Wisconsin (4-2) vs. Western Illinois (2-4)
Game: Monday, Nov. 27 in the Kohl Center
Time: 6:00 P.M. CT
Watch: BTN
Listen: 1310 WIBA AM and 101.5 FM (Matt Lepay and Brian Butch on the call); stream online on iHeartRadio
Prediction: Wisconsin 82, Western Illinois 64
Follow Online: The Badgers' Den
Twitter: @Badger_Blitz
Betting line: Wisconsin -27.5 (according to ESPN BET)
PRE-GAME NOTES
The Badgers will return to the Kohl Center for the first time in 10 days, coming off of an impressive championship run in the Fort Myers Tip-Off.
It began with perhaps their best performance all season, when they defeated No. 24 Virginia, 65-41, dominating the game from start to finish. They followed that up with a comeback victory over SMU, winning 69-61 after trailing for the majority of the game.
Chucky Hepburn was most responsible for the comeback, scoring all 10 of his points in the final five minutes of the game. It ended a scoring slump that had even begun the prior game against Virginia, in which he finished with three points on 1-8 shooting.
Yet it was Tyler Wahl who was ultimately named the MVP of the tournament, averaging 11.5 points and eight rebounds over the two games.
His front-court mate, Steven Crowl was also incredibly valuable, especially in the Virginia win. Nobody played better against the Cavaliers than Crowl, whose 15 points and 10 rebounds both led the team.
The Badgers also showed improvement on some key woes during the recent tournament.
Part of the reason they beat Virginia so convincingly was their 3-point shooting. They went 8-18 from long range, which was the first time they made over 30% of their 3-pointers since the season opener.
They also entered the week shooting 74.2% from the free throw line, then made 90.4% of their attempts over both games.
The Badgers will look to continue these improvements at home against a struggling Western Illinois team.
The Leathernecks are going through some growing pains this season in a new conference, led by a new coach.
Rob Jeter had steadily improved the program in his three seasons with Western Illinois, but he left for Southern Utah this past offseason, so they promoted Chad Boudreau.
This is also their first season in the Ohio Valley Conference, after spending the first 42 years of their program history in the slightly-weaker Summit League (formerly the Mid-Continent Conference).
They’re currently sitting at just 2-4, with their four losses coming by a combined 86 points. The Leathernecks are even coming off of a 32-point loss to Illinois.
Their biggest issue this season has been offensive consistency. They went seven straight minutes without scoring, at the end of the first half and beginning of the second. Against Illinois, they made 29.2% of their field goals while allowing the Illini to shoot 47.2%. The team as a whole is shooting 39.2%, compared to Wisconsin’s 45.5%.
One consistency has been James Dent Jr., who’s led the Leathernecks in scoring in four of their first six games, averaging 17.7 points per game. The junior has scored at least 10 points in every game, and 20 three separate times. He’s also struggled making field goals as much as anybody on the team, shooting 36.8% on the season and 30.5% over the past two games.
Western Illinois’ only other reliable scorer has been Ryan Myers, who’s second on the team averaging 11.5 points. He’s also responsible for the Leathernecks’ only 20-point performance this season from someone other than Dent.
Wisconsin’s last few games have all been against smaller lineups with smaller frontcourts. They haven’t faced a team that can compete with their size in quite some time.
The one thing the Leathernecks do have is size, averaging 46.2 rebounds and 7.2 blocks per game.
This is mostly because of center Drew Cisse, who’s averaging 10.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. The 6-foot-11 senior may be the first player to apply real pressure on Wisconsin’s front-court duo in quite some time.
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