3/22/2019 basketball Edit

Preview: Badgers open tournament with No. 12 Oregon

John Veldhuis • BadgerBlitz

Senior Writer

John Veldhuis has covered Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network since 2012.

No. 5 Wisconsin vs. No. 12 Oregon

Game: March 22, 2019 at the SAP Center (San Jose, Calif.)

Time: 3:30 PM CT (Friday)

Watch: TBS

Listen: Badger Radio Network (Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas)

Follow Online: The Badgers' Den

Twitter: @Badger_Blitz, @McNamaraRivals, @JohnVeldhuis

Pre-Game Notes

-- Now that they are back in the tournament the Badgers will look to stay hot in the opening round. The Badgers have won 10 of their last 11 opening-round NCAA tournament games, holding teams to 55.9 ppg in the initial game.

-- Wisconsin has advanced to the Sweet 16 or better in 4 of the last 5 seasons, and 6 of the last 8 years. No team has made more appearances over either time frame.

-- Oregon has won each of their last eight games, including taking home the Pac-12 Tournament Title last week to earn an automatic bid in to the NCAA Tournament.

-- Get ready for what could be a low-scoring game. The Badger have the No. 3 defense in the country according to KenPom.com, and Oregon checks in at No. 17 in the same metric.

-- Oregon point guard Payton Pritchard was a Wisconsin target coming out of high school, but the Portland, Ore., native eventually chose to stay home and play for the Ducks over other offers from UW, Gonzaga, Kansas, and Villanova among others.

Projected Starting Five (Wisconsin)

Position	Wisconsin	HT/WT	Pts.	Reb.	Ast.
PG	D'Mitrik Trice (SO)	6-0/187	11.7	2.8	2.6
SG	Brad Davison (SO)	6-3/205	10.7	3.3	1.8
SF	Khalil Iverson (SR)	6-5/217	6.7	4.5	0.9
PF	Nathan Reuvers (SO)	6-10/215	7.8	3.9	1.0
C	Ethan Happ (SR)	6-10/237	17.5	10.1	4.6

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Projected Starting Five (Oregon)

Position	Player	HT/WT	Pts	Reb.	Ast.
G	Payton Pritchard (JR)	6-2/195	12.7	3.7	4.5
F	Kenny Wooten (SO)	6-9/220	6.2	4.6	0.6
F	Francis Okoro (FR)	6-9/235	3.1	3.4	0.2
F	Paul White (SR)	6-9/225	10.6	3.9	1.5
F	Louis King (FR)	6-9/205	12.7	5.5	1.3

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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.