Buckeye Blogger NetworkIt’s time for the Buckeyes to make the Badgers Deal With It. Let’s take a closer look.
None of this on Tuesday
| School: | University of Wisconsin – Madison |
| Location: | Madison, WI |
| Founded: | 1848 |
| Student Population: | 42,595 total, 28,897 undergrad |
| School Type: | Public |
| Stadium: | Kohl Center (you’re welcome) |
| Seating: | 17,230 |
| Opened: | 1998 |
| Head Coach: | William Francis ‘Bo’ Ryan, Jr. |
| Experience: | 12th year |
The 14th ranked Ohio State Buckeyes host the unranked, but always tough, Wisconsin Badgers Tuesday. At 5-2, both teams are tied for 4th in the conference a half game behind MSU and a full game behind Indiana and Michigan.
I’ll pull together a few stats, with commentary, and then on to Bryce Jordan Center. Information will be culled from the excellent site at Statsheet. You’re familiar with the drill by now.
Wisconsin
>The Badgers (15-6, 5-2) are not an exciting team to watch, just maddeningly efficient. They plod along with the relatively few possessions per game (62), resulting in relatively low scoring affairs. Their starting lineup is pretty familiar to us by now; Ben Brust (G, 6’1”), Ryan Evans (G/F,6’6”) , Jared Berggren (F/C, 6’10”), Traevon Jackson (G, 6’2”) and our favorite BB ginger, Mike Bruesewitz (F. 6’6”). Starter stats, below.
| GS | MPG | PPG | FG% | FT% | 3P% | RPG | APG | TPG | FPG | ||
| #1 | B. Brust | 20 | 32.4 | 10.4 | 41.6 | 61.9 | 38.8 | 5.6 | 2.9 | 1.2 | 1.5 |
| #5 | R. Evans | 20 | 29.4 | 10.9 | 41.1 | 39.8 | 9.5 | 7.8 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 1.7 |
| #40 | J. Berggren | 20 | 27.6 | 12.0 | 50.3 | 69.7 | 28.3 | 6.4 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.3 |
| #12 | T. Jackson | 14 | 23.9 | 5.8 | 34.8 | 78.1 | 24.4 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 2.0 |
| #31 | M. Bruesewitz | 15 | 25.8 | 7.1 | 45.4 | 67.6 | 30.9 | 5.1 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 2.7 |
Ohio State
The 14th ranked Buckeyes (15-4, 5-2) host the Badgers. We should be pretty familiar with the OSU starters by now, but for your reference Thad will go with the usual cast of characters. Aaron Craft (G, 6’2”), Lenzelle Smith, Jr. (G, 6’4”), DeShaun Thomas (F, 6’7”), Sam Thompson (F,6’7” and Amir Williams (C, 6’11”). Seeing significant playing time will be Shannon Scott (G, 6’1”), Evan Ravenal (C/F, 6’8”) and LaQuinton Ross (F, 6’8”). Key stats for starters below:
| GS | MPG | PPG | FG% | FT% | 3P% | RPG | APG | TPG | FPG | ||
| #1 | D. Thomas | 19 | 33.6 | 20.0 | 46.8 | 80.6 | 41.7 | 6.5 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.5 |
| #4 | A. Craft | 19 | 32.2 | 8.8 | 38.2 | 82.0 | 31.4 | 3.3 | 4.7 | 1.8 | 2.5 |
| #32 | L. Smith Jr. | 19 | 28.0 | 10.2 | 43.8 | 67.6 | 40.3 | 5.8 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 1.9 |
| #12 | S. Thompson | 19 | 24.2 | 7.5 | 48.6 | 71.1 | 31.3 | 3.5 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.4 |
| #23 | A. Williams | 8 | 15.9 | 4.2 | 61.9 | 51.9 | 0.0 | 3.8 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 2.4 |
The below table has the comparative Four Factors as well as possessions per game (PPP), points per possession – offense (PPP-O) and points allowed per possession (PPP-D).
| eFG% | TO% | Off Reb | FT Rate | PPG | PPP (O) | PPP (D) | |
| Wisconsin | 50.2% | 14.8% | 35.9% | 29.4% | 62 | 1.10 | 0.89 |
| Ohio State | 52.0% | 17.0% | 33.5% | 34.7% | 65 | 1.10 | 0.87 |
More of this, though
As the key metrics indicate, although their records are similar, there are a few differences. Ohio State is a better shooting team, but Wisconsin protects the ball better and is a bit better getting to offensive rebounds.
Ohio State needs to be patient in this game because I think that Wisconsin will try to slow the game down. OSU needs to maintain some sort of up-tempo style, hopefully driven by on-ball pressure and fast breaks as a result of defensive rebounding. The Badgers average 54 FG attempts per game, about the same as the Buckeyes. However, 41% of their FG attempts are 3-pointers (22) and Wisky only makes 31% of them, so this opens up opportunities for some long rebounds to trigger fast breaks for the Buckeyes.
If the game is still close toward the end, and OSU must foul, the Badger they need to get to the line is Ryan Evans, who is making an astonishingly poor 40% of his free throws. Something to keep in mind.
Tip-off is on Tuesday at 7:00 PM at the Value City Arena. Please join us for the live chat at 6:45PM. The game is televised on ESPN, if you plan to watch.
January 28th, 2013 at 9:46 pm
Since your name is on the building can you score us a free trip to the Kohl Center?
[Reply]
erictbbc
January 28th, 2013 at 11:13 pm
I’d rather not have batteries thrown at me, thanks… Unless he can swing us free box seats! =D
[Reply]
MaliBuckeye
January 29th, 2013 at 12:08 am
I’m sure that you’d be able to…
[Reply]
WVaBuckeye
January 29th, 2013 at 6:54 am
Why is Ken sooooo quiet?! DEFEND YOURSELF!
[Reply]
Ken
January 29th, 2013 at 8:14 am
You know me; some things are just indefensible.
[Reply]
January 29th, 2013 at 8:13 am
Well, *cough cough* let me see what I can do with seating arrangements. I have trouble getting discounts at the department store, so I can’t promise anything.
Eric, what size batteries do you use the most? Maybe I can make arrangements with the ushers to hand them out to the crowd.
[Reply]
Gary
January 29th, 2013 at 9:11 am
Sounds like I need to request my vacation days for the trip…..
[Reply]
Eric
January 29th, 2013 at 10:38 am
Lets go with watch batteries. That sounds the least painful.
[Reply]
Gary
January 29th, 2013 at 2:32 pm
I was thinking car battery? Don’t think they could throw them very far…..
[Reply]
Eric
January 29th, 2013 at 3:20 pm
Actually, I do use motorcycle batteries in my research frequently. That could be handy…but most likely life threatening.
[Reply]