Preview: No. 9 Wisconsin looks to shock No. 1 Baylor in Round of 32

No. 9 Wisconsin (18-12) vs. No. 1 Baylor (23-2)

Game: Sunday, March 21 inside Hinkle Fieldhouse (Indianapolis, Indiana)

Time: 1:40 CT

Watch: CBS (Kevin Harlan and Dan Bonner)

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

Line: Wisconsin +6.5

Prediction: Baylor 74, Wisconsin 69

Follow Online: The Badgers' Den

Twitter: @Badger_Blitz

Wisconsin put together its best performance of the season in the first round of the NCAA tournament to topple North Carolina, 85-62, setting up a date with Baylor (23-2). The Bears were considered the second best team in the country for much of the college basketball season, behind only undefeated Gonzaga.

After winning a battle in the paint against the Tar Heels, who boasted a challenging front-court, UW will now turn its focus to a talented group of Baylor guards.

"They can create their own shot or create a shot for others as well," forward Aleem Ford said. "From one through three, they're pretty much position-less. They're aggressive, they look to score getting downhill or in transition and they can shoot the three, so we're going to have to pack it in on the defensive end and make sure that we play team defense."

The Bears' backcourt is a "big three" of sorts with Davion Mitchell, Jared Butler and MaCio Teague. Butler is a first-team All-American, Mitchell a third-team All-American and Teague an honorable mention selection.

Butler leads the team scoring at 17.0 points per contest and Teague is right behind him, averaging 16.4 points per game. Butler and Mitchell contribute 4.9 and 5.3 assists per game, respectively. To top it off, the trio of guards all shoot at least 40 percent from beyond the arc for a group that leads the country in shooting percentage (41.4) from three.

Baylor likes to go small at times with Mark Vital at the "five" with four guards around him. Vital, listed at 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, is a big body who makes energy plays for the Bears in the form of offensive rebounds, put backs and effective screens. Off the bench, Adam Flagler and Matthew Mayer provide a scoring punch. Both shoot 40 percent from deep and have the ability to put the ball on the floor and make a play. Baylor has depth and can go nine-deep.

For the Badgers, it will be important to control the pace, win the rebounding battle and value possessions, much like they did against UNC. Besides shooting well, Wisconsin was able to control those three phases for a wire-to-wire victory. If it can repeat that performance, UW will give itself a chance against the No. 1 seed in the South Region.

"We've been playing the best teams, day in and day out, throughout the Big Ten and anybody can beat anybody on any given day," senior guard D'Mitrik Trice said Saturday afternoon. "It's just about going out there and competing for 40 minutes and that's what it's going to boil down to. Baylor is obviously a great team, but I think we're a great team as well.

"Once we get rolling and get everybody on the same page, I think there's no team that can stop us."

Sunday will be the third all-time meeting between the two schools with the series tied, 1-1. UW won the lone matchup in the NCAA tournament in 2014. Wisconsin is 4-6 in its history against No. 1 seeds and has won three of the last four meetings with top seeds.