Wisconsin Basketball displayed a lot of grit and determination on Sunday by forcing overtime against the Michigan Wolverines after trailing by eight points at halftime. Unfortunately, the Wolverines overwhelmed them in the extra period and were able to emerge with an eight-point victory in front of their hometown fans.
While there are no moral victories in sports, staying competitive against the 2nd ranked team in the Big Ten has to be encouraging for a Badgers team that has lost six out of their last ten games and is currently ranked 10th in the Conference. On Thursday, they will get their shot at redemption when they take on the only team in the Big Ten to be ranked in the Top 25 in the Nation this year, the Purdue Boilermakers.
The Wisconsin Badgers only have one win against ranked opponents this season. A victory against the Purdue Boilermakers would be a huge upset.
Although the Badgers will have a homecourt advantage against their Conference rivals, they will still have to execute a near-perfect gameplan to pull off the upset. The Boilermakers feature a National Player of The Year candidate in Zach Edey. Overall, they are an experienced ballclub that features two Seniors and six Juniors. The team is led by Head Coach Matt Painter, who is in his 18th season at the helm and is looking to build upon last year’s Sweet Sixteen appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
The Badgers have already utilized their homecourt advantage to knock off a ranked opponent once this year. They defeated the Maryland Terrapins, who were ranked 13th in the Nation at the time, on December 6th. Let’s take a closer look at the steps the Badgers must take in order to get the same results against Purdue on Thursday.