Preview: Wisconsin Badgers playing for a Big Ten title at Indiana
No. 24 Wisconsin (20-10, 13-6) vs. Indiana (19-11, 9-10)
Game: March 7, 2020 at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana
Time: 11:00 am CT
Watch: ESPN (Jason Benetti and Mark Adams)
Listen: Badger Sports Network (Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas)
Follow Online: The Badgers' Den
Twitter: @Badger_Blitz, @alow_33
Pre-Game Notes
Wisconsin is playing for a share of the regular season Big Ten title Saturday afternoon. That sentence didn't seem realistic in December, yet here we are, one win away from witnessing one of the more impressive turnarounds in the country. The magical month of February has carried into March, as the Badgers look for their eighth-straight win on the road against Indiana.
It is impossible to say just one thing has been the cause of this dramatic turnaround - seven straight victories do not come by accident in the country's toughest conference. But if there is any one player who has improved most from December until now, it is arguably D'Mitrik Trice. The Badgers were calling desperately for a true point guard to emerge and the junior has answered the call.
Fittingly, the Ohio native is just four points away from 1,000 for his career and should accomplish the feat at Assembly Hall. The more impressive stat has to be Trice's 58 assists over his last 10 games. He has excelled in the high pick-and-roll with Micah Potter and Nate Reuvers, and is deserving of the "Most Improved Player" award the Badgers hand out after the season. If Trice hits 1,000 points on Saturday, he would be the first in UW's history to reach that point total, along with 300 rebounds and 300 assists by the end of his junior season.
Last time these two teams met, the Badgers defeated the Hoosiers by 20 at home. That win came all the way back in December, as Kobe King led the UW in scoring that day. Needless to say, things have changed since then.
For the Hoosiers, solid defense has been their continued attempt at forming an identity. Archie Miller has instilled pack-line principles that garnered him serious success at Dayton, and this team playing better on the defensive end than ever before during his tenure. Indiana, which is 15-3 at home this season, ranks as the No. 31 team in the country, according to KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency.
The Hoosiers lead the all-time series, 97-75, and also lead in Bloomington with a record of 55-28.
| Pos. | Wisconsin | HT/WT | Pts. | Reb. | Ast. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
G |
D'Mitrik Trice (Jr.) |
6-0, 184 |
10.0 |
4.0 |
4.2 |
|
G |
Brad Davison (Jr.) |
6-4, 206 |
9.8 |
4.4 |
1.9 |
|
G |
Brevin Pritzl (Sr.) |
6-3, 204 |
8.2 |
3.7 |
0.7 |
|
F |
Aleem Ford (R-Jr.) |
6-8, 217 |
8.5 |
4.4 |
1.1 |
|
F |
Nate Reuvers (Jr.) |
6-11, 235 |
12.9 |
4.4 |
0.5 |
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| Pos. | Indiana | HT/WT | Pts. | Reb. | Ast. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
G |
Rob Phinisee (So.) |
6-1, 190 |
7.3 |
2.6 |
3.2 |
|
G |
Al Durham (Jr.) |
6-4, 185 |
9.7 |
2.1 |
2.5 |
|
F |
Justin Smith (Jr.) |
6-7, 230 |
10.5 |
5.3 |
0.9 |
|
F |
Joey Brunk (Jr.) |
6-11, 245 |
7.0 |
5.3 |
0.7 |
|
F |
Trayce Jackson-Davis (FR) |
6-9, 245 |
13.9 |
8.1 |
1.2 |
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