t manufacture points via turnovers of the free throw line and struggle on the boards as well. If they go up against an athletic team in March that has some size, they can easily get bounced early.

Sell