Bucky's 5th Quarter - Wisconsin wins Big Ten opener, 76-49, at NorthwesternWelcome to the unofficial online tavern of the Wisconsin Badgers. Please seat yourself.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47803/buckys-fave.png2014-01-02T21:34:13-06:00http://www.buckys5thquarter.com/rss/stream/50320812014-01-02T21:34:13-06:002014-01-02T21:34:13-06:00Badgers blow out Wildcats in Big Ten opener
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<figcaption>David Banks-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Wisconsin forged a huge first-half lead Thursday night and cruised to an easy 76-49 win, handing Northwestern head coach Chris Collins a rude welcome in his first league game.</p> <p>Wisconsin looked every bit like the No. 4 team in the country Thursday night, dominating Northwestern from start to finish, 76-49, to win its 11th straight Big Ten opener.</p>
<p>Leading the way was forward Nigel Hayes. The freshman continued his recent stellar play, setting new career highs with 19 points and six rebounds. He showed off a versatile offensive game, scoring 13 points in the first half off drives, jumpers and brute force for the Badgers (14-0, 1-0 Big Ten). Wisconsin jumped out to 26-point lead at the break, 40-14, and the rout <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/JimPolzinWSJ/status/418905623346962432" style="background-color: #ffffff;">was on</a>.</p>
<p>Northwestern had no answer for Hayes' bullish post game all night. Wildcat forward <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/100734/nikola-cerina" class="sbn-auto-link">Nikola Cerina</a> crumpled to the floor just trying to keep Hayes boxed out on a rebound opportunity early in the second half. Hayes finished 8-of-12 from the field and added two steals.</p>
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<strong>More</strong>: <a href="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/assets/3800403/Gm14_WIS_NW.pdf" target="new">Box score</a> <a href="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/assets/3800415/Wisconsin_2013-14_Cumulative_20140102.pdf" target="new">Cumulative statistics</a>
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<p>The Wildcats (7-7, 0-1) had very few solutions for anything UW did. Northwestern slowed the game to a crawl early on with a deliberate offense, as both teams missed a few wide open jumpers. As Wisconsin began to heat up, however, the Wildcats continued to sputter. The Badger defense held Northwestern to 26 percent (6-of-23) shooting in the first half, while UW shot 59 percent (16-of-27).</p>
<p>Though Wisconsin was not on fire from three-point land (only 5-for-16), the Badgers moved the ball exceptionally well and knifed through the Northwestern defense with ease. A telecast graphic showed UW had assisted one nine of its 10 baskets at one point in the second half. The team tallied 16 assists all told.</p>
<p>The shooting didn't cool off much in the second half either: UW shot 55 percent for the game.</p>
<p>Wisconsin simply had better basketball players -- and better athletes. In a bit of role reversal that is becoming more commonplace for Wisconsin this year, the Badgers loosened up once they were able to force a few turnovers and run the floor a bit. Although the box score only credits UW with six fast break points, it scored 15 points off seven Wildcat turnovers.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Badgers took excellent care of the ball themselves. After committing only four turnovers Thursday, UW has turned the ball over just six times in the last 80 minutes of play.</p>
<p>In addition to Hayes, the entire bench was a strong point for Wisconsin. In fact, the reserves actually outscored the starters in the first half. When the smoke cleared , the visiting bench outscored the home team's bench 32-4. Junior Duje Dukan added seven points in 10 solid minutes for UW.</p>
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<p>Sometimes finding negatives in a game like this are tougher, but it was surprisingly obvious what Bo Ryan will emphasize to his group after this one. Sophomore big man <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/175083/alex-olah" class="sbn-auto-link">Alex Olah</a> was the lone bright spot for Northwestern in the opener as he put up a career-high 23 points himself. The 7-foot, 265-pound center was no match for the craftiness of Hayes and <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/146510/frank-kaminsky" class="sbn-auto-link">Frank Kaminsky</a> on defense, but he showed a nice touch for a man of his size on offense.</p>
