The Wisconsin Badgers return to the Kohl Center to take on the Central Michigan Chippewas. Kickoff is at 7:00 pm on the Big Ten Network and the Badgers are 30.5-point favorites.
The Badgers suffered a tough loss last Friday in Milwaukee, falling to the Villanova Wildcats 76-66 in overtime. Wisconsin found itself trailing by 15 in the second half before mounting a comeback to tie the game in the final minute. Unfortunately, the Wildcats outscored the Badgers 20-10 in the extra period. Of the Badgers’ losses so far, this one hurts the most.
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What should Badger fans know about the Central Michigan Chippewas?
Opponent preview
The Chippewas are 4-8 in their first season under longtime Ferris State head coach Andy Bronkema and bring in an entirely new 15-man roster. Like Wisconsin, Central Michigan is also coming off a painful loss. The Chippewas held a 20-point second-half lead at Northern Illinois on Saturday before falling 74-73 at the buzzer.
Central Michigan leads the Mid-American Conference with 4.33 blocked shots per game and allows 77.1 points per game. However, the Chippewas ranked 11th out of 13 MAC teams with 73.4 points per game.
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Seven-foot center Nathan Claerbaut leads Central Michigan with 13.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. The Ferris State transfer had his best game on Dec. 17 against Division II Olivet, where he scored 31 points and had 12 rebounds. It was Claerbaut’s third double-double of the season.
The Chippewas will start two guards who can run the point. Wayne State transfer guard Tamario Adley leads Central Michigan with 1.4 steals per game and averages 10 points, while Michigan transfer Phat Phat Brooks leads the Chippewas with 3.7 assists per game. At third guard is Jaxson Whitaker, whose 35 percent three-point shooting percentage is the best on the team.
At second forward is Nick Mullen, who averages 8.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. He ranks second on the team behind Claerbaut with 1.3 blocks per game.
Score prediction
This Badgers team needs to get back on track, and a MAC team with a losing history might be what the doctor ordered. After last Friday’s loss we saw how frustrated Greg Gard’s team was with how the season had played out recently.
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I have a strong feeling we’ll see an angry Badgers team return to the Kohl Center and dominate a team that ranks 277th in KenPom offensive efficiency and 343rd in defensive efficiency.
Prediction: Wisconsin 93-69.