Will the Badgers come over their struggles from their first game against Illinois on Tuesday?
Fresh off a 94-84 win over the Purdue Boilermakers, the Wisconsin Badgers are returning home for a rematch against the Illinois Fighting Illini, with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m.
The Badgers, standing at 20-5, are currently 10-4 in conference play, as they’ve rattled off a four-game winning streak, most recently beating Northwestern, Indiana, Iowa, and Purdue.
Saturday’s win over Purdue was a major one for the Badgers, as they put together a 58-point second half while shooting 72 percent from the field, thanks to 22 points from star guard John Tonje in the period alone.
Wisconsin was stellar from the free throw line, while their top players came to show when it mattered the most, picking up a major victory on the road and grabbing the attention of national headlines in the process.
Now, the Badgers are the top-ranked Big Ten team in both the AP Top 25 and KenPom, coming it at No. 11 in this week’s polls.
They’ll now come back home for a rematch with the Illinois Fighting Illini, who bested the Badgers in Champaign 86-80 earlier in the season.
Illinois is led by star freshman point guard Kasparas Jakucionis, who has averaged 16.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game, while shooting 46.6 percent from the field and 34.1 percent from deep.
The Fighting Illini gave the Badgers mismatch problems with their size in the first matchup, as each of their starters was at least 6’6’’ tall, leading to 15 offensive rebounds for Illinois.
However, they’ll be without freshman forward Morez Johnson, who broke his wrist and will be out indefinitely. While being a reserve this season, Johnson was second on the team in rebounds (6.6) and the leader in blocks (1.1) per game, adding some good size off the bench.
Here are the odds and information for tonight’s game.
Spread: Wisconsin -3.5
Over/Under: 161.5 points
Tip: 7:30 p.m.
Channel: FS1
Stay tuned for our coverage of Tuesday’s game!