<p>Kaminsky played decently but was bullied a few times by the bigger Olah. That scenario will be one to monitor as Wisconsin continues to face bigger and better teams in the Big Ten.</p>
<p>Ryan wasn't too pleased with some of the effort late on Olah, bringing both Hayes and Kaminsky to the bench in favor of Dukan at one point. After giving Olah way too much space on an easy basket, Dukan was replaced by <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/100689/zach-bohannon" class="sbn-auto-link">Zach Bohannon</a> at the next break.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/175145/sam-dekker" class="sbn-auto-link">Sam Dekker</a> was active again for Wisconsin, however. The sophomore swingman narrowly missed another double-double, complimenting Hayes with 15 points and eight rebounds of his own.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/146508/traevon-jackson" class="sbn-auto-link">Traevon Jackson</a> found a cutting Dekker for a dunk with one of his four assists to start the second half, as the Badgers basically traded buckets with the host Wildcats to maintain their lead.</p>
<p>Northwestern's Drew Crawford suffered through a rough shooting night (3-for-10) with <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/124682/josh-gasser" class="sbn-auto-link">Josh Gasser</a> marking him, but he began to hunt his shot more right away after halftime, giving the Wildcats at least some movement on offense. After another basket by Olah, Northwestern even popped into the famed 1-3-1 zone right away to try to shake things up.</p>
<p>It didn't work.</p>
<p>The Wisconsin lead ballooned to 31 points, at 51-20, on a Hayes jumper with 14:14 left to play. The most excitement Northwestern could muster was the mini burst that followed. Crawford blocked a Kaminsky dunk attempt, which was followed by a bad entry pass by Ben Brust. Then Crawford sank a 3-pointer to pull within 51-26 with 12:33 remaining.</p>
<p>But Brust made up for his turnover by calmly canning a 24-footer to extend the lead back to 28 points.</p>
<p>With the win, Wisconsin is one victory away from matching the best start in school history, which was set a century ago by the 1913-'14 squad.</p>
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https://www.buckys5thquarter.com/wisconsin-badgers-mens-basketball/2014/1/2/5267610/wisconsin-northwestern-recap-badgers-blow-out-wildcats-in-big-ten-openerPhil Mitten2014-01-02T18:52:38-06:002014-01-02T18:52:38-06:00Halftime: Wisconsin 40, Northwestern 14
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<p>Freshman Nigel Hayes can do no wrong 20 minutes into his first Big Ten game, pacing Wisconsin with 13 first-half points on 5-of-7 shooting. The Badgers have jumped out to a 26-point lead at the half, 40-14, over the home Wildcats.</p>
<p>Wisconsin is blistering hot from the floor as a team and pounding the glass as Northwestern struggles on offense. The Wildcats are shooting only 6-of-23 (26%) while UW has hit 16-of-27 (59%) overall.</p>
<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/175145/sam-dekker">Sam Dekker</a> and Hayes each have five of UW's 19 rebounds.</p>
https://www.buckys5thquarter.com/2014/1/2/5268114/halftime-wisconsin-40-northwestern-14Phil Mitten2014-01-02T17:45:01-06:002014-01-02T17:45:01-06:00GAME THREAD: No. 4 Wisconsin at Northwestern
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<figcaption>Graphic: Phil Mitten</figcaption>
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<p>Big Ten play begins Thursday night as Wisconsin travels to Evanston for a matchup with Northwestern. Can the Badgers remain undefeated?</p> <a class="twitter-timeline" href="https://twitter.com/B5Q" data-widget-id="418446119119515648">Tweets by @B5Q</a><script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");</script><h4>Links you might like:</h4>
<p><a href="http://www.buckys5thquarter.com/wisconsin-badgers-mens-basketball/2014/1/2/5265950/wisconsin-vs-northwestern-preview-b5q-grills-sippin-on-purple">Northwestern Q&A with Sippin' On Purple</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.buckys5thquarter.com/wisconsin-badgers-mens-basketball/2014/1/2/5265974/wisconsin-northwestern-preview-2014-basketball">3 keys to beating Northwestern</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.buckys5thquarter.com/wisconsin-badgers-mens-basketball/2014/1/1/5263486/unblemished-breaking-down-the-performance-of-the-remaining-unbeatens">Breaking down Wisconsin's unbeaten peers</a></p>
