After a two-game break to open conference play the Wisconsin men’s basketball team (1-1 Big Ten, 4-5 overall) will return to its non-conference schedule Wednesday as it head to Philadelphia, Penn., to take on the Temple Owls (4-2).
After dropping four of five games to limp into Big Ten play, the Badgers nearly had the life drained out of them as they were run off the Kohl Center floor by Ohio State and nearly blew a 17-point lead at Penn State.
Desperate for answers, UW now hosts a Temple team that already has four solid wins under its belt, having taken down Old Dominion, Auburn, Clemson and South Carolina to open the season.
Led by the sharpshooting quartet of Quinton Rose, Shizz Alston, Obi Enechionyia and Josh Brown — who have collectively made 44.3 percent of their 97 three-point attempts — the Owls can score from anywhere on the court.
Rose, who leads the team with 19 points per game, could cause major problems for the Badgers. At 6-foot-8, he can bang down low, where he’s made 58.8 percent of his two-point shots, but is also a dangerous outside shooter. That level of versatility will make any potential switches a risk, and make mismatches more pronounced.
Redshirt sophomore forward Ethan Happ should find room on the inside, as the Owls have struggled to contest shots at the rim. They will likely be forced to collapse on him, leaving perimeter players like freshman guard Brad Davison and sophomore guard D’Mitrik Trice open for spot-up threes.
After a spectacular start to the season, Davison put up a dud against Penn State, failing to score on his four field goal attempts. He turned the ball over twice before fouling out, though he did record two steals for the seventh time in nine games.
Defensively, Davison will likely find himself across from Alston, who has been nothing short of explosive for Temple this season. He’s score at least 18 points four times in six games and does most of his damage from the three-point line. Slowing him down will be critical for the Badgers to right the ship.
The matchup in Philadelphia is the first of six remaining non-conference games before UW resumes conference play, five of which will be played at the Kohl Center.
Tipoff from the Liacouras Center is set for 6 p.m.
