Milwaukee @ Wisconsin preview

Wis.-Milwaukee at Wisconsin

Last Meeting ( Dec 9, 2015 ) Wis.-Milwaukee 68, Wisconsin 67

In the midst of a brutal scheduling stretch, Wisconsin gets a bit of breather Friday night when it hosts Milwaukee. The rebuilding Badgers have suffered three losses to three ranked teams over the last week, and following Friday’s game, have a Monday road date at Virginia before coming back home for an early Big Ten opener against Ohio State on Dec. 2.

Wisconsin is coming off a 72-70 loss to No. 23 UCLA on Tuesday in the third place game of the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, Mo. That followed a first-round Hall of Fame defeat to No. 24 Baylor (70-65) and a home loss to No. 14 Xavier (80-70), giving the Badgers three straight setbacks after season-opening wins over South Carolina State (85-50) and Yale (89-61). It’s the first time in program history that Wisconsin has played three straight ranked nonconference foes in the regular season. The Horizon League’s Panthers, meanwhile, have yet to face a ranked foe, but did notch a 74-56 win at the Big 12’s Iowa State on Nov. 13 to spoil the Cyclones’ home opener.

ABOUT MILWAUKEE (4-1): Coming off an 11-24 season a year ago, the Panthers are off to one of their best starts in the last 13 years under new coach Pat Baldwin, who spent the last four seasons as an assistant at Northwestern. Guard Brock Stull is averaging a team-most 14.0 points per game and is joined in double figures by forward Bryce Nze (12.2) and guard Bryce Barnes (10.3) while four other players are averaging at least 7.0 points. The 6-foot-7 Nze also is averaging a team-best 8.0 rebounds and is coming off his second career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds in Sunday’s 72-71 win over Elon.

ABOUT WISCONSIN (2-3): 6-foot-10 junior Ethan Happ, a third-team Associated Press All-American, is the lone returning starter from the Badgers’ Sweet 16 team of year ago which graduated five seniors. He’s setting the pace as expected with a team-leading 19.0 points and 9.6 rebounds so far and also is averaging a team-most 4.0 assists. Guards D’Mitrik Trice (10.6 points) and Brad Davison (10.4) are the only other players averaging double figures for Wisconsin, which has struggled from 3-point range so far (31.2 percent) but is forcing an average of 14 turnovers per game.

TIP-INS

1. Wisconsin owns a commanding 31-2 series lead, but visiting Milwaukee won the last meeting, 68-67, on Dec. 9, 2015.

2. The Panthers are 12-49 all-time against Big Ten foes, with seven of those wins coming against Northwestern.

3. Davison, a 6-foot-3 freshman, made his first start against UCLA and scored 14 points to continue a trend in which his point output has increased in every game this season.

PREDICTION: Wisconsin 72, Milwaukee 69