Wisconsin’s best, and possibly last, chance at reversing a late-season slide comes Thursday night when the slumping Badgers host Rutgers in their final home game.
Wisconsin (18-11, 10-8 Big Ten) lost at home to then-No. 13 Illinois 91-83 on Saturday. After Rutgers, the Badgers close the regular season at third-ranked Purdue on Sunday.
Rutgers (15-14, 7-11) lost 67-56 at Nebraska on Sunday. The Scarlet Knights won the first matchup with Wisconsin, 78-56, in mid-February.
Wisconsin got off to a 16-4 start, including 8-1 in the Big Ten, climbing to No. 6 in the country in late January. Since then, the Badgers have lost seven of nine. But, even with the loss to Illinois, Wisconsin is 13-3 at home.
The Badgers were tied with Illinois 68-68 with 5:44 left, but then allowed a decisive 13-3 run.
“This league is hard and this is one of the better teams in the country,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said afterward. “We have enough that we have to try and get better at that’ll help us going forward. Right now, it’s all about Rutgers and getting ready for that.”
AJ Storr, who has scored in double figures in 24 straight games, averages a team-best 16.1 points per game. Tyler Wahl averages 11.8, followed by Steven Crowl with 10.9 points and a team-high 7.6 boards.
Rutgers has lost four of its last five. The Scarlet Knights need to win one of their final two games to ensure a fifth straight winning regular season.
Against Nebraska, Rutgers shot just 32.8 percent, including 4 of 25 from deep.
“In the beginning of that game, they were really the aggressors,” Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said after the game. “Every way, they got down first for loose balls, they got second shots chances. That was really how they scored in the first (few minutes).”
Jeremiah Williams leads with 13.0 points per game and Clifford Omoruyi adds 10.8 points and 8.6 rebounds.
In the first meeting this season against Wisconsin, Omoruyi had 13 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks, and Williams added 18 points. Rutgers hit 10 of 17 3-pointers, while the Badgers shot just 32.8 percent and were 5 of 21 beyond the arc.
Rutgers has won three of the last four meetings with Wisconsin.
–Field Level Media
