Big Ten Match-Up: Wisconsin Badgers @ Purdue Boilermakers

Two of the 4 Big Ten ranked teams will go head to head Thursday night in a game that is critical to each teams chance of retaining a high seed in the Conference tournament. The 16th ranked Wisconsin Badgers go to Purdue to take on the 12 ranked Boilermakers. Both of these squads are on a 2 game winning streak following tough road losses to Big Ten opponents.

The Boilermakers have an impressive resume’ that includes wins over Tennessee, Wake Forest, Alabama, W. Virginia, Minnesota and a feisty Michigan team. Their first loss of the season was to Wisconsin back on January 9th. That loss snowballed into a 3 game skid that concluded with an embarrassing loss to the Northwestern Wildcats as 7.5 point favorites.

Now Purdue finds themselves in a 2 way tie for 4th place in the Big Ten Conference with Ohio St despite being the 12 ranked team in the country. Trying to redeem their loss to Wisky earlier this year will not be easy, but their front-court combination of Robbie Hummel and JaJuan Johnson may be the keys to victory Thursday. E’Twaun Moore can hold his own against any point guard in the conference, but they will need to be strong on the glass in order to take down the Badgers.

Wisconsin also played a solid out-of-conference schedule early in the year. Winning at home against Duke and Marquette are nice feathers to have in your cap come selection Sunday, but a home loss to Gonzaga may hurt their cause. A split against Ohio St is nothing to be ashamed of, but if they want a chance at a Big Ten regular season title, they will need to beat the Michigan St. Spartans on Saturday and hope the Spartans lose another along the way.

The Badgers are led offensively by Trevon Hughes at guard. He has contributed 16.4 points, over 5 boards and almost 3 assists per game this season. Jon Leuer and Jason Bohannon add another 26 points and 10 rebounds to the equation for Wisky. The Badgers don’t have a true center in the starting rotation, and may find it difficult to get second chance points against Purdue’s big-men.

Expect a highly contested match-up as both of these teams fight for position in the NCAA tournament.

Related posts:

1. Big Ten Top-25 Battle: Purdue vs. Wisconsin
2. Big-10 Basketball: #5 Michigan St Spartans v. #16 Wisconsin Badgers
3. Big Ten Battle: Wisconsin hosts Michigan St
4. Round 2 Big Ten Heavyweights: Buckeyes v. Badgers
5. Illinois and Ohio St meet in Big Ten Semi-Finals

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