https://www.buckys5thquarter.com/2014/1/2/5265212/live-game-thread-no-4-wisconsin-badgers-at-northwestern-wildcatsMike Fiammetta2014-01-02T12:44:46-06:002014-01-02T12:44:46-06:00Northwestern Q&A: B5Q grills Sippin' On Purple
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<figcaption>David Banks-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The new year brings us an opportunity to chat with our Big Ten blogging brethren to preview tonight's conference opener with Northwestern in Evanston, Ill. Tip off is set for 6 p.m. CT with coverage on ESPN2.</p> <p>Happy New Year everyone! Welcome back to cheering for the best Wisconsin team on campus: the Badger men's basketball team.</p>
<p>Wisconsin (13-0) has won 10 straight Big Ten openers and will shoot for its 11th in a row on the road tonight at Northwestern. The Wildcats (7-6) have returned many players from last year's injury-decimated roster, but have struggled to get going under new coach Chris Collins this season. Northwestern has fallen in all four meetings with Top 100 opponents so far.</p>
<p>The Badgers have historically torn up Northwestern's 1-3-1 zone (and most zone defenses for that matter), so one thing the Wildcats do appear to have going in their favor is less reliance on a zone, as <b>Rodger Sherman</b> of <a style="background-color: #ffffff;" href="http://www.sippinonpurple.com/" target="_blank">Sippin' On Purple</a> explains below. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/145864/tre-demps">Tre Demps</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/124077/jershon-cobb">JerShon Cobb</a> also give the Wildcats a couple of decent guards off the bench.</p>
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<strong>More</strong>: <a target="new" href="http://www.buckys5thquarter.com/wisconsin-badgers-mens-basketball/2014/1/2/5265974/wisconsin-northwestern-preview-2014-basketball">3 keys to beating Northwestern</a>
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<p><strong>B5Q</strong>: So, Friday's home loss to DePaul ... not a fun way to lose to a crosstown opponent I imagine. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/145863/dave-sobolewski">Dave Sobolewski</a> nails a go-ahead 3-pointer, but then gets pretty much abused by Billy Garrett Jr. down low, who got open for a wild, buzzer-beating lay-in. Is that considered a rivalry on any level? Is Illinois simply the alpha and omega of Northwestern hoop rivals?</p>
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<p><strong>Sippin' On Purple</strong>: Ehh, it's not a rivalry, probably, but it is really disappointing. Basically, Northwestern and DePaul used to play somewhat annually, and NU generally got beaten because we're Northwestern and they had decent players from time to time (Quentin Richardson, Wilson Chandler, etc.). Then, my freshman year, Northwestern destroyed them by nearly 30, and all of a sudden, DePaul wasn't particularly interested in playing Northwestern ... and then DePaul had the worst four- or five-season stretch of any team in a major conference, while NU had arguably the best four- or five-season stretch in school history. Then they restarted the series again this year, and we lost. We missed out on crappy DePaul. Hopefully the teams keep playing every year, because, come on: major conference opponents on the same train line. But I don't foresee animosity. For what it's worth, I used to go to a bar near DePaul almost every Friday for a good open bar deal and was not the only Wildcat to do so, so I have plenty of fondness in my heart.</p>
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<p><strong>B5Q</strong>: Looking at the statistics, the Wildcats are much improved on defense but pretty rotten on offense. How much of that is based on this year's personnel and how much is a new style Northwestern wants under rookie head coach Chris Collins?</p>
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<p><strong>SOP</strong>: Pretty heavy dose of BOTH here. Northwestern's roster is kinda somewhat devoid of talent, because it's the same players that used to play for Bill Carmody. But Carmody used to use rarely seen techniques -- very slow, methodical play in the Princeton offense, the 1-3-1 defense -- that helped NU stay close despite talent disparities if teams didn't study up.</p>
<p>Collins is coaching for the future, and the five-man class he has coming next year is the best in school history. But tactically, he plays very boring offense and mainly man defense. And with this group of guys, that's gonna get torn up a bunch.</p>
