Wisconsin at Minnesota: how to watch, game preview and open thread

The Wisconsin Badgers (13-9 overall, 6-5 B1G) traveled north and west to the Twin Cities on Tuesday evening to get prepared for Wednesday night’s Border Battle with the Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-10 overall, 5-6 B1G) at The Barn.

Minnesota is tough to beat at home, having only lost to Michigan State and DePaul at Williams Arena, but they are riding a two-game losing streak. The Gophers feature a B1G Player of the Year candidate in sophomore center Daniel Oturu who is averaging 19.7 points per game and 11.1 rebounds per game. Nate Reuvers and Micah Potter are going to have their hands full.

The Badgers are riding high after a short-handed squad beat then No. 14 Michigan State by one point at the Kohl Center on Saturday. Wisconsin will be back at full strength for this game, however, since Brad Davison has served his one-game suspension. The Minnesota native tends to play well against the Gophers and, from a rotational standpoint at the least, he’ll be welcomed back.

I will be covering the game live from The Barn and will be posting updates on Twitter and Instagram throughout the game. A win at Minnesota would give the Badgers a little wiggle room during the rest of the conference slate, but the Gophers need this win to boost their postseason resume too. Should be another good one.

How to watch/listen

TV: BTN, 8 p.m., CT, Cory Provus, Stephen Bardo

Streaming: FOX Sports Go

Radio/Satellite: 1310 AM, Sirius/XM 386; Matt Lepay, Mike Lucas

Live stats: Here!

Arena: Williams Arena aka “The Barn”, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Line: Wisconsin +3.5

KenPom Wisconsin win percentage: 40%

Fun facts (according to the media guides)

• Only Kansas, Butler and Seton Hall have more Quad 1 wins than the Badgers (six) do this year. UW has played 13 Quad 1 games this season, the most of any in team in the country.
• With one more B1G win, Greg Gard will move into a tie for third place in school history with 52 conference wins.
• Wisconsin and Minnesota will be playing for the 205th time on Wednesday, making the Gophers the most-played opponent in UW history.
• Minnesota leads the all-time series, 103-101, including a 69-35 edge in Minneapolis. The Gophers media guide has the all-time series at 97-97, and 63-36 in Minneapolis, due to 10 games (in which the Gophers had a 6-4 advantage) being vacated from 1994-1999 thanks to Clem Haskins.
• Interestingly, the football series between Wisconsin and Minnesota is even closer, with the Badgers holding a slim 61-60-8 all-time lead.
• Recently, the Badgers have dominated both the basketball and football rivalries with Minnesota. In basketball, UW has won nine of the last 10 meetings with the Gophers. In football, Wisconsin has won 14 of the last 15 over Minnesota.
• The Badgers have won four straight games at The Barn.
• During Wisconsin’s four-game win streak at Williams Arena, the Gophers are averaging 59.8 ppg and shooting 39.6% and 30.2% on 3FGs.
• In three contests vs. the Gophers, Maple Grove (Minn.) High School grad Brad Davison has averaged 11.0 ppg, shooting 42.9% from 3-point range (6-14). That includes a 19-point effort (5-8 3FGs) in UW’s 2018 win.

• Wisconsin’s roster features five players from Minnesota: Brad Davison (Osseo), Walt McGrory (Minneapolis), Nathan Reuvers (Lakeville), Joe Hedstrom (Hopkins) and Tyler Wahl (Lakeville). The Gophers also have five Minnesota natives on their roster.
• Minnesota has been a very fertile recruiting area for the Badgers recently. Since 2007, UW has featured standouts Jon Leuer, Jordan Taylor, Jared Berggren, Kammron Taylor and Mike Bruesewitz.
• The Badgers have also signed a pair of Minnesota natives for the Class of 2020: Ben Carlson (Woodbury) and Steven Crowl (Eagan).
• Sophomore center Daniel Oturu, who earned his second Big Ten Player of the Week award on Jan. 13 and was named to the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 List is having a crazy good season. Oturu, who has started every game, has scored in double figures in all but one and has 11 games of 20 or more points.

Probable starters

Wisconsin

• D’Mitrik Trice, redshirt junior, guard, No. 0
• Aleem Ford, redshirt junior, forward, No. 2
• Tyler Wahl, freshman, forward, No. 5
• Brad Davison, junior, guard, No. 34
• Nate Reuvers, junior, forward, No. 35

Minnesota

• Tre’ Williams, freshman, guard, No. 1
• Marcus Carr, redshirt sophomore, guard, No. 5
• Gabe Kalscheur, sophomore, guard, No. 22
• Daniel Oturu, sophomore, center, No. 25
• Alihan Demir, senior, forward, No. 30