The Badgers cracked the 80-point plateau for the first time in more than one month as they rolled over the Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday. UW received a big boost from sophomore Brian Butch who tallied a career-high 23 points. Butch, or the 'Polar Bear' as he is called by ESPN's Steve Lavin, will need to stay hungry against Ohio State's Terence Dials. A 6'9'' 260-pound center, Dials averages over seven rebounds per game. The Buckeyes surrender 66.5 points per contest in Big Ten play, and balanced scoring from Alando Tucker, Kammron Taylor and Butch could give the Badgers the edge in this matchup.
The Buckeyes are simply an offensive juggernaut. While Dials averages 14.1 points per contest and provides an inside force, Je'Kel Foster, Ron Lewis, J.J. Sullinger and Jamal Butler can shoot the lights out from the outside. Foster, a senior guard, leads the team with 14.9 points per game, but five players have had games of 20 points or more. While Wisconsin has held conference opponents to only 62.3 points per contest, they could not stop the Buckeyes in a 77-67 loss earlier this season. To stay close, the Badgers will have to put constant pressure on Ohio State's outside shooters.
After losing five of six games, the outlook for the Badgers' season looked bleak. Yet, when other coaches would have benched players or found a new starting five, UW head coach Bo Ryan refused to press the panic button. Two games later, Wisconsin stands one game out of first place. On the other sideline, Ohio State head coach Thad Matta has won at least 20 games in each of his five seasons as a head coach. He previously took Butler and Xavier to the NCAA tournament, and he has the Buckeyes primed for a postseason run. Nevertheless, Ryan, who is 3-1 against Matta, holds a record of 70-5 at the Kohl Center.
Ohio State might be the best team in the Big Ten. Their three losses have come by margins of two, three and five points. They can drain 3-pointers to win a shoot-out or pound the ball into the post to win a defensive struggle. The Buckeyes come into the Kohl Center after dismantling Illinois and Michigan, two teams that soundly defeated the Badgers. Wisconsin's last two victories have come over an Indiana team searching for an identity and a consistently inconsistent Penn State squad. Still, it is too easy to pick Ohio State. In what is sure to be another wild Wednesday night of Big Ten basketball, the Badgers will come out on top.
