Wisconsin @ Indiana preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 2, 2018 ) Indiana 61, Wisconsin 71

No. 18 Wisconsin looks to reach 20 wins for the 15th time in the last 17 seasons when it visits Indiana on Tuesday. The Badgers have posted back-to-back victories, including a 69-64 triumph against Northwestern on Saturday, to pull even with 20th-ranked Maryland in fourth place in the Big Ten standings, and hope to continue their stellar play on the road where they have won four of their last five games.

"At the end of the day we're all playing for March and this has got us better for March," Wisconsin guard Brad Davison told reporters. "You want to play in the best conference from top to bottom in the country because you get challenged every day." Archie Miller's second season in charge of Indiana has not gone according to plan as the Hoosiers fell below .500 following a 76-70 overtime loss to Iowa on Friday. Indiana has dropped 12 of its last 13 games after an encouraging 12-2 start to fall out of contention for an NCAA Tournament berth and hopes to stop its slide by knocking off the Badgers for the first time since a 59-58 win on Jan. 5, 2016. "We're a very desperate team, but we're not playing pouty or have our head down as we've gotten past that point," Miller told reporters. "Sometimes the breaks go against you and the whole key is Tuesday night because are we going to be ready to go?"

TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPN

ABOUT WISCONSIN (19-8, 11-5 Big Ten): Davison led the Badgers with 16 points, including a pair of clutch free throws with 8.9 seconds remaining, to go along with six rebounds and three assists in the win against Northwestern. Ethan Happ added 14 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots against the Wildcats to register his 18th double-double of the season, which is tied for the third-most in the country. D'Mitrik Trice also scored 14 points while Khalil Iverson produced 11 points and five rebounds to help the Badgers move even with the Terrapins in the race for a double bye in the Big Ten Tournament.

ABOUT INDIANA (13-14, 4-12): Juwan Morgan led the way with 15 points, a career-high six blocked shots and three steals, but it wasn't enough as the Hoosiers were outscored 13-7 in overtime. Romeo Langford scored 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds against Iowa to finish in double figures for the 25th time in 27 games in his freshman season. Rob Phinisee equaled his career high with 13 points to go along with seven rebounds and four steals while Evan Fitzner tallied 11 points to finish in double figures for the first time since Nov. 27.

TIP-INS

1. Wisconsin has won six of the last eight meetings in Indiana.

2. The Hoosiers have lost five straight home games, with the last three losses coming by a combined 10 points.

3. The Badgers lead the Big Ten in 3-point shooting percentage (38.6).

PREDICTION: Wisconsin 64, Indiana 60