<p>As for the defensive improvement: it's been surprising and nice and although Kenpom makes it seem HUGE, I don't see it holding up at its current level throughout Big Ten play. I would pin a lot of it on two wings, JerShon Cobb and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/175087/sanjay-lumpkin">Sanjay Lumpkin</a>, that the Wildcats didn't have last year.</p>
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<p><strong>B5Q</strong>: Senior Drew Crawford has already missed time with back spasms this year after redshirting last year due to season-ending shoulder surgery. Is Crawford playing at the same level as he was before the shoulder injury? Do you worry about nagging injuries with Crawford because of the way he plays?</p>
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<p><strong>SOP</strong>: Not the way he plays, but he has been dealing with dings and bruises all through the last two seasons, and it's really disappointing. Kid is a really, really talented offensive player -- he could've been a contributor on any team in the Big Ten, not just Northwestern -- and for the past two seasons, he's been asked to shoulder nearly the entire load of Northwestern's offense. Unfortunately, his body hasn't always been there, and even when it has, it's clear that NU doesn't have anybody else to help out, so he's putting in monstrous work with little reward in the win-loss column. 16.4 points and 7.5 boards this year. Northwestern fans will permanently respect him for coming back to NU this season for his fifth year after last year's redshirt, even though NU's roster clearly wasn't going to be much and he had offers from schools like Mizzou and Marquette. Kid's a warrior and hopefully gets paid money to play someplace next year.</p>
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<p><strong>B5Q</strong>: I'm a little curious about Sobolewski. He was a high school teammate of <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/146510/frank-kaminsky">Frank Kaminsky</a>, so from following Frank, I had heard a lot of good things about Sobo coming in. I totally expected him to be one of those annoying characters that sneaks up on you and kills a couple Big Ten teams every year. But I haven't seen it yet and his shooting numbers keep getting worse. Is he truly regressing or is he bringing valuable intangibles to the table?</p>
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<p><strong>SOP</strong>: His plummet into the earth's crust and significantly below has been impressive. Sobo at his peak always had his flaws -- he's shrimpy and ineffective defensively, and every one of his forays into the paint would end with him getting blocked and landing on his face or perhaps, if he's lucky and the refs were generous, drawing a foul. But he hit shots and was the LEADERSHIP POINT GUARD in Carmody's Princeton offense -- a set that didn't really require a spectacular point guard, but hey.</p>
<p>Even those things have vanished. Before a shot in the waning seconds last Friday, Sobolewski had gone 1-for-31 from three. That's hilariously bad. And his turnovers have jumped to the point where he's nearly giving the ball up as often as he's creating buckets -- 3.4 assists per game, 2.6 turnovers.</p>
<p>So we're left with an undersized, poor shooting point guard who gives up a ton defensively and is prone to turnovers. Right now his No. 1 basketball skill is flopping. But NU doesn't really have another capable guard guard. The other option would be playing walk-on wing <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/148000/james-montgomery-iii">James Montgomery III</a>, who has started to see some minutes over Sobo -- he actually got a scholarship before the year in a viral video, but, the point remains the same: NU genuinely has no other option, but still might be better off playing somebody else.</p>
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<p><strong>B5Q</strong>: Beyond Crawford and Sobolewski, the Wildcats are young. Which, if any, of the youngsters give you the most hope about the direction of the program?</p>
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<p><strong>SOP</strong>: I really like Lumpkin -- LUMPKIN -- but the talent is in Collins' first recruiting class. Vic Law was a legitimate four-star get from the Chicago area, and the surrounding parts are supposedly not bad either.</p>
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<p><strong>B5Q</strong>: Is there any matchup you see that the Wildcasts can take advantage of to stay competitive at home against the Badgers?</p>
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<p><strong>SOP</strong>: No.</p>
