College Basketball Game of the Week: No. 16 Ohio State vs. No. 13 Wisconsin
As the Big Ten gets into its conference schedule fans are rewarded with a Top-25 matchup between No. 16 Ohio State and No. 13 Wisconsin.
In their first contest in Columbus, Ohio State stomped Wisconsin behind 28 points from E.J. Liddell. The Buckeyes were able to shoot well from the field and defeated the Badgers by a score of 73-55.
This second meeting will take place in Madison which means Wisconsin will have the home-court advantage this time around. Both teams sit at 4-1 in conference play and are currently tied for third in the Big Ten.
The Buckeyes were able to bounce back against Northwestern after a disappointing loss to Indiana that bumped them down from No. 13 to No. 16 in the rankings. E.J. Liddell dropped a career-high 34 points in the win.
Ohio State will look to build its momentum from this win and capture a conference win on the road. Wisconsin is coming off a week in which they defeated three Big Ten teams including Purdue who is a Top 10 team.
They knocked off Iowa and Maryland after upsetting Purdue and claimed the No. 13 spot in the AP rankings. Johnny Davis has been the catalyst for the Badgers this season and proved himself in the past few games.
Wisconsin has been on fire this season as in their last 12 games, they went 11-1. That singular loss was none other than the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The Badgers will need to lock up the boards if they want to pull out this victory. In the last matchup, Ohio State outrebounded Wisconsin by grabbing 49 rebounds compared to the Badgers 28.
Ohio State will look to tighten up their defense and limit their turnovers. They accumulated 14 turnovers in their last game against the Badgers and only forced Wisconsin to commit 8.
The key for both teams in this game will be to get their star players going. The Badgers and Buckeyes will rely on Johnny Davis and E.J. Liddell, respectively, to carry their teams.
Johnny Davis leads the Badgers in pretty much every statistical category. He leads the team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals averaging 22.3, 7.4, 2.6 and 1.4, respectively.
E.J. Liddell, much like Davis, leads the team in points, rebounds, and blocks averaging 20.1, 7.2 and 3.1, respectively.
In the first matchup, Johnny Davis posted 24 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals, while E.J. Liddell dropped 28 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks.
The most important thing for each side is to get their guys going while also getting contributions from their benches. The team that can accomplish this task will win this game.
This game has high conference and Top 25 implications and will have fans on the edge of their seat throughout all 40 minutes of action.
Thomas English is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email tfe5082@psu.edu.
