The no. 19 seeded Wisconsin Badgers will travel to Williams Arena in Minneapolis, MN, and take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers in a Big Ten showdown. Minnesota enters this game as the 6thranked team in the Big Ten with a 16-6 record. In conference play, they have gone just 6-5 but did beat Wisconsin 59-52 back at the beginning of January. Amir Coffey led the way for the Golden Gophers with 21 points, and Ethan Happ scored a team-high 17 points for the Badgers. Minnesota now has another chance to upset their conference rivals, as they have a tremendous home record of 11-1. Wisconsin enters this game on a five-game winning streak, as they have jumped up five spots to no. 19 over that span. The Badgers are a 3 point favorite on the road.
Badgers Looking to Make Big Ten Move
Wisconsin is coached by Greg Gard, who has been the head coach for the Badgers since 2015. He holds an overall coaching record of 73-42 in that span and has made two Sweet 16 appearances in the NCAA Tournament. He has a tournament record of 4-2 but looks to make another run this year behind senior forward Ethan Happ. Happ is playing the best basketball of his collegiate career averaging 18.5 ppg, 10.3 rpg, and 5.1 apg. The redshirt senior averaged 14 ppg and 9 rpg last season but has really taken over as the leader of this team. The two guards for the Badgers are D’Mitrik Trice and Brad Davison who, alongside Happ, are both playing 30+ minutes a night. Trice is averaging 13.6 ppg, while Davison is averaging 11.3 ppg. ESPN’s matchup predictor is giving Wisconsin a 73.3% chance to win this game and extend their winning streak.
Minnesota Could Use Another Key Win
Minnesota is coached by Rick Pitino Jr, son of former Louisville head coach Rick Pitino. Pitino has been with Minnesota since 2013 and has gone just 37-64 over that time. He has coached a couple outstanding Gopher teams, such as his 2013-14 team that went 25-13 and won the NIT Championship. He then led his 2016-17 team to a 24-10 record and reached the NCAA tournament. The Gophers are led by Amir Coffey and Jordan Murphy this season. Coffey is averaging 16.2 ppg, while Murphy is second on the team with 14.9 ppg and first on the team in rebounding with 11.8 rpg. The teams center is Daniel Oturo, who is averaging 10.7 ppg and 7.3 rpg as a freshman. Fellow freshman guard Gabe Kalsheur provides 10.1 ppg, and senior guard Dupree McBrayer averages 9.9 ppg. They’ll try to make some ground in the Big Ten race against Wisconsin, who is the ranked 4th in the conference.
- Get more details: Wisconsin at Minnesota NCAAB Match-up
