Last week might have been the border battle, but if you are
looking for two schools with a lot of recent history, look no further than
Wisconsin and Michigan State. Looking beyond the memorable battles on the gridiron
last fall, the Badgers and Spartans have needed overtime to decide two of their
last three meetings on the hardwood, the most recent coming back on January 3rd
at the Kohl Center when Ryan Evans’ 3-point shot at the end of overtime was
infamously wiped off the board upon video replay.
While that tough defeat came during a stretch of three
straight early season losses for the Badgers, the rematch is going to be played
under far different circumstances. No. 15/17 Wisconsin (8-4 Big Ten, 19-6
overall) has won eight of ten since that loss, while Michigan State’s 58-48
defeat of Ohio State on February 11th has put the No. 7/8 Spartans
(9-3 Big Ten, 20-5 overall) in a virtual tie with the Buckeyes at the top of
the Big Ten standings. However, both the Badgers and Michigan lurk just one
game back in the loss column, each controlling their own destiny over the final
two and a half weeks of the regular season.
Simply put, there is plenty on the line Thursday night at
the Breslin Center.
“It’s definitely a good feeling {to control our own destiny}
but we kind of knew someone was going to lose eventually…” UW sophomore guard
Josh Gasser said. “We just have to take it one game at a time and it starts
Thursday with a big one against Michigan State because they are right up there
with us.”
In order to maintain control of that destiny, Wisconsin will
have to shut down the Spartans’ high-octane transition game. Michigan State has
averaged over 10 points per game on fast break opportunities while adding
nearly 16 points per game off turnovers.
“We’ve been playing really well in transition…” Gasser
added. “Anytime you can take away a couple easy transition baskets in games
like this, where its usually decided by one or two possessions, its definitely
huge.”
But throughout the season, Wisconsin has been second to none
on stopping the transition game, holding opponents to under 5 points per game
on fast break opportunities.
“Its always an emphasis. We don’t want teams to come down
and get easy shots,” UW junior forward Mike Bruesewitz said. “I think we have
some of the best transition defense in the country and that’s something we work
on.”
Led by the front line trio of senior Draymond Green, junior
Derrick Nix, and sophomore Adreian Payne, the Spartans have dominated both in
the paint and on the glass. MSU has outscored its opponents by over 13 points
per game in the paint while posting a rebound margin of 10.2 per game.
“They take a lot of pride in doing that…” UW senior guard
Jordan Taylor said. “We definitely want to outrebound them. We know they are
big, but we have guys who can rebound too.”
Having already won in hostile environments at Purdue,
Illinois, and just last year at Minnesota, the Badgers are more than ready for
whatever the “Izzone” has in store.
“We’ve won in some tough road environments this year…”
Taylor noted. “We just have to execute offensively and defensively and do
whatever we can to get the win.”
A Badger win on Thursday night would truly shake things up
in the Big Ten. With Wisconsin set to face Ohio State yet again in just over a
week’s time, the next ten days mark just about as pivotal a stretch as any that
the Badgers will face this season.
“If the juices aren’t flowing for what we’ve got coming,” UW
head coach Bo Ryan said. “You need help.”
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