No. 11 Wisconsin (13-3, 5-0 Big Ten) at Penn State (8-9, 2-4)
Game: Tuesday, Jan. 16 in the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, PA
Time: 8:00 P.M. CT
Watch: BTN
Listen: 1310 WIBA AM and 101.5 FM (Matt Lepay and Brian Butch on the call); stream online on iHeartRadio
Prediction: Wisconsin 78, Penn State 67
Follow Online: The Badgers' Den
Twitter: @Badger_Blitz
Betting line: Wisconsin -5.5 (according to ESPN BET)
PRE-GAME NOTES
Wisconsin will face a Penn State team that has lost three of its last four games, with the sole win coming against 7-10 Michigan.
They haven’t recovered since the departure of previous head coach Micah Shrewsberry, who left for Notre Dame after leading the Nittany Lions to a 24-13 record last season.
Shrewsberry was replaced by Mike Rhoades, the former coach of Rice and VCU, who now has to deal with a completely new roster. They lost 10 players from last season, including all of their top five scorers.
In their place, sophomore guard Kanye Clary has emerged as the Nittany Lions’ lead option. He’s had one of the most surprising ascensions of any player in the Big Ten, going from 3.7 points per game last season to 18.6 this season, fourth-highest in the conference.
The 5-foot-11 guard is, however, coming off of a rough performance against Purdue. He scored 16 points on just 37.5% shooting, leading to a 17-point loss.
Alongside Clary in the backcourt is Ace Baldwin Jr., a transfer student who followed Rhoades from VCU.
Baldwin is second on the team in points per game, averaging 12.8, but has struggled with consistency as of late. He had his best performance of the season three games ago when he scored 25 points against Michigan. But with the exception of that performance, he’s averaging 6.8 points on 21.1% shooting over the other last five games.
Another key transfer has been Qudus Wahab, a fifth-year senior who has played at both Georgetown and Maryland. The 6-foot-11 forward from Nigeria is sixth in the Big Ten in rebounds per game at 8.3, and also averages 9.5 points, all in 25.4 minutes per game, and will create the most resistance for Wisconsin’s frontcourt of any other player.
On the other side, the Badgers will enter at the top of the Big Ten, riding a six-game winning streak that has put them at No. 11 in the AP Poll.
A source of recent momentum for the Badgers has been guard Max Klesmit, who’s coming off of a season-high 24 points in the win over Northwestern. He averaged 6.9 points per game through the first 12 games of the season, but is up to 15 over the past four games.
Klesmit’s improvement has come at a convenient time for the Badgers, who have begun to struggle with injuries.
Steven Crowl suffered a left knee injury prior to the Ohio State game, and it’s been quite obvious. Over these past two games, he’s scored a combined 11 points on 4-14 shooting.
It doesn’t help that Wisconsin’s other starting big man, Tyler Wahl, has cooled down from his hot streak. He averaged 15.7 points over the first four games of the winning streak, but scored just 11 each over the last two
Wahl hasn’t fallen off as hard as Crowl, but the Badgers will need at least one of the two to return to form if they hope to continue winning.
_________________________________________________
*Chat about this article in The Badgers' Den
*Check out our videos, interviews, and Q&As on our YouTube channel
*Subscribe and listen to the BadgerBlitz.com podcast (as seen on Apple, Google, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts)
*Follow us on Twitter: @McNamaraRivals, @TheBadgerNation, @RaulV45, @seamus_rohrer, @DonnieSlusher_
*Like us on Facebook
