No. 9 Wisconsin (7-1, 1-0) vs. No.12 Michigan State (6-1, 0-1)
Game: Friday, Dec. 25 inside the Breslin Center; East Lansing, Mich.
Time: 11:30 a.m. CT
Watch: FOX (Brandon Gaudin and Jim Jackson)
Listen: 1310 WIBA AM and 101.5 FM (Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas on the call); stream online on iHeartRadio
Follow Online: The Badgers' Den
Twitter: @Badger_Blitz
PRE-GAME NOTES
For the first time in Wisconsin's storied 121-year history, the Badgers will have a game on Christmas Day. The present under the tree: A date with No. 12 Michigan State at the Breslin Center, an arena the Badgers haven't won in since 2004.
The reason for the struggles in East Lansing, according to head coach Greg Gard, are simple.
"The biggest reason we haven't won there is they're really good," Gard told reporters following the win over Nebraska to improve to 7-1 on the season.
UW's struggles against Tom Izzo and the Spartans have come both on the road and at the Kohl Center. Wisconsin is just 1-8 overall in its last nine meetings and 0-12 at the Breslin Center since 2004.
Despite losing the Big Ten's all-time assists leader in Cassius Winston and two key members from their rotation in Kyle Ahrens and Xavier Tillman, Michigan State is currently ranked No.12 in the nation and were as high as No. 4 just just a week ago.
The Spartans have reloaded nicely in part due to the return of fifth-year senior Joshua Langford, who was forced to miss the 2019-2020 season with a leg injury. Former in-state (Stevens Point) standout Joey Hauser, who transferred from Marquette, is also playing well for the Spartans.
Junior Aaron Henry and sophomore Rocket Watts, the second and third leading scorers, respectively, push the tempo for the Spartans. Henry has developed nicely from a player who averaged just 6.1 points per game as a freshman to one of the leaders on this year's team.
Wisconsin's senior class has only been able to crack the Michigan State code once, a meeting on Feb. 1 last season.
"Christmas Day at Michigan State, it doesn't get much better than that," Aleem Ford said.
