No.20 Wisconsin (8-3, 0-2 Big Ten) vs. Butler (7-3, 0-0 Big East)

Date/Time – Saturday, December 14, 1:30 p.m.

Arena – Gainbridge Fieldhouse (18,345)

Watch – Big Ten Network (Dave Revsine and Brian Butch)

Radio – Badgers Radio Network (Matt Lepay and Charlie Wills), Sirius 389, stream online on iHeartRadio.

Series – Wisconsin leads 17-14 (Butler leads 1-0 in neutral sites)

Last Meeting - Butler won, 61-54, on March 24, 2011, in New Orleans

Follow Online: The Badgers' Den

Twitter: @Badger_Blitz

Betting line: Wisconsin -4

Player to Watch: Winter leads the team in both field goal percentage (61.2%) and rebounds per game, including a team-best 20 offensive boards. He is shooting 75.0 percent on two-point shots, which leads all Big Ten players.

Player to watch: Having scored in double figures in every game, Ivisic posted his third-straight double-double in Illinois’ 70-66 loss at Northwestern on Friday, scoring 15 points with 12 rebounds, five assists and a block. His five double-doubles this season moved him into a tie for fourth-most in the nation.

Wisconsin’s series with Butler dates to the 1921-22 season.

The Badgers are 4-6 against Butler in Indianapolis. Only one of the 31 previous meetings between the two programs came on a neutral court, which was also the most recent matchup: a 61-54 Butler win in the 2011 NCAA Sweet 16 as the Bulldogs ultimately advanced to the second of back-to-back national championship games.

The 2001 game was the last time the two teams met prior to the 2011 NCAA Tournament match-up. They have only met six times since 1960.

Butler won at No. 10 Wisconsin (58-44) on Jan. 30, 2001; Thad Matta was the Bulldogs’ head coach in that match-up, which came during his first stint leading the Bulldogs (the 2000-01 season).

In his 13 seasons leading the Ohio State program, Matta faced Wisconsin 25 times as Big Ten foes; the Badgers held a slim 14-11 advantage during that span. Gard is 2-1 against Matta.

The Bulldogs are 12-7 all-time at Gainbridge, most recently playing in the 2021 and final Crossroads Classic. The Badgers are 8-9 at the venue, including winning two Big Ten Tournament titles.

Wisconsin is 103-94 against the Big East. Butler is 116-222 against the Big Ten.

Nine Badgers have played in every game this season, with each player averaging over 9.9 minutes per game. Wisconsin is one of three Power Four teams that meet that standard, with at least 10 games played. All nine players scored in UW’s last game against Illinois, the fifth time this season that nine or more players have scored for the Badgers.

Wisconsin scores 81.8 points per game (63rd nationally) and allows 72.3 points per contest (213th).

Dating back to last season, Wisconsin is 22-0 in games when the Badgers hold their opponents to 70 or fewer points (5-0 this year).

UW is 150-70 under Gard when committing fewer than 12 turnovers (7-1 this season).

Butler is one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country, ranking 17th amongst all Division I schools with a 40.1 percent 3-point rate. A big part of that is McCaffrey, who is shooting 45.9 percent from 3-point range.

Butler committed a season-low four turnovers in Tuesday’s loss to NDSU; it marked the first time this season that the Bulldogs had fewer turnovers than their opponent.

Butler ranks 21st nationally, averaging 18.9 made free throws per game. Butler has made 15 or more free throws in each game this season and is shooting 75.9 percent from the line

Butler’s last two opponents (Houston, NDSU) combined for 22 made three-pointers; the Bulldogs only allowed 44 3FGM in the eight games to open the season.

The media wasn’t permitted to watch Thursday’s practice, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t listen intently from outside the Nicholas-Johnson Pavilion. What was heard in the hallway was an aggressive practice with plenty of intensity. It’s exactly what Klesmit said the program needed, a practice amplified to the highest level.

“I feel like we’re in a better spot after this practice,” he said. “It was super competitive and intense in here today. Everybody got way better than they were coming in. I like where we are at right now.”

Klesmit labels losses as learning opportunities and there has been a lot to learn over this last stretch, particularly when it comes to limiting turnovers, being more aggressive with rebounding, and being more efficient offensively.

“You don’t have a week to go apply it to the next game,” Klesmit said. “We got two or three days until we got to go play Butler.”

Greg Gard said Wisconsin got out of its contract to play Stanford in the Bay Area to play Butler this season because the Bulldogs would be a better opponent. Be careful what you wish for.

This won’t feel like a nonconference game, as former Ohio State coach Thad Matta has Butler playing like a Big Ten team with its toughness and physicality. While he doesn’t have the talent he did in Columbus, Matta has some skilled players like Telfort, who shoots 45.7 percent from 3-point range and leads the Big East in free throws made (54) and attempted (66).

The Bulldogs can stretch a defense with their ability to draw fouls (18.8 free throws per game) and hit three-pointers (8.7). Butler can score in bunches, which they showed Tuesday with a 45-point second-half to fully erase a 23-point second-half deficit before falling in the final minutes. They will test a Badgers’ defense that had given up 80 points in consecutive games.

“Being able to flip the script and worry about the next, eventually it will even out for us,” Klesmit said. “We’ll play the right way. We’ll play hard enough to where the chips will fall where they must. I like our odds.”

I do, too. The Badgers haven’t lost four consecutive December games since 1990 when it lost a double-overtime game to … Butler in Indianapolis. History doesn’t repeat itself, as Blackwell, Crowl, and Tonje get back on track.

Worgull’s Prediction: Wisconsin by 10.

Record: 8-3 (8-3 ATS)

Points off Prediction: 100 (9.1 per game)

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