After a burn-the-tape loss to Michigan on Tuesday, the Wisconsin Badgers are back in action tonight against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
That’s the beauty, and sometimes the biggest challenge, of Big Ten basketball, as teams get the chance to bounce back and make a statement just days after tough losses.
Related: Former Badger F Sam Dekker reacts to Wisconsin landing three-star PF Markus Ilver
While that applies to Wisconsin tonight, it also applies to a Rutgers team that has lost its last three games and four of its last five.
Rutgers HC Steve Pikiell talked about tonight’s matchup with the Badgers, starting off by recognizing that the Wisconsin team we all saw on Tuesday probably won’t what his team sees tonight.
“Because I’ve watched so much Wisconsin tape I know how good Wisconsin is” Pikiell said. “And it was a very impressive, obviously, win by Michigan…Wisconsin is really good and I think sometimes you have days like that. My respect for the Wisconsin program is off the charts. But Michigan certainly played great on both ends of the floor. That’s life in the Big Ten.”
He continued to touch on the specific challenges his team will face tonight, starting with the Badgers’ ability to shoot the basketball.
“Every team in our league brings a different problem. Some teams can really shoot like Iowa,” Pikiell said. “But I think we’ve done a pretty good job, even the last game they made some very difficult shots. I go through every game tape and I grade the shot attempts and how contested they are. You have to give the other team some credit when they make tough shots. So you do the best you can.”
What followed, as anybody who’s turned on 30 seconds of a Wisconsin basketball game this year would know, were comments on the age of the Badger team.
“This team’s average age is 24 years old. This is an old, experienced team. They’re the Big Ten champs from last year,” Pikiell said. “They shoot the ball, they make free throws, they got great shooters and they surround them with some good post players. So they pose us many problems and guarding the three has been a problem. They shoot 42 percent, so they’ve made 3s against all the teams in our league…So you have to do an added emphasis and you have to make sure your guys understand they’re closing out to five men.”
The Rutgers coach finished his discussion about Wisconsin with a note on their free-throw shooting, though did so with a pretty significant name slip-up.
Rutgers HC Steve Pikiell on defending the #Badgers tonight:
"And then you can't foul Wisconsin with the elite foul shooters. I think Nate Groovers, their five-man, shoots 92 percent from the foul line"
Keep an eye out for Nate Groovers tonight
— Ben Kenney (@benzkenney) January 15, 2021
The Badgers and Scarlet Knights are set to tip off at 8:00 p.m. CST tonight and the game will be available on FOX Sports 1