Coming off a dominating 81-66 win over Michigan State Friday, Wisconsin basketball hits the road for their first game in six days tomorrow. They will take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln. The Badgers won the first meeting 88-72 in Madison on January 6. Can Wisconsin basketball sweep the season series? Tip time is 7:30 PM on BTN. Here is a preview of tomorrow’s game.
Playing Through the Home Crowd
The crowd in Lincoln is one of the best atmospheres in the Big Ten outside of Purdue. The Cornhuskers are 13-1 at home this season. They shoot almost 50% from the field and from three on their home court.
Last season, Wisconsin basketball blew a 17 point halftime lead in Lincoln. After that, Nebraska played some of the best basketball in the conference.
Now ranked sixth in the country, the energy is going to be even louder tomorrow. How do the Badgers keep the crowd out of it? They have to take care of the ball and avoid scoring droughts.
Wisconsin Basketball Has to Win With Defense
In the last five home games, the Cornhuskers have scored at least 75 points. The Badgers can’t get in an offensive shootout. If they play that style, they will lose. This game has to be won on defense and winning the 50/50 plays.
Nebraska shot just under 50% in the first meeting. I’m sure if you talk to Greg Gard, they were probably disappointed in the amount of easy looks they gave the Cornhuskers. If you do that, they can shoot you out of the gym.
Prediction
This is not the game you want to play with Purdue coming up on Sunday and a top 10 matchup. I think this is tough ask for this Wisconsin basketball team to get a road win.
The Badgers haven’t had to play in a crowd like this all year and since the Arizona game. Despite the amount of experience, it’s still going to take some time for the Badgers to settle into this game.
Nebraska is also firmly on the bubble if you look at bracketology websites. This is the last home game against a ranked team for the Cornhuskers. With how bad they are on the road and coming off a 22 point road loss to Maryland, this is a game Nebraska needs pretty bad for their tournament resume.
I’ve seen enough Nebraska home games this year on TV to know offense won’t beat this team on their court. Purdue, who is a top team in the country, went on a small scoring drought in Lincoln and they were blown out as a result. I don’t think people give this atmosphere enough credit.
I hope I’m wrong, but this seems like an upset road loss for Wisconsin basketball. I think this game is close, but a late Nebraska run is the difference. A win for the Badgers would give them their seventh quad one win on the year. Give me Nebraska in another home win against a ranked team tomorrow night.
Nebraska 77 Wisconsin 72
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