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<p><strong>B5Q</strong>: What's your prediction for how the Wildcats will fare overall in the Big Ten this season? Do you have a pick for league champion?</p>
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<p><strong>SOP</strong>: Kenpom seems to indicate the Wildcats are significantly worse than all 11 teams they'll have to play against, but they'll have five games against the only-a-lot-better-but-not-millions-of-times-better trio of Purdue, Nebraska, and Penn State. But it's gonna be brutal. Crawford is the only player right now who would demand minutes on an average Big Ten team, with a few others -- Cobb, center <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/175083/alex-olah">Alex Olah</a>, maybe Sanjay Lumpkin -- capable of contributing spot minutes or something. There's no way to piece together 40 minutes of something resembling a Big Ten basketball team. But I think it's hard to go 0-18, so I think the Wildcats will grab a win or two.</p>
<p>I waver back and forth between you guys and Ohio State, but right now I'm siding with death, taxes, and Bo Ryan. I'm just generally hype as hell for this conference, because there's so much murder going on.</p>
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<p>That's one way to put it. Leave it to a Northwestern Wildcat to bring some street cred to our Q&A. Thanks again to Rodger, the site manager over at Sippin' On Purple for helping us out today. You can find him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/rodger_sherman" target="_blank">@rodger_sherman</a> as well.</p>
<h4>Projected Starting Lineups</h4>
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<td style="color: #ffffff; background-color:#C41E3A;"><b>Wisconsin</b></td>
<td style="background-color:#ffe4e1;"><b>Pos.</b></td>
<td style="color: white; background-color:purple;"><b>Northwestern</b></td>
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<td>Frank Kaminsky, Jr.</td>
<td style="background-color:#ffe4e1;">F/C</td>
<td>Alex Olah, So.</td>
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<td>
<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/175145/sam-dekker">Sam Dekker</a>, So.</td>
<td style="background-color:#ffe4e1;">F</td>
<td>Sanjay Lumpkin, Fr.</td>
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<tr>
<td>
<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/124682/josh-gasser">Josh Gasser</a>, Jr.</td>
<td style="background-color:#ffe4e1;">G/F</td>
<td>Drew Crawford, Sr.</td>
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<td>
<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/124680/ben-brust">Ben Brust</a>, Sr.</td>
<td style="background-color:#ffe4e1;">G</td>
<td>James Montgomery, Sr.</td>
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<tr>
<td>
<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/146508/traevon-jackson">Traevon Jackson</a>, Jr.</td>
<td style="background-color:#ffe4e1;">G</td>
<td>Dave Sobolewski, Jr.</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.kenpom.com">KenPom</a> win probability: 81% (63-56 W)</b><i> 60 possessions</i></p>
<p>---</p>
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https://www.buckys5thquarter.com/wisconsin-badgers-mens-basketball/2014/1/2/5265950/wisconsin-vs-northwestern-preview-b5q-grills-sippin-on-purplePhil Mitten2014-01-02T10:27:15-06:002014-01-02T10:27:15-06:003 keys to beating Northwestern
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<figcaption>Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The 2014 calendar year didn't start out so well with the Badgers' loss to South Carolina in the Capital One Bowl. Let's hope Sam Dekker and his basketball mates help all of us get over that loss Thursday night.</p> <p>The <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/wisconsin-badgers" class="sbn-auto-link">Wisconsin Badgers</a> boast an unblemished 13-0 record and the No. 4 ranking in America. That's not a bad way to start the New Year, and more importantly, Big Ten play.</p>
<p>The Badgers kick off conference action Thursday evening against a 7-6 Northwestern team that struggled mightily against the best competition on its non-conference schedule.</p>
<p>When these two teams met last year, Wisconsin <a href="http://www.buckys5thquarter.com/wisconsin-badgers-mens-basketball/2013/2/20/4011814/wisconsin-northwestern-final-score-recap-result-jared-berggren-sam-dekker" target="_blank">routed the Wildcats by 28 points</a> in Evanston, and by all indications, a similar whooping could be in store Thursday.</p>
