Badgers news: Game Thread vs. Northwestern Wildcats

Fresh off a 76-68 loss over the Maryland Terrapins, the Wisconsin Badgers are finishing off their road trip with a matchup against the Northwestern Wildcats, with tip-off set for 1:00 p.m. at the Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday.

After a blowout victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers last weekend, the Badgers had a tough road matchup earlier this week against Maryland, who matched up well against Wisconsin.

Outside of John Tonje, who had 23 points in the win, the Badgers really struggled to score, with the rest of the team shooting just 32.6 percent from the field in the loss.

Wisconsin especially struggled to score in the paint against Maryland’s duo of Julian Reese and Derik Queen, which led to some poor efficiency both inside and outside of the arc.

Now, the Badgers enter a matchup against a Northwestern Wildcats team that has gone 12-9 on the year and 3-7 in conference play, most recently losing three of their last four games.

This one will be tough for Northwestern, as they’ll be without their second-leading scorer Brooks Barnhizer, who has averaged 17.4 points per game this season.

Barnhizer’s top running partner this season has been forward Nick Martinelli, who has averaged 19.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, while shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 41 percent from three.

Limiting Martinelli will be key for the Badgers as they look to get back on track to cap off their road trip.

The Badgers come into Wednesday as a 3.5-point favorite on the road. Can they bounce back on Saturday? Or will Northwestern find a way to bounce back from their recent losses?