Preview: No. 10 Wisconsin looks to keep it rolling against Northwestern

No. 10 Wisconsin (11-3, 5-2) vs. Northwestern (6-6, 3-5)

Game: Wednesday, Jan. 20 inside the Kohl Center; Madison, Wisconsin

Time: 7:00 PM

Watch: BTN (Brandon Gaudin and Robbie Hummel)

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

No. 10 Wisconsin welcomes a struggling Northwestern squad to the Kohl Center Wednesday night. The Wildcats come in losers of five straight games after opening Big Ten play 3-0.

UW is looking for its fifth straight win over the Wildcats. The Badgers have dominated the series recently, going 14-4 since 2010 and winning 19 of the last 24 meetings.

As much as this series has been one-sided, Northwestern is an improved group this season. The three Big Ten wins it has totaled so far already matches the three conference victories it accumulated a season ago. Last year, the Wildcats finished 3-17 in conference play and 13th in the league.

"They are a long team. Really athletic one through five," D'Mitrik Trice said in a Zoom call with reporters. "They have a lot of shooters and a lot of guys who can score the ball.

"We're just going to have to continue to exploit the mismatches when they present themselves, whether that's getting downhill and finding the open guys or whether they double the post or not and kicking it out. Just continuing to stay disciplined on the defensive end will also help. Running out in transition will be big."

Much like Wisconsin, Northwestern is an experienced group. The team returns six of its top eight scorers from a season ago. The group also welcomed in guard Chase Audige, a transfer from William & Mary.

Junior Miller Kopp leads the team at 13.5 points per contest. Kopp is shooting an impressive 49 percent from the floor and a remarkable 47 percent from three-point range.

Audige, the team's second leading scorer, provided a huge spark in his first action. Audige poured in a career-high 25 points against Ohio State earlier this season. His backcourt mate, Boo Buie, leads the team in assists with 4.7 a game and is also a streaky shooter. Buie is coming off a 12-point night against Iowa in which he knocked down four three-pointers after scoring a combined seven points in the previous four games.

Junior Pete Nance anchors the middle and has become a consistent option for head coach Chris Collins. Coming off a game against Iowa where he totaled 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Nance has finished in double figures in nine of 12 games, with at least nine points in 11 of the 12 contests. The big man leads Northwestern in rebounds and blocks.

For UW, it will be interesting to see if it can maintain the defensive intensity fans saw against Rutgers. Much of the credit goes to Tyler Wahl and Aleem Ford for the job they did on Geo Baker and Ron Harper Jr., respectively. The Scarlet Knights' duo was held to a combined 12 points on 6-of-24 shooting from the field. As a team, Rutgers shot 37 percent from the field and hit just two of 19 shots from deep.

"When teams go on their little runs against us, it's mostly points in the paint," Wahl said. "I feel like that's the early Big Ten season. We're still figuring things out but I I think those spurts really show what we're capable of and it's just hammering that and being consistent on the defensive end."

Wednesday night will be the 185th meeting between the two programs, with UW leading the all-time series, 119-65. Wisconsin is 68-32 at home against Northwestern, including 16-3 at Kohl Center.