Preview: No. 8 Wisconsin hosts No. 14 Michigan State in a top 15 matchup
No. 8 Wisconsin (15-2, 6-1) vs. No. 14 Michigan State (14-3, 5-1)
Game: Friday, Jan. 21 inside the Kohl Center
Time: 8:00 P.M. CT
Watch: FS1 (Kevin Kugler and Stephen Bardo)
Listen: 1310 WIBA AM and 101.5 FM (Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas on the call); stream online on iHeartRadio
Prediction: Wisconsin 72, Michigan State 70
Follow Online: The Badgers' Den
Twitter: @Badger_Blitz
PRE-GAME NOTES
No. 8 Wisconsin has another opportunity to boost its resume on Friday night against No. 14 Michigan State. The top-15 matchup is the first at the Kohl Center since the No. 2 Badgers hosted No. 4 Duke on Dec. 3, 2014.
The Spartans, who play four of their next five games on the road, will likely have to knock off some rust. It will be the group's first live action since their loss at home to Northwestern last Saturday. Prior to the defeat, Michigan State had put together nine consecutive wins.
Tom Izzo's squad does not necessarily have a star, but his group is deep and talented. Gabe Brown, a 6-foot-8 junior, can get to his pull-up jumper with ease given his length and range. Michigan State often goes to Brown at the end of stagnant possessions or in a late shot clock situations. The sharpshooting junior leads the Spartans with 14.2 points per contest and has finished in double figures in all but one game.
In the backcourt, true freshman Max Christie, a former Wisconsin target on the recruiting front, has come on strong as of late. Christie struggled against Northwestern but had averaged 16.3 points per game over the previous four contests. Alongside him, Tyson Walker runs the offense and is currently third in the Big Ten, averaging 5.2 assists per game.
Big man Marcus Bingham has struggled recently, averaging just four points and 2.7 rebounds over the past three games. But his presence on the defensive end could cause problems for the Badgers. Bingham averages 2.8 blocks a game, good for third in the Big Ten. Wisconsin native Joey Hauser will be making his final appearance inside the Kohl Center after suiting up for Marquette and then opting to transfer to Michigan State over UW in May of 2019.
With the exception of Bingham, each player in the Spartans rotation is capable of knocking down an open triple. They currently have the second best three point percentage in the conference (38.8).
For as good as the Spartans have proven to be, they are prone to sloppy play. During their loss to the Wildcats, MSU gave up 17 offensive rebounds and did not match the effort from Northwestern. Michigan State has also averaged 16.7 turnovers per contest during their losses.
Wisconsin will look to keep things rolling and make it eight straight wins. After unlocking a new-found shooting touch from three, one of the next major questions will be whether Greg Gard can get production off his bench. In their most recent win over Northwestern, all five starters finished in double figures, but the bench combined to tally just four points.
“We’ve had a quite bit of success the last couple weeks, we’ve got a cool number next to our name, (but) we’ve got a pretty big target on our back,” senior Brad Davison said. “We’ve got to attack first. We got to stay aggressive. We can’t be content.”
Izzo tabbed Wisconsin as "one of the hottest teams in the league" and went on to call Johnny Davis a "household name" and labeled Tyler Wahl as the team's "x-factor."
Tonight's matchup marks the 150th all-time meeting between the two programs with Michigan State leading the series, 83-66, but Wisconsin owns a 47-26 lead in Madison. Ever since Bo Ryan took over Wisconsin's program before the 2001 season, the Spartans only hold a slight 20-19 edge.
| Pos. | Wisconsin | HT/WT | Pts. | Reb. | Ast. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
G |
Chucky Hepburn (Fr.) |
6-2, 211 |
7.2 |
2.1 |
1.9 |
|
G |
Brad Davison (Sr.) |
6-4, 200 |
15.1 |
4.1 |
2.0 |
|
W |
Jonathan Davis (So.) |
6-5, 194 |
22.1 |
7.5 |
2.5 |
|
F |
Tyler Wahl (Jr.) |
6-9, 221 |
11.0 |
5.7 |
1.8 |
|
F |
Steven Crowl (So.) |
7-0, 234 |
8.8 |
4.8 |
1.2 |
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| Pos. | Michigan State | HT/WT | Pts. | Reb. | Ast. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
G |
Tyson Walker (Jr.) |
6-0, 175 |
6.8 |
1.4 |
5.2 |
|
G |
Max Christie (Fr.) |
6-6, 190 |
10.4 |
3.8 |
1.7 |
|
F |
Gabe Brown (Sr.) |
6-8, 215 |
14.2 |
4.8 |
1.1 |
|
F |
Joey Hauser (R-Sr.) |
6-9, 230 |
6.8 |
6.1 |
1.9 |
|
C |
Marcus Bingham Jr. (Sr.) |
7-0, 230 |
9.7 |
7.1 |
2.8 |
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