Wisconsin and Rutgers will face each other for the second time this year on Saturday morning at 11 A.M. CT. The game will be televised on BTN at Madison Square Garden as part of Super Saturday.

Projected Starters

Wisconsin
G: Bronson Koenig (14.6 PPG, 2.2 APG)
G: Zak Showalter (8.0 PPG, 2.3 APG)
F: Nigel Hayes (13.7 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 3.2 APG)
F: Vitto Brown (8.0 PPG, 4.2 RPG)
C: Ethan Happ (13.7 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 2.9 APG)

Rutgers
G: Corey Sanders (12.5 PPG, 3.5 APG)
G: Nigel Johnson (11.4 PPG, 2.2 APG)
F: Candido Sa (4.0 PPG, 3.9 RPG)
F: Eugene Omoruyi (2.2 PPG, 2.2 APG)
C: C.J. Gettys (7.9 PPG, 5.0 RPG)

Rutgers ended non-conference play with a nice 11-2 record, but the Big Ten season has been cruel to the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers’s record now stands at 12-9, with their conference record being 1-7. They have lost eight out of their last nine contests. In Rutgers’s three seasons in the Big Ten, they’ve compiled an abysmal 4-40 conference record.

The Badgers beat the Scarlet Knights by 20 on December 27th, 72-52. Corey Sanders, Rutgers leading scorer, didn’t start the game as punishment for breaking a team rule. When he did play, he was less than effective going just 1/11 from the field. The Badgers struggled containing Nigel Johnson, their second leading scorer. Mike Williams scored 18 points on 4/5 shooting from three, but he’s only scored 18 points in their last six games.

Nigel Hayes posted 20 points, six rebounds, and two assists. He went 10/10 from the free throw line, something Badger fans haven’t seen in awhile as he’s only shooting 60% from the charity stripe this year. Zak Showalter had 18 points in the first matchup, his season high. He’s only been in double-digits in the scoring category once since.

Rutgers ranks dead last in the Big Ten in scoring and three-point shooting, however, all those bricks may help them in rebounding, which they lead the conference in.

The Badgers recently moved up to a four seed in ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s projection. This is despite the Badgers not having many significant wins. The three best teams the Badgers have played they’ve lost to. In conclusion, a loss to a bad Rutgers team would knock them down a few seeds, so although this may seem like an easy one for the Badgers, it’s important they don’t fall asleep in New Jersey on Saturday morning.

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