Welcome to the Herald Sports live blog! I’m Mike Fiammetta, and I’m here at the Kohl Center with Herald Sports editor Elliot Hughes.

We’re set for what’s sure to be a fantastic night of hoops as the No. 25 Badgers (16-5, 5-3) are set to host the No. 16 Indiana Hoosiers (16-4, 4-4) in a conference battle with plenty at stake in the Big Ten race.
Wisconsin is coming off a strong performance on the road Sunday that resulted in a 67-63 win over Illinois. Point guard Jordan Taylor continued his stellar play of late, dropping 19 points while pulling down nine rebounds and dishing out five assists. Taylor’s improved play since the non-confernese season and early Big Ten play has been vital to the Badgers, who are now riding a 4-game win streak.

Indiana, meanwhle, has seen its fortunes fade in January, where the Hoosiers are 3-3. Despite losing three of their last four games, the Hoosiers do have a tendency to be somewhat tricky on the road. IU is 3-3 on the road this season, though the Badgers have, as usual, been hard to beat here at the Kohl Center. Despite losing two games at home earlier this season, Wisconsin has rebounded with a 10-3 home record.

Tonight’s matchup will be a a battle of clashing strengths, as Wisconsin boasts the Big Ten’s (and the nation’s, at that) stingiest scoring defense at 49.6 points allowed per game. Indiana, meanwhile, is the conference’s top scoring offense (No. 15 in the country) at 79.8 points per game.

Anyway, thanks for joining us on the live blog below (we’ll also be on Twitter @BHeraldSports) and have a great Thursday night.