The Michigan Wolverines and Wisconsin Badgers are playing live on the Big Ten conference basketball tournament schedule on Friday and the afternoon matchup from the United Center in Chicago for the quarterfinal is on ESPN and streaming online from the WatchESPN website past 12 pm ET as the number six team in the nation tries to advance.
The Badgers come in after finishing the season with a big win on the road against Ohio State and they now face off against the Wolverines. The team saw Frank Kaminsky score 20 points and lead with three assists and he comes in as the leading scorer for the Badgers. Kaminsky is also averaging eight rebounds per game to lead the team and Wisconsin has been picked by many as a favorite in this tournament and in the main NCAA tournament.
The team comes in averaging 71 points per game and they are ranked 21st in the nation in field goal percentage. The Badgers come in with a 28-3 record and they were 16-2 in the Big Ten and they matchup with a team that has struggled all season. The Wolverines come in with 16 wins and they were two games under in the conference, while the Badgers won the Big Ten regular season title. The Badgers have won three in a row coming into the tournament and they have been impressive all season.
The Badgers have only lost once since the calendar turned to 2015 and before that their last loss was back in December to Duke early in the month. The team has been very impressive and they have only lost to Rutgers and Duke along with Maryland this season and two of those teams were ranked. The team has won 13 of the last 14 games and one of those matchups included a win over Michigan and that was on the road in overtime.
Michigan comes into the game after winning over Illinois on Thursday and they now face off against the Badgers in a tough matchup. Michigan can try to make some noise in the tournament with a win here, but Wisconsin is better than the Wolverines in almost every category this season. Michigan has won two games in a row, including their final game of the season against Rutgers, but before that they had won just one of eight games to end the year.
Michigan comes in after winning some solid matchups with Ohio State and Syracuse earlier in the year, but they have not been impressive in February at all. The team is hoping to keep things tight with the Badgers and Wisconsin comes in expecting to take this game and move ahead to the semis in the Big Ten.
Check here for the Michigan Wolverines and Wisconsin Badgers live coverage.
