Wisconsin Update

With a six-game winning streak, the Wisconsin men’s basketball team will take on Nebraska Tuesday night on the road in search of its second victory against the Cornhuskers this season.

The emergence of starting point guard, Bronson Koenig, has allowed the Badgers to keep up their starting ways. He’s averaging 12.6 points per game since becoming the starter and scored a career-high 16 points against Northwestern Saturday.

Koenig’s first start came against Nebraska Jan. 15 in place of the injured Traevon Jackson. There, he had 11 points while going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc.

The balanced scoring from the starting lineup in recent games has resulted in three-straight double-digit victories. In their win against Indiana last Tuesday, all starting five for the Badgers had double-digit point totals, while two more points from Josh Gasser Saturday would have accomplished the same feat against Northwestern.

The Badgers crushed the Cornhuskers 70-55 Jan. 15 behind a team-high 22 points from Frank Kaminsky. He was 7 of 11 from the field and shot 4 of 5 from the three-point line. It was his first game back since he had been sidelined with a concussion against Rutgers in Wisconsin’s only conference loss this season.

In last season’s visit to Nebraska, the then-No. 8 Badgers fell 77-68 in the final regular season game. Nebraska fans stormed the court at the final buzzer as the win basically guaranteed a tournament birth for the Cornhuskers.

Nebraska Update

The Cornhuskers come into this matchup as losers in three of their last four games. In those three losses, Nebraska scored 42, 43 and 44 points with each loss trailing by an average of 15 points.

While the Huskers have won less than half of their Big Ten games thus far, last season, they won eight of their final nine conference games. Last season, the Cornhuskers only lost one Big Ten game at home, but this season they’ve only lost one so far as well, including five-in-a-row on their home court.

Last time they played at Wisconsin, the scoring was one-dimensional for the Cornhuskers, with Terran Petteway scoring 27 of the team’s 55 points. No other Nebraska player reached double-digits. A significant difference in that outing was Nebraska shooting only 29.4 percent from three, while the Badgers shot 52.4 percent from there.

In last season’s game against Wisconsin, Petteway and Shavon Shields scored 26 points apiece, while Walter Pitchford added 15.

No. 5 Wisconsin (21-2, 9-1 Big Ten)

Big Ten: 9-1, 1st place by 2.5 games over Maryland, Ohio State, Purdue and Indiana
Last Game: 65-50 win over Northwestern Saturday
Probable Starters: G – Bronson Koenig (6-4, 6.9 ppg), G – Josh Gasser (6-4, 7.6 ppg), F – Sam Dekker (6-9, 12.8 ppg) , F – Nigel Hayes (6-8, 12.5 ppg), F – Frank Kaminsky (7-0, 17.5 ppg)
Key Reserves: F – Duje Dukan, G – Zak Showalter, F – Vitto Brown

Nebraska (13-10, 5-6 Big Ten)

Big Ten: 5-6, 10th place
Last Game: Lost 56-43 at Penn State Saturday
Probable Starters: G – Terran Petteway (6-6, 18.7 ppg), G – Benny Parker (5-9, 5.2 ppg), F – Shavon Shields (6-7, 15.9 ppg), F – David Rivers (6-7, 4.5 ppg) F – Walter Pitchford (6-10, 7.0 ppg)
Key Reserves: G – Tai Webster, G – Tarin Smith

Who – Wisconsin vs. Nebraska
When – Tuesday, Feb. 10 8 p.m.
Where – Lincoln, Nebraska; Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,000)
TV – ESPN (Mike Tirico, Dan Dakich, Sam Ponder)