Big Ten Men's Basketball Penn State vs. No. 15/17 Wisconsin
	vs
12-15 (4-10 Big Ten)		19-7 (8-5 Big Ten)
Feb. 19, 2012 3:00 PM CT Kohl Center (14,759), Madison, Wis.
TV: Big Ten Network / CBS Radio: 1070 FM / 1310 AM (Matt Lepay, Mike Lucas)
All-time Series: Wisconsin leads 27-10 Last Meeting: Wisc. won 52-46 in University Park, Pa.

After a disappointing loss to Michigan State in East Lansing on Thursday night, the Badgers return to the Kohl Center to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions, and try to stay on track in the Big Ten season. The Badgers would do well not to overlook the Lions, who have given the Badgers tough games in the past despite their middling records. The Lions led the Badgers at the half when the two teams last played in January, thanks in large part to a poor shooting performance from the Badgers. We'll soon see if they can avoid long shooting droughts this time around, and keep working their way towards tournament season.

As always feel free to leave your questions, comments, and predictions in the gamethread below. If you do the Twitter thing, you can follow my live updates too: @JohnVeldhuis. Every game is important at this point in the season, and it should be another good one today from the Kohl Center.

Big Ten Men's Basketball No. 15/17 Wisconsin vs. No. 7/8 Michigan State
	vs
19-6 (8-4 Big Ten)		20-5 (9-3 Big Ten)
Feb. 16, 2012 6:00 PM CT Breslin Center (14,759), East Lansing, MI
TV: ESPN (Dave O'Brien, Stephen Bardo) Radio: 1070 FM / 1310 AM (Matt Lepay, Mike Lucas)
All-time Series: MSU leads 70-60 Last Meeting: MSU won 63-60 (1/3/12)

Payback and a championship. Wisconsin has a chance to gain one and extend hope for the other in a huge game that kicks off the final third of the Big Ten season.

The Badgers have lost six straight at Michigan State, but have been road warriors (5-1) this season in league play. Wisconsin will be hoping to get more production from the off guard position in this one, if only to avoid the monumental scoring lapses that the Badgers survived against Minnesota. If UW has any hopes of stealing a Big Ten title, their work starts in earnest tonight in East Lansing.

Michigan State's impressive 58-48 win over Ohio State has Tom Izzo's crew back in position for another title themselves. The Spartans are sporting a much improved offense this season and their return to voracious rebounding has fueled the third-best defense in the nation (allowing only 0.839 PPP).

Big Ten Men's Basketball No. 21/22 Wisconsin vs. Minnesota
	vs
18-6 (7-4 Big Ten)		17-7 (5-6 Big Ten)
Feb. 9, 2012 6:00 PM CT Williams Arena (14,625), Minneapolis, MN
TV: ESPN (Dave O'Brien, Stephen Bardo) Radio: 1070 FM / 1310 AM (Matt Lepay, Mike Lucas)
All-time Series: Minnesota leads 100-89 Last Meeting: UW won 68-60 (12/28/10)

The border battle between the Badgers and Gophers renews for the 190th time tonight. Minnesota leads the series in Minneapolis, 67-30.

Gopher fans can only wish that Minnesota native Jordan Taylor had stayed home, because Tubby Smith's team lacks a true point guard. What they do have is a bevy of young guards in the 6'1 to 6'4" range, like the Hollins brothers. Freshman Joe Coleman in particular has raised his level of play lately to bring some toughness to the backcourt. Both he and high-flying Rodney Williams have been the keys to Minnesota's remarkable turnaround. After starting 0-4 in conference, the Gophers have won five of seven.

Wisconsin is trying to avoid starting another losing streak and will have to shake off the rough shooting performance they produced against Ohio State. Taylor must also regain his recent form taking care of the ball. Ryan Evans is coming off his third-straight game in double figures and is now scoring 10 ppg in Big Ten play.

If you're not excited for this game, then I don't know what to tell you. It's a battle for first place in the Big Ten. Another chapter in one of Wisconsin's heated rivalries. The first major game between the two schools since the "Deal With It" incident, the Hail Mary redux, and Bret Bielema's spat with Urban Meyer. The Badgers will need to play their best game to knock off the Buckeyes for a second consecutive year, and can't afford to go cold for very long.

It should be a great one at the Kohl Center today, and I'll be there live to take it all in. Let's play nice, and follow site rules. If you want to follow me on Twitter, feel free to do so: (@JohnVeldhuis). And as always, if you have any comments, questions, or predictions, feel free to leave them below!

On paper, Penn State looks like an easy target for the Badgers tonight. Wisconsin is 4-2 on the road this year and the Nittany Lions come in as the worst shooting team in Big Ten play at 36.8%. But that doesn't make PSU any less hungry or making shots any less important for UW. With a home test looming against Ohio State, a distracted Wisconsin team will get chopped down just like the Illinois and Purude teams that have fallen at Penn State already this year.

Ultra-quick Tim Frazier is the engine for the Nitts and his name is all over the current Big Ten leaderboard. The junior point guard is second in league scoring (19.0), first in assists (5.1) and third in steals (2.2) per game. Both Frazier and Cammeron Woodyard are excellent free throw shooters should this one get a little tight down the stretch, and Penn State is also a surprisingly good rebounding team. Of course, the team has gotten a lot of practice because of its awful shooting ...

Badger guard Ben Brust is a game-time decision for tonight's game due to an illness.

We're live from the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Bucky's 5th Quarter hockey editor Chuck Schwartz here ready for game two of a WCHA series between your Wisconsin Badgers and North Dakota.

Last night North Dakota beat Wisconsin 5-3 behind a late goal by Stephane Pattyn.

As always, feel free to leave your comments, questions and predictions below!

FINAL SCORE--NORTH DAKOTA 4, WISCONSIN 2

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We're live from the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Bucky's 5th Quarter hockey editor Chuck Schwartz here ready for the WCHA battle between your Wisconsin Badgers and North Dakota.

Wisconsin swept Alaska Anchorage last weekend at the Kohl Center. North Dakota split with St. Cloud at the National Hockey Center their last time out.

As always, feel free to leave your comments, questions and predictions below!

UPDATE: FINAL SCORE, NORTH DAKOTA 4, WISCONSIN 3

So there's a pretty big game tonight. The Badgers are looking to re-establish their usual home court advantage against the Hoosiers, who got themselves back on track win a win against Penn State. The Badgers are also trying to extend their winning streak over Indiana to nine games, which would be the longest streak in series history for the Badgers.

The game should be a good barometer for the Badgers, who are still in place to contend for a Big Ten title despite their three conference losses. After losing two conference games at home already this season, Wisconsin cannot afford to drop another big game in the arena where they are usually so dominant. It should be a good one.

Feel free to leave your questions, comments, and predictions below, and remember to abide by site rules! If you're on Twitter, feel free to follow my updates from the Kohl Center: @JohnVeldhuis.