When No. 23 Wisconsin (6-1) takes on No. 15 Marquette (5-1) at the Kohl Center Saturday, the annual battle will serve as a litmus test for two teams looking to solidify their spots in the top-25. And while Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan has his players following a game-by-game mentality, even junior forward Joe Krabbenhoft admitted the Marquette game means something special to the Badger players from Wisconsin.

“They’re a good team and anytime we play Marquette, no matter what they’re ranked, it’s going to be a lot of fun for the fans [and] for the players,” Krabbenhoft said. “People know each other. I’m not from Wisconsin, but some of my teammates are ... and they talk about how fun it is to play Marquette every year.”

Saturday’s game will showcase two successful basketball programs with contrasting offensive styles.

Wisconsin will, of course, stick with Ryan’s swing offense, but Marquette head coach Tom Crean uses multiple offensive sets, preparing a play sheet similar to that of some NFL coaches.

The majority of Crean’s plays focus on springing junior guards Dominic James and Jerel McNeal for open shots or drives to the basket. The high pick-and-roll forms one of the Golden Eagles offensive staples. These plays could potentially draw Wisconsin’s big men away from the basket.

“Our big guys have got to pretend they’re 6'2'',” Krabbenhoft said. “They’ve done a great job adapting to certain situations all year, and Marquette is one of those situations.”

Although Wisconsin starts a lineup with four players over 6'7'', Marquette often plays “small ball,” substituting sophomore sparkplug David Cubillan for one of the forwards.

McNeal and James average 16 and 14.7 points per game, respectively, while Cubillan and Madison-native Wes Matthews contribute 10 and 9.3 points per contest.

With so much firepower in the backcourt, the Badger guards know they will have to be ready to play an up-tempo game.

“They’re great players,” sophomore guard Jason Bohannon said. “We’ve been working on how to guard them and what we need to do and it should be a great game on Saturday.”

With a height and depth advantage over the Golden Eagles inside, the Badgers will look to establish a post presence—something they were not able to do in their lone loss of the season against Duke.

“When there’s smaller teams you’ve got to try and get in the post,” Bohannon said. “Even when there’s pressure outside, you have to be strong with the ball and be able to get the ball into the post and be sure of our post feeds.”

Although the Badgers have not always pounded the ball into the post, they have out-rebounded their opponents in every game this season.

Marquette’s senior forward Ousmane Barro tallies 5.5 boards per game and also has nine blocked shots. Yet the Golden Eagles’ rebounding leader is sophomore upstart forward Lazar Hayward. After six games, Hayward averages 12.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

The Badgers have won seven of their last nine contests against the Golden Eagles and have also won 44 of their last 45 non-conference home games. The only loss came against North Dakota State two seasons ago.

Nevertheless, Krabbenhoft noted how Marquette would give the Badgers all they could handle.

“They’ve gotten so much better from last year, and they were a great team last year,” Krabbenhoft said. “We respect them, but we’re focused as a team on what we have to do.”

The game tips off at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Kohl Center and will be broadcast on ESPN2.