Preview: Wisconsin hosts Minnesota in border battle at the Kohl Center

No. 11 Wisconsin (16-3, 7-2) vs. Minnesota (11-6, 2-6)

Game: Sunday, Jan. 30 inside the Kohl Center

Time: 12:00 P.M. CT

Watch: BTN (Brandon Gaudin and Jess Settles)

Listen: 1310 WIBA AM and 101.5 FM (Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas on the call); stream online on iHeartRadio

Prediction: Wisconsin 78, Minnesota 67

Follow Online: The Badgers' Den

Twitter: @Badger_Blitz

Wisconsin looks for its ninth win in the last 10 games as it plays host to Minnesota on Sunday afternoon. Off to its best start since the 2016-17 season, UW is coming off a 73-65 win over Nebraska this past Thursday.

After a road win over the Cornhuskers, Wisconsin faces another Big Ten bottom three team in Minnesota. The Gophers currently sit at 11-6 and have just a pair of conference wins over Rutgers and Michigan. Each loss in league play has come by at least eight points.

"It's Wisconsin. I don't have a lot of bad blood with a lot of states, but I feel like Wisconsin is one of those states... there's bad blood," Minnesota's leading scorer, Jamison Battle, said following the team's loss to Ohio State. "I think it's a game we're looking forward to because obviously they're a good team."

"For myself, personally, I had it circled on the calendar for a very long time. I'm very excited about that one. I've been looking forward to that one since I got here. Got probably over 100 people I know that will be there," senior guard Luke Loewe, a Fond Du Lac native, added.

First-year head coach Ben Johnson fields a short rotation of just eight players and has had to deal with some lineup shuffling as of late following COVID-19 complications within the program. Battle and Eylijah Stephens returned to action for Minnesota's most recent game after they each missed one contest. The Gophers have also been without leading rebounder Eric Curry, who has been dealing with an ankle injury, the past two weeks. He was seen warming up for their most recent game but did not play.

"He's had a good couple days and we'll still take it day by day and hopefully we can look at possibly Sunday," Johnson said after their loss to Ohio State. Curry's absence was felt as Minnesota was out-rebounded by the Buckeyes, 48-22.

Minnesota likes to run its offense through Battle and Payton Willis, both of whom are not shy about letting it fly from the 3-point line. Battle (36.8%) and Willis (41.3%) each shoot it well from three and are averaging upwards of six shots per game from beyond the arc. The pair have been at the center of each of their conference wins. Against Michigan, they combined for 44 points, and with Battle sidelined, Willis tallied 32 points to lead Minnesota to a win over Rutgers.

With Tyler Wahl (1-5 for four points against Nebraska) still battling an ankle injury, Ben Carlson's minutes will be important to monitor on Sunday. The Minnesota native has seen 20 minutes of playing times in consecutive games and has looked more comfortable on the offensive end. The sophomore, who added four offensive rebounds against Nebraska, can add to what is a limited bench.

Wisconsin's roster features a large contingent of Minnesota natives. The Badgers have key contributors in Wahl, Carlson, Brad Davison, and Steven Crowl out of Minnesota. Wahl, Crowl and Carlson were a part of the same AAU program, D1 Minnesota.

Sunday afternoon marks the 208th all-time meeting between the two schools with Minnesota holding a 104-103 advantage, though the Badgers have a 66-34 edge at home. Wisconsin has won 11 of the last 13 meetings and is 18-2 all-time inside the Kohl Center against Minnesota.

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