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<h2>Game Info</h2>
<span><b>Who:</b> Wisconsin vs. Northwestern<br><b>When:</b> Jan. 2, 6 p.m. CT<br><b>Where:</b> Welsh-Ryan Arena, Evanston, Ill.<br><b>TV:</b> ESPN2<br><b>Radio:</b> Badger Sports Network<br><b>Betting line:</b> Wisconsin -10 1/2</span>
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<p>It'll be important for the Badgers to get off to a solid start in their first Big Ten game, especially considering the rust many players showed coming out of Christmas break last Saturday <a href="http://www.buckys5thquarter.com/wisconsin-badgers-mens-basketball/2013/12/28/5251620/wisconsin-prairie-view-am-recap-result-final-score" target="_blank">against Prairie View A&M</a>.</p>
<p>Wisconsin shot just 33.3 percent (9-of-27) from its bread-and-butter three-point range against the Panthers, and converting from deep won't be a cakewalk against Northwestern. The Wildcats actually sport a solid three-point shooting percentage defense so far this season, limiting opponents to just 30.1 percent from long-range on the season.</p>
<p>Before we break things down too much further, let's jump right into our three keys to a Wisconsin victory over Northwestern as the Badgers look to start things off right in 2014.</p>
<h4>Let <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/145863/dave-sobolewski" class="sbn-auto-link">Dave Sobolewski</a> shoot</h4>
<p><b></b>The Wildcats' point guard is having an atrocious season offensively, and he has been trending from bad to horrible over the past month of the season. Since scoring 25 points in a win over UIC Nov. 20, Sobolewski is shooting 17.6 percent (12-of-68) from the field over Northwestern's last nine games.</p>
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<p>Wisconsin is so solid defensively that Bo Ryan probably won't change the Badgers' system one iota against a struggling Wildcats squad, but if he so chooses, Ryan could sag off Sobolewski in order to shift additional defensive help toward talented wing scorers <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/99910/drew-crawford">Drew Crawford</a> and <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/124077/jershon-cobb" class="sbn-auto-link">JerShon Cobb</a> to limit their production.</p>
<p>If Crawford and Cobb aren't able to score, then Wisconsin rolls to an easy blowout win to open Big Ten competition.</p>
<h4>Feed <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/146510/frank-kaminsky" class="sbn-auto-link">Frank Kaminsky</a> early and often</h4>
<p><b></b>Kaminsky has arguably been the biggest surprise in college basketball this season, and he's been nothing short of brilliant so far. I continue to think that this Wisconsin team will go as far as "The Tank" takes them because he is the Badgers' most indispensible player.</p>
<p>It has been a few weeks since Kaminsky and the Badgers faced some legitimate competition, so I'd like to see Wisconsin try to establish its big man early so that he stays in rhythm during the early portion of Big Ten play. We saw the Badgers really fall in love with the three-ball during stretches of conference play last year, and I'd like stay way from the "live by the three, die by the three" mantra until it's absolutely necessary,</p>
<p>Establishing Kaminsky against Northwestern will also bode well for the Badgers as we look ahead to their weekend matchup with Iowa. The Hawkeyes have a ton of length, especially on their front line, and Kaminsky will be challenged. Let's see him have a big night against the Wildcats and hope that he carries that over to Sunday's contest against an Iowa team that gave Wisconsin fits a season ago.</p>
<h4>Get off the bus</h4>
<p><b></b>No, but seriously... if the Badgers just show up tonight, they're going to win handily. I expect Wisconsin to be clicking like a well-oiled machine this evening, as the Badgers always seem to start the conference season with a renewed sense of purpose.</p>
<p>The only thing that gives me the slightest pause is knowing the Badgers will have to find their own source of motivation as they won't be getting assistance from the home crowd. Things might start a little slow, but I expect them to find a rhythm mid-way through the first half and waltz to an easy win.</p>
<p><b>Prediction: </b>Wisconsin 74, Northwestern 57</p>
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https://www.buckys5thquarter.com/wisconsin-badgers-mens-basketball/2014/1/2/5265974/wisconsin-northwestern-preview-2014-basketballJackson Dahlquist