Wisconsin at Ohio State: how to watch and open thread

The Wisconsin Badgers (8-5 overall, 1-1 B1G) are riding a three-game winning streak heading into their road test against the No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes (11-2 overall, 1-1 B1G) on Friday evening. The Badgers lost to Rutgers back on Dec. 11 to fall to .500 on the season, but since then they’ve dominated Milwaukee and Rider at home and won their first road game of the season by walloping Tennessee in Knoxville.

The Buckeyes, on the other hand, have had a great start to their season. They already have wins over Kentucky, UNC, Villanova, Cincinnati and Penn State, but recently have gone 2-2 with losses at Minnesota and against West Virginia at a neutral site.

This will be a tough match up for the Badgers, especially Nate Reuvers who will be in charge of handling Kaleb Wesson down low. Wesson is currently ranked No. 4 in KenPom’s player of the year list and he also draws 7.1 fouls per 40 minutes. With both Reuvers and Micah Potter being a bit foul prone recently, this is an area of concern for Wisconsin.

How to watch/listen

TV: FS1, 6:00 p.m., CT, Tim Brando, Donny Marshall

Streaming: FOX Sports app

Radio/Satellite: 1310 AM, Sirius 83, XM 83; Matt Lepay, Mike Lucas

Live stats: Here!

Arena: Value City Arena, Columbus, Ohio

Line: Wisconsin +8.5

KenPom Wisconsin win percentage: 19%

Fun facts (according to the media guides)

• The Badgers have won four of the last six meetings with the Buckeyes, including a pair of victories in Columbus (most recent last season). Over the last 25 meetings, Wisconsin has a 13-12 advantage.
• Ohio State leads the all-time series, though, with Wisconsin 88-71. The Buckeyes are 54-24 in Columbus and 30-46 in Madison.
• Wisconsin has two Ohio natives on its roster: D’Mitrik Trice (Huber Heights) and Micah Po‚tter (Mentor). Po‚tter played at OSU two seasons before transferring to Wisconsin in Dec. of 2018. Potter’s brother plays for the Ohio State football team.
• Potter played a season-high 19 minutes in Wisconsin’s last game (win vs. Rider), recording a career high three blocks, a team-high seven rebounds and four points.
• Ohio State has won its last three home games by 32 or more points with wins over Morgan State (90-57, +33), Penn State (106-74, +32) and Southeast Missouri State (80-48, +32).
• Ohio State is 61-18 all-time when games are sold out at Value City Arena, which Friday’s game happens to be.
• Since taking over as head coach in Dec. of 2015, Greg Gard has led the Badgers to 13 wins, six on the road, over teams ranked in the AP Top 25.
• Kaleb Wesson has 990 career points (and 501 career rebounds) and should become the 29th Buckeye to be in the 1,000 point and 500 rebound club in the game on Friday night.

Probable starters

Wisconsin

• D’Mitrik Trice, redshirt junior, guard, No. 0
• Aleem Ford, redshirt junior, forward, No. 2
• Kobe King, redshirt sophomore, guard, No. 23
• Brad Davison, junior, guard, No. 34
• Nate Reuvers, junior, forward, No. 35

Ohio State

• Luther Muhammad, sophomore, guard, No. 1
• CJ Walker, junior, guard, No. 13
• Andre Wesson, senior, forward, No. 24
• E.J. Liddell, freshman, forward, No. 32
• Kaleb Wesson, junior, forward, No. 34

The Buckeyes will be missing one starter for this game, so I’m just guessing that Liddell will take the open spot in the starting five.