Larry Ness
Wisconsin at Minnesota
Pick: Wisconsin
Wisconsin's feel-good start is over and the Badgers sure don't want to replicate what's happened to fellow big Ten opponent, Ohio St. The Buckeyes opened 15-0 before losing a heartbreaker in OT at Michigan St on Jan 7 and haven't been able to 'stop the bleeding.' Ohio State now sits 15-4, after FOUR consecutive losses.
Wisconsin opened its season 16-0 before Indiana shot 51 percent in a 75-72 win Jan 14, followed by Michigan shooting 54 percent in Saturday's 77-70 victory. The two-game slide has exposed some defensive problems that the ninth-ranked Badgers have been able to mask in part because they're especially dangerous on the other end of the floor. "The tradition of our defense and this program -- it's been a tough team and we need to go out there and be (tough) defensively every game, bring it for 40 minutes," forward Frank Kaminsky said.
Wisconsin looks to 'stop the bleeding' with a trip tonight to Minnesota, where it lost in overtime last season (a visit to Purdue is next). Wisconsin is averaging 75.8 PPG, up nearly 11 from last season. As is typical under coach Bo Ryan, the Badgers lead the Big Ten in offensive efficiency with 1.21 points per possession (they lead the nation in fewest turnovers with 8.3 per game). And despite the poor defensive efforts against Indiana and Michigan (allowed those opponents to shoot more than 50 percent, a startling number for a team that had held its previous four opponents to no more than 39 percent shooting), the Badgers are still second in the conference in scoring defense, allowing 62.8 PPG.
Minnesota comes in 14-5, including 3-3 in Big Ten play. The Golden Gophers beat then-No. 11 Ohio State 63-53 in their last game at Williams Arena last Thursday but were blown out 94-73 at then-No. 14 Iowa on Sunday. Iowa overcame a 10-point deficit with a 29-10 run and outscored the Gophers 53-30 in the second half.
Minnesota shoots just 43.7 percent on the season and will need to improve on that if the Gophers want to get near the top in the Big Ten. Andre Hollins averages 16.2 PPG to lead the way for Minnesota while fellow guards Austin Hollins (11.8) and DeAndre Mathieu (11.2) have each put up good numbers. However, the only frontcourt player of note is the 6-11 Elliott Eliason, who is second in the league in rebounding (8.7) and blocked shots (2.6) to go along with six double-doubles (he's averaging just 6.8 PPG).
Wisconsin has two big men that Minnesota will have a tough time with, the 6-8 Dekker (13.8-6.3) and the 7-0 Kaminsky (13.2-5.1). As for matching Minnesota's very solid perimeter group, Brust (13.2-5.1), Jackson (11.2-4.2) and Gasser (9.1) will be just fine.
Expect Bo Ryan's team to a avoid an Ohio State-like slide and get back on the winning track right here.