Wisconsin basketball vs. Northern Illinois game preview
The Badgers host the Northern Illinois Huskies tomorrow night at the Kohl Center. Here's everything you need to know.
After dispatching the Fighting Camels of Campbell on Monday, thanks to a 30-4 run to end the game, the Wisconsin basketball team will take the floor again Friday night when it hosts the Northern Illinois Huskies at the Kohl Center.
Northern Illinois is
coming off a 102-82 victory over Louisiana Monroe on Monday night. The Huskies are a young team, starting two freshmen, two sophomores, and a junior in their season-opening victory. In total, they had eight underclassmen log playing time.
Northern Illinois is one of three remaining games on Wisconsin’s schedule before it takes a trip to Utah for its rematch with BYU after the Cougars knocked them out of the NCAA Tournament last season in the Round of 32.
Here’s everything you need to know heading into the game on Friday night.
Game info
When: Friday, November 7th - 7:30 PM
Where: Kohl Center - Madison, WI
How to Watch: Big Ten Network (BTN)
Stream: BTN; Fox Sports App
Listen: Badger Radio Network; The Varsity Network App
Probable starting lineups
Wisconsin
Starters
G - #2 Nick Boyd (Sr.) - 21.0 pts, 3.0 reb, 4.0 ast
G - #25 John Blackwell (Jr.) - 31.0 pts, 4.0 reb, 3.0 ast
G - #7 Andrew Rohde (Sr.) - 5.0 pts, 2.0 reb, 2.0 ast
F - #22 Austin Rapp (So.) - 13.0 pts, 2.0 reb, 4.0 ast
F - #31 Nolan Winter (Jr.) - 17.0 pts, 12.0 reb, 1.0 ast
Notable Bench Players
G - #5 Jack Janicki (So.) - 3.0 pts, 2.0 reb, 4.0 stl
F - #23 Will Garlock (Fr.) - 0.0 pts, 1.0 reb, 2.0 ast
Northern Illinois
Starters
G - #1 Mekhai Valentine (So.) - 16.0 pts, 8.0 reb, 2.0 ast
G - #0 Gianni Cobb (So.) - 14.0 pts, 2.0 reb, 10.0 ast
G - #2 Carlos Coronado (Fr.) - 8.0 pts, 1.0 reb, 2.0 ast
F - #3 Daemar Kelley (Jr.) - 8.0 pts, 5.0 reb, 2.0 ast
F - #96 Gustav Winther (Fr.) - 18.0 pts, 10.0 reb, 1.0 ast
Notable Bench Players
G - #10 Jao Ituka (Jr.) - 19.0 pts, 1.0 reb, 1.0 ast
F - #4 JJ Taylor (Jr.) - 5.0 pts, 4.0 reb, 1.0 ast
Players to watch
Gustav Winther - Northern Illinois
Nolan Winter is going to have his hands full with Gustav Winther Friday night. That’s right, a Winter-Winther matchup. The 6’10” freshman from Denmark logged a double-double against the Warhawks while shooting 80% from the floor. Six of his 10 rebounds were offensive boards, so Wisconsin bigs are going to have to know where he is when a shot goes up, because he will find it. Winther also added two blocks defensively and hit 2/3 free throws on Monday night.
Jao Ituka - Northern Illinois
While he didn’t start, junior Jao Ituka played 19 minutes and led the team with 19 points, hitting 4 of 8 shots from deep. The 6’1” guard is a career 36.8% shooter from 3-point range, so Wisconsin guards will need to know where he is when he is on the floor.
John Blackwell - Wisconsin
Can Blackwell follow up his incredible performance against Campbell? The junior guards tested the NBA waters in the offseason and got some feedback on what to work on. If he wants to play in the NBA, he needs to dominate games like this one, as John Tonje did last year. NIU is ranked 329th in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to the Ken Pom ratings. I want to see if Blackwell will continue to be aggressive offensively and take over the game, but there is a fine line between that and trying to force too many shots. I’m sure after his game on Monday night, NIU will have a plan in place to contain the Badgers’ bright star.
What I’m watching for
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