Preview: Wisconsin hits the road for conference tilt against No. 3 Purdue
No. 24 Wisconsin (10-2, 1-1) vs. No. 3 Purdue (12-1, 1-1)
Game: Monday, Jan. 3 inside Mackey Arena
Time: 6:00 P.M. CT
Watch: Big Ten Network (Brandon Gaudin, Robbie Hummel and Andy Katz)
Listen: 1310 WIBA AM and 101.5 FM (Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas on the call); stream online on iHeartRadio
Prediction: Purdue 73, Wisconsin 50
Follow Online: The Badgers' Den
Twitter: @Badger_Blitz
PRE-GAME NOTES
Wisconsin enters the New Year and begins the real grind of its conference slate, and it does not get any tougher than Monday evening's opponent. Greg Gard's bunch heads to West Lafayette for a meeting with the No. 3 Boilermakers, a team that was ranked No. 1 earlier the season.
"It's the typical Big Ten. Purdue, to me, looks like the top," Gard said back on Dec. 6 while preparing for Indiana. "It's not surprising, I thought that coming into the year just with what they had back, and (Jaden) Ivey had as good a summer as Johnny Davis. Zach Edey played for team Canada."
Ivey, much like Davis, has taken a solid summer that featured winning a gold medal with team USA into a big sophomore leap at Purdue. The 6-foot-4 guard is up to 16.7 points per game while shooting 45 percent from beyond the arc. Edey, a 7-foot-4 big man, leads a group of reserves and adds an immediate scoring punch off the bench. The sophomore has been the team's second leading scorer (14.9), rebounder (7.3) and leader in blocks (1.5).
Complimenting the pair of sophomores are senior big man Trevion Williams and sharpshooter Sasha Stefanovic. Williams, a traditional big who likes to battle down low, is averaging 13.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per contest. Stefanovic has been shooting lights out this season at a clip of 43.8 percent from beyond the arc
Purdue head coach Matt Painter utilizes a deep rotation with as many as 10 players averaging at least 15 minutes per game. The Boilermakers' ability to go into their bench is advantageous with Wisconsin potentially still missing a few pieces in its rotation. Last time out against Illinois State, the Badgers were down Lorne Bowman II, Ben Carlson and Jahcobi Neath, among others.
After being tested against Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana) and E.J. Liddell (Ohio State), sophomore Steven Crowl and senior Chris Vogt now face off against the duo of Williams and Edey. In order for Wisconsin to stay in the game, it will have to avoid foul trouble in order to battle down low, especially if Carlson is unable to go.
Monday night will be the 184th meeting between the two schools with Purdue leading the all-time series, 111-72. The Boilermakers have dominated Wisconsin inside Mackey Arena, holding a 73-18 edge with UW looking for it first win in West Lafayette since 2014.
| Pos. | Wisconsin | HT/WT | Pts. | Reb. | Ast. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
G |
Chucky Hepburn (Fr.) |
6-2, 211 |
7.5 |
2.2 |
2.1 |
|
G |
Brad Davison (Sr.) |
6-4, 200 |
14.5 |
4.2 |
1.8 |
|
W |
Jonathan Davis (So.) |
6-5, 194 |
20.8 |
6.6 |
2.5 |
|
F |
Tyler Wahl (Jr.) |
6-9, 221 |
9.2 |
5.1 |
1.3 |
|
F |
Steven Crowl (So.) |
7-0, 234 |
8.8 |
4.8 |
1.0 |
| Pos. | Purdue | HT/WT | Pts. | Reb. | Ast. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
G |
Isaiah Thompson (Jr.) |
6-1, 160 |
6.6 |
1.2 |
1.4 |
|
G |
Jaden Ivey (So.) |
6-4, 195 |
16.7 |
5.1 |
3.2 |
|
G |
Sasha Stefanovic (Sr.) |
6-5, 205 |
11.5 |
2.2 |
3.9 |
|
F |
Mason Gillis (So.) |
6-6, 230 |
6.6 |
3.1 |
0.6 |
|
F |
Trevion Williams (Sr.) |
6-10, 255 |
13.3 |
9.1 |
3.2 |
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