The Starting Five: Milwaukee

Saturday, December 21

Madison

4 PM

Wisconsin Badgers

Milwaukee

Tickets

December 12, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Wisconsin Game Notes Milwaukee Game Notes

Badgers look to complete in-state sweep with win Saturday

Wisconsin

5-5, 1-1

Milwaukee

5-6, 0-0

Game Coverage

December 21 | 4 p.m. CT | Kohl Center | Madison, Wis.

MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin men's basketball team returns to action to battle in-state rival Milwaukee on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT on BTN.

1) WE RUN WISCONSIN: With wins already this season over Marquette and Green Bay, the Badgers look to complete the clean sweep of in-state opponents this weekend against Milwaukee. Wisconsin topped Marquette, 77-61, on Nov. 17 and handled the Green Bay Phoenix, 88-70, on Nov. 21. The last time UW defeated all of its in-state opponents in a season was 2014-15.
2) LEAVE IT TO REUVERS: Wisconsin has received consistent production from junior Nate Reuvers, who has scored in double figures in nine of Wisconsin's 10 games, including a 20-point outing over Indiana. The Minnesota native leads all Badgers in scoring and rebounds, averaging 14.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Reuvers has also emerged as an elite defensive presence, tallying 25 blocks on the season. The dynamic big man now has 111 rejections in his career, which is good for seventh place on UW's all-time list.

3) NCAA TOURNAMENT REGULARS: Wisconsin is one of five schools to participate in 20 of the last 21 NCAA tournaments, joining Kansas, Duke, Michigan State and Gonzaga.That stretch includes a run of 19 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, which is the 6th-longest stretch in NCAA history.The Badgers are one of three teams to reach the Sweet 16 in six of the last nine seasons, advancing to the tournament's second weekend in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Kansas and Kentucky are the only other 2 schools to reach six of the last nine seasons.

4) THE PANTHERS: Milwaukee (5-6) is led by senior guard Darius Roy, who is averaging 16 per game and 4.2 rebounds per game. The Panthers have had a challenging non-conference schedule to start the year, including a road matchup against No. 1 Kansas in Lawrence where UWM fell, 68-95. Despite their losing record, the Panthers pose themselves as a gritty and battle-hardened opponent for the Badgers on Saturday.

5) THE KING'S COURT: Redshirt sophomore guard Kobe King has been dominant for the Badgers in recent games. King had a career day against Indiana (12/7) putting up a career-high 24 points on 10-for-15 shooting from the floor with four rebounds and a block. The La Crosse native followed up his performance with another impressive outing against Rutgers (12/11) when he finished with 18 points, three assists and three rebounds on the road.

LAST TIME OUT
Rutgers 72, Wisconsin 65

Wisconsin suffered a 72-65 loss at Rutgers last Wednesday, falling to 1-1 to begin Big Ten play.

The Badgers turned the ball over 14 times and were out-rebounded, 40-to-26, including a 14-to-3 disadvantage on the offensive glass.
Sophomore guard Kobe King led the way with a team-high 18 points (7-12 FG), 3 rebounds and 3 assists.
Junior guard Trevor Anderson added 11 points off the bench, his first time scoring in double figures as a Badger (11th time in his career). Anderson entered the game with 8 total points on the season.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. MILWAUKEE

Wisconsin and Milwaukee will meet for the 35th time on Saturday in a series that began in 1901. Outside the Big Ten, UW has faced only Marquette (126) more frequently than UWM.
UW owns a 32-2 lead in the all-time series, including a 21-2 mark in Madison.
Greg Gard is 1-0 against the Panthers, leading the Badgers to a 71-49 win over Milwaukee in the most recent meeting (Nov. 24, 2017).
Prior to coming to Madison, UW head coach Greg Gard served as an assistant coach under Bo Ryan at Milwaukee for two seasons (2000 and 2001), compiling a record of 30-27 (.526).

TAKE THE STATE
For the first time since 2017-18, Wisconsin will face in-state foes Green Bay, Marquette and Milwaukee all in the same season.

With wins already this season over Marquette and Green Bay, the Badgers seek their first in-state sweep since 2014-15 when they host Milwaukee on Saturday.
UW has faced all three in the same season two other times since then (2015-16 and 2017-18 seasons).