Wisconsin Basketball: Nebraska basketball preview

The Wisconsin basketball team will travel to Lincoln to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Wednesday. The Badgers will look to get back on track after a blowout loss to Illinois over the weekend. Even though they have had a run of bad play and losses, the 14-6 Badgers are still within striking distance of the Big Ten lead, just two games back from first place.

The defense is the key to the offense

They will have a good chance at making up some ground on Wednesday night when they play Nebraska, the last-place team in the conference. Nebraska has had a rough year. They 4-10 and have yet to win a game in conference and have had five games postponed due to covid. They have played in just three games since January 2. They missed four games in a row before losing their last two games, where they put up 56 and 61 points against Michigan St. and Minnesota, respectively.

The Cornhuskers’ inability to score is going to be big for the Wisconsin basketball team. The defense has not been the issue for the Badgers. They should be able to hold Nebraska’s struggling offense down without much of an issue.

The offense is what needs figuring out. The offense for the Badgers seems to be very streaky. They can come out and shoot the lights out one night, and then can’t buy a bucket the next game. If their defense can contain Nebraska, it should allow them to get their offense clicking again.

Key players

Teddy Allen – Guard – Nebraska
Teddy Allen is the leading scorer for the Cornhuskers. He is averaging 17.2 points per game this season. In their last meeting at the Kohl Center, Allen scored just 11 on 4-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three. He played in just 25 minutes because he was in foul trouble and eventually fouled out of the game.

Allen has a history of problems off the court and it apparently reared its ugly head again. Allen missed Nebraska’s last game at Minnesota for ‘failure to meet internal expectations.’ Allen is expected to play against the Badgers.

Dalano Banton – Guard – Nebraska

Banton is Nebraska’s second-leading scorer. He averages 11.9 points per game. He is also their leader in rebounds (6.6), assists (4.9), and blocks (1.0) per game. The 6-9 guard does it all for Nebraska.

In their last meeting against Wisconsin, Banton had 15 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. All were tops on the team. Tyler Wahl will almost certainly draw the assignment of guarding Banton. Keeping him in check will be

Micah Potter – Forward – Wisconsin

Wisconsin basketball seems to play as well as Micah Potter. Lately, he has been struggling. In the Badgers’ last game at Illinois, Potter shot just 4-12 and 0-5 from three. When they got back to Madison, Potter went to work.

If Potter can get his offense rolling, this Wisconsin team will too. Reuvers seems to have his game back on track. If the two of them could get rolling at the same time, the Badgers would be a tough team to beat. The game tonight against Nebraska is a great opportunity for Potter to get going.

Tyler Wahl – Forward – Wisconsin

Tyler Wahl has been starting in place of Nate Reuvers lately. Normally, Wahl is known for his defense. He is usually tasked with defending one of the opposing teams’ best players. Lately, however, Wahl has started to get his offense going. He is averaging 5.8 points per game this season, but he has scored five or more points in each of the past three games, including 13 in their loss at Penn St.

Wahl is becoming more than the sixth-man spark plug off the bench to help on defense. He is also adding more to the offense, which has been much-needed lately. He will continue to be depended on for his defense, but don’t underestimate his offense either. Looks for Wahl to get put on Banton tonight.

Prediction

The Badgers need a win tonight. This is one of two remaining games the Badgers have against an unranked opponent. Losing this game would be disastrous for this team’s chances to finish at or near the top of the conference.

The Wisconsin basketball team has stumbled a bit, but outside of Michigan, in the Big Ten, every team has done that this season. They still have a chance to climb the standings and they know it. I would expect the Badgers to come out firing tonight and playing with a lot of intensity. With Nebraska still being a bit rusty, I think the Badgers will cruise to a win in Lincoln tonight before they set their sites on the first-place Michigan Wolverines.

Wisconsin 75 – Nebraska 58