The Badgers will take on Nebraska Thursday night in the Big Ten Tournament, following the Penn State-Ohio State game which starts at 5:30 PM CT. The game is slated to start roughly 25 minutes after PSU vs. OSU, so at approximately 7:55 PM CT. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

Nebraska advanced to the second round of the Big 10 tournament after beating Rutgers on Wednesday, 89-72. Shavon Shields scored 20 points and collected 11 rebounds while Andrew White chipped in 16.

Wisconsin beat Nebraska on February 13th, 72-61. Nebraska’s Shields (16.4 PPG) did not play in the matchup. The Badgers had one of their more impressive shooting displays of the season, going 11-18 from beyond the arc.

Projected Starters

Projected Wisconsin Starters

G: Bronson Koenig (13.5 PPG, 2.5 APG)
G: Zak Showalter (7.7 PPG, 3.9 RPG)
F: Nigel Hayes (16.5 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 3.1 APG)
F: Vitto Brown (9.5 PPG, 5.1 RPG)
F: Ethan Happ (11.9 PPG, 7.8 RPG)

Projected Nebraska Starters

G: Benny Parker (4.7 PPG, 2.2 APG)
G: Tai Webster (9.7 PPG, 4.1 RPG)
G: Andrew White (16.5 PPG, 6.1 RPG)
F: Shavon Shields (16.4 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.7 APG)
F: Michael Jacobson (4.5 PPG, 4.3 RPG)

Outlook

This game will mark the first official game of Greg Gard’s head coaching career after getting the interim tag removed on Tuesday.

With Nebraska getting Shields back, this game could be more interesting than the last one. Even with the amazing shooting display the Badgers put on during the first matchup in the Kohl Center, without one of Nebraska’s best players, it was still somewhat of a game.

The Badgers did an excellent job of slowing down Andrew White (16.5 PPG) down in the first matchup, holding him to 10 points. The Badgers will have to do an equally good job-while also defending Shields this time around.

Nebraska’s gameplan the first game was to keep the ball out of Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig’s hands at all costs, which left Vitto Brown and company open for much of the night.

Brown made the Huskers pay that night, scoring 18 points and going 3-3 from the three-point line. Zak Showalter was also perfect from the three-point line, going 2-2. If Nebraska throws their defense at Koenig and Hayes again, the role players will have to step up, again.

Nebraska employed a 2-3 zone defense for part of the game, so the Badgers will have to be prepared for multiple defenses Tim Miles may throw at them. The Badgers prepared for Nebraska today, and will do so again tomorrow.

It’s also worth noting that Ethan Happ only scored 2 points on 3 shots against the zone, but I would expect him to come out more aggressively Thursday night.

Bottom Line

The Badgers will be looking for a statement win to improve their seed for the NCAA Tournament. To do that, it starts by beating Nebraska. Slowing down Andrew White and Shavon Shields is key, as well as having a balanced offensive night.

Wisconsin should prevail to face Maryland on Friday.