MBB Preview: Badgers eye fourth straight win against UMass Lowell

MADISON - The University of Wisconsin men's basketball team currently rides a three-game winning streak as it ends non-conference play Saturday when the University of Massachusetts Lowell comes to town.

Both the Badgers (7-7, 1-1) and the River Hawks (6-6) hope to kick off the New Year, and their respective conference schedules, on the right foot.

Game information and team previews are below.

Game: Dec. 30, 2017 at the Kohl Center

Time: 3:00 PM CDT

Watch: BTN

Listen: BadgerSports Network (iHeartRadio)

Follow Online: The Badgers' Den

Twitter: @Badger_Blitz, @McNamaraRivals, @JohnVeldhuis and @realJ_Mills

River Hawks' Pre-Game Notes

The road woes continue for the River Hawks, who are 0-4 away from the Costello Athletic Center this season, but the team hopes to turn the tables at the Kohl Center.

Going into Saturday's contest, UMass Lowell is a week removed from a 73-76 defeat against Central Connecticut State on Dec. 23. It was a tough loss for the River Hawks, who saw the score tied 12 times but came up short when it mattered most.

"We were pretty good on defense, but we weren't good enough to overcome that," UMass Lowell head coach Pat Duquette said after the game. "We're going to have to play better collectively to put ourselves in a position to win."

Indeed, the River Hawks defense has carried the weight when the offense isn't clicking. However, against the surging Badgers, UMass Lowell will need a strong offensive showing to come up with its first road win of the season.

From an offensive standpoint, the criticism is not as harsh as it may appear. The River Hawks are averaging 79.5 ppg on 45 percent shooting from the field. A large portion of this scoring is from redshirt senior Jahad Thomas, who is averaging 19.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg and 3.6 assists/game. The Williamsport native has started in all 82 career games played and sits atop the program's all-time record list for field goal percentage (57.1 percent). This season, Thomas is shooting slightly under his norm (47 percent), but is certainly a scoring threat UW needs to shut down to walk away with a comfortable win.

As a team, UMass Lowell 79.5 ppg, a higher margin above Wisconsin's scoring average (69.4 ppg) and what the Badgers are limiting their opponents to (66.3). Thus, taking efficient shots quickly and often could force UW off its attacking schemes early on.

Ultimately, to beat the Badgers, the River Hawk offense must shoot the lights out from three. The team is finishing 7.4 threes/game on 35 percent shooting. On the contrary, the Badgers are allowing opponents to shoot 37 percent from three with 5.6 makes/game. Additionally, UW has struggled defending the three this season and if UMass Lowell capitalizes, fans might be looking forward to this evening's bowl game sooner than they anticipated.

Badgers' Pre-Game Notes

Wisconsin's win against Chicago State was a tale of two games. In the first half, the Badgers were dominant on offense and defense, outscoring the Cougars, 41-24. Yet, UW's second half performance tells a slightly different story as Chicago State nearly fought back from a 20-point deficit and outscored Wisconsin 46-41.

"Give Chicago State some credit," Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard said after the win on Wednesday. "They hit some shots and did some good things, and were able to keep everybody on the edge of their seats."

However, Chicago State's performance was not the only thing that forced fans at the Kohl Center to the edge of their seats. Throughout the game, freshman Brad Davison left the game twice due to reoccurring shoulder issues but managed to finish with 15 points.

Besides Davison, juniors Ethan Happ (18 points, 12 rebounds) and Khalil Iverson (career-high 17 points) came to play against the Cougars. Although their performances were impressive, Happ confesses the team needed to better defensively.

"We weren't having problems on offense," Happ said after the game. "We were making some mistakes defensively. We've got to be better."

After a quick glance at the numbers, it is not difficult to see how Happ was spot on. The Badgers allowed CSU to shoot 46 percent from the field and 33 percent from three, with a glaring 9-0 run in the second half closing the gap between the two teams.

Thus, UW needs to show it can play an entire 40 minutes without defensive miscues and keep the pressure on opponents before its tough conference schedule kicks off on Jan. 2.

Coach's Corner

River Hawks: Head coach Pat Duquette guided UMass Lowell to its first win against an Ivy League opponent in the 2015-16 season when the Hawks defeated Cornell, 80-77.

Badgers: Head coach Greg Gard has never seen the program finish below fourth in conference standings as a member of the UW MBB staff.