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The Wisconsin Badgers will face their in-conference rivals, the Northwestern Wildcats, for the final time in the 2020-21 college basketball regular season on Saturday.
The first time these two teams faced off, the Badgers won 62-52. Since then, however, they have gone 3-5 and are struggling to maintain a consistent run of good performances.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats have endured six defeats since their match against Wisconsin and have now lost 12 consecutive Big Ten games this season.
Match Details
Fixture: Wisconsin Badgers vs. Northwestern Wildcats - NCAA Men's Basketball
Date and Time: Saturday, February 21, 7:00 PM ET
Venue: Welsh-Ryan Arena, Evanston, Illinois
Wisconsin Badgers Preview
The Wisconsin Badgers are coming off a loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes. They have now lost consecutive games for the first time this season.
The Badgers now hold a 15-8 record after starting the year 8-1 and have failed to win consecutive games since their last victory over the Northwestern Wildcats on January 20th.
In the Wisconsin Badgers' latest game against the Iowa Hawkeyes, they started the game four of 30 from the field. Here is what head coach Greg Gard had to say about his team's poor shooting:
"In terms of the twos, I'll go through and evaluate the shots. If there's really poor shot selection, we'll talk about that...but for the most part, I thought we had decent looks."
The Badgers will need to regain their shooter's touch if they are to be contenders in the Big Ten tournament that is less than three weeks away.
Key Player - D'Mitrik Trice
D'Mitrik Trice is the key player for the Wisconsin Badgers. He leads the team in three statistical categories with 13.5 points, four assists, and one steal per game.
However, Trice has shot the ball incredibly poorly this month. The senior guard has converted only 25.56% of his field-goal attempts in February. That is 14.6% worse than his shooting percentage in January.
Wisconsin Badgers' Predicted Lineup
F Aleem Ford, F Tyler Wahl, C Nate Reuvers, G D'Mitrik Trice, G Brad Davison
Northwestern Wildcats Preview
The Northwestern Wildcats are still playing hard despite losing 12 consecutive games. Their season has been a disaster in terms of wins and losses. However, they should not be too down on their play this season.
They are in one of the best college basketball conferences in the country, the Big Ten, which has five teams currently ranked in the AP Top-25 Poll, including three in the top five. In terms of strength of schedule, the Wildcats ranked number one in the nation, according to Kenpom.com:
As a team this season, the Northwestern Wildcats have scored 72.8 points per game. This is nearly eight points more than they produced last season and 2.9 more than the Wisconsin Badgers are averaging this year.
Key Player - Chase Audige
Chase Audige is the most consistent player on the Northwestern Wildcats this season. The transfer from William & Mary Tribe is averaging 16.8 points in his last five games on 43.8% shooting.
As a point guard, Audige can rebound the ball extremely well. He is averaging 3.6 boards a game, which allows him to push the pace for the Wildcats.
Northwestern Wildcats' Predicted Lineup
F Miller Kopp, F Pete Nance, F Ryan Young, G Anthony Gaines, G Chase Audige
Wisconsin vs Northwestern Match Prediction
The Northwestern Wildcats have reasons to hang their heads high this season, but they are still 3-12 in the Big Ten for a reason. The Wisconsin Badgers have a better all-around roster.
We expect the Wisconsin Badgers to earn the season sweep over the Northwestern Wildcats on Sunday night and for D'Mitrik Trice to end his cold shooting.
Where to watch Wisconsin vs Northwestern
The game will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.
