Ohio St. @ Wisconsin preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 3, 2020 ) Wisconsin 61, Ohio St. 57

Wisconsin can complete a regular-season sweep of Ohio State when the teams get together for a Big Ten rematch Sunday in Madison. The Badgers have struggled to find consistency after leaving Columbus last month with a rare conference road win while the Buckeyes were in the midst of a January slump.

After Ohio State suffered through a stretch of six losses in seven games starting in late December, the team seems to have found a toughness that has helped it win three straight games, the most recent a 61-58 meat-grinder at Michigan. No opponent has reached 60 points during the win streak, and the Buckeyes have managed to win the last two over Indiana and Michigan without freshman guard D.J. Carton. He returned home to Iowa, where he's taking online classes after requesting a leave of absence to deal with mental health issues. Guards C.J. Walker and Duane Washington Jr. have taken on some of the scoring burden and power forward Kaleb Wesson was a beast in the win at Michigan, dominating the game with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Wisconsin has lost three of its last four games, but the lone win was a 64-63 upset of No. 14 Michigan State on Feb. 1.

TIME: 1 p.m. ET. TV: CBS

ABOUT WISCONSIN (13-10, 6-6 Big Ten): The past two weeks have been tough for the Badgers, starting with the transfer announcement by second-leading scorer Kobe King, who had 13 points against Ohio State earlier this season, and continuing this week with the resignation of strength coach Erik Helland after he admitted using a racial epithet in the presence of several players. Wisconsin has wins over three teams that were ranked at the time and has gone 10-1 at home this season. But the Badgers followed the big win over Michigan State with a 70-52 loss at Minnesota on Wednesday night in which they shot a season-low 28.4 percent from the field.

ABOUT OHIO STATE (15-7, 5-6): A common denominator in the Buckeyes' last three wins was the defensive effort that held opponents below 60 points and also limited Michigan to 33.3 percent shooting from the field on Wednesday night. Offensively, Ohio State thrives when Wesson, the team's leading scorer and rebounder (14.3 points, 9.8 boards per game), performs like he did against Michigan. The Buckeyes will be looking for better guard play than they received in the first meeting of the season against Wisconsin when Luther Muhammad, C.J. Walker, Carton and Washington combined for two assists, eight turnovers and 9-of-29 shooting from the floor.

BUZZER BEATERS

1.Washington moved past Carton to become the Buckeyes' second-leading scorer at 11.1 points per game after the sophomore guard finished with 18 points against Michigan.

2. The Badgers seem to be less focused against lesser opponents, compiling a 2-4 record against unranked teams and going 4-2 against ranked foes in Big Ten play this season.

3. Wisconsin redshirt junior F Micah Potter, an Ohio State transfer, grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds coming off the bench against Minnesota.

PREDICTION: Ohio State 62, Wisconsin 58