Madison, WI – The Nebraska Cornhuskers look to stay hot as they visit the Kohl Center for a Big Ten Conference matchup against the No. 17 Wisconsin Badgers.
This will be the 20th meeting in history between these schools on the hardwood. Nebraska is 10-9 versus Wisconsin in the all-time series, but the Badgers stifled the Cornhuskers on Jan. 6 to narrow their edge. Nebraska has averaged just 42 points per game in its last four meetings against Bo Ryan's Badgers.
Tim Miles's Cornhuskers snapped a two-game losing streak on Saturday as they clipped the Iowa Hawkeyes, 64-60, at home to improve to 13-14 on the season. Nebraska has just one victory in its last 39 road games against ranked opponents coming into Tuesday. Dylan Talley has scored in double figures in seven of the last eight games and has averaged 18 ppg over his last five outings to lead the squad.
Nebraska looked like it was headed towards its third loss in a row on Saturday as it entered halftime of its bout with Iowa trailing, 41-25. The Cornhuskers heated up after the break to knock down 62.5 percent of their shots from the floor. Talley broke a 60-60 tie with less than 10 seconds remaining as he connected on a clutch 3-pointer to lift the team to the win. Nebraska trailed by as many as 19 points but came back thanks in part to a 17-7 edge in points off turnovers. Junior guard Ray Gallegos chipped in 11 points and played the full 40 minutes for the third time in five games. Gallegos is in a tough shooting slump with only 21.7 percent efficiency from the field over his last five outings. Brandon Ubel got into the mix with 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocks versus Iowa.
Ubel will have his work cut out for him as he tangles with Jared Berggren. The 6-foot-10 senior is pacing Wisconsin in the scoring column with 11.9 ppg and has pulled down eight boards or more in five straight appearances. Ryan's Badgers do not need too much offensive production to be successful due to their tremendous defensive prowess, which boasts of the ninth best scoring defense in the nation at 55.7 points allowed per game. Wisconsin shut down the Wildcats on Wednesday as it coasted to a 69-41 decision at Northwestern to rise to 19-8 on the campaign.
Berggren and Ben Brust both finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and two assists in the victory over Northwestern, which was limited to 29.4 percent shooting from the floor in the game. Entering Tuesday's action, Wisconsin is trailing Indiana by two games for first place in the Big Ten standings with four left to play. The Badgers are 14-2 this season on their home floor and own a 67-2 mark versus unranked conference opponents over the last 12 seasons.
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