MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin (7-19, 4-12 B1G) wraps up its home season by hosting Nebraska (20-7, 9-7) on Wednesday in the Kohl Center. Tip time is 6:30 p.m. streamed live on B1G+.
Here are five things to know before Wednesday's game.
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1. TURNING UP THE HEAT: Wisconsin has turned up its defense over the last five games, holding four of five opponents below their season averages. No. 18 Ohio State scored just 59 points on Sunday, nearly 22 points below its season average of 80.8 points per game. The Badgers also held Purdue to 52 points on Feb. 13, nearly 18 points below its season average of 69.9 points per game. The Badgers stopped the Big Ten's top 3-point shooting team on Sunday as Ohio State hit just 16.7% (2-12) from behind the arc. Wisconsin held OSU well below its season averages of 9.2 triples per game and 40.2% from deep.
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2. THE COUNTDOWN: Two Badgers are counting down to career milestones as freshman
Krystyna Ellew is just six points away from 200 career points. Junior
Julie Pospisilova is also counting down, needing nine tallies for 700 career points, while she is seven steals away from 100 takeaways.
3. ELLEW FOR THREE: Freshman
Krystyna Ellew has turned up her scoring the last three games, averaging 13.7 points per game over the span. The 5-foot-10 guard has scored in double figures all three games, including a team-best 19 points against Michigan State on Feb. 16. Ellew is shooting 10-18 (55.5%) from 3-point range over the last three games, averaging 3.3 triples per game.
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4. LEADING THE NATION: Grad student
Katie Nelson has played at least 40 minutes in 11 games this season, including the last three games in a row, to lead the nation with 991 minutes played. The guard leads the Big Ten and ranks fifth nationally, averaging 38.1 minutes per game. Although it's her first season playing for a Power 5 team, the grad student has shown great poise and put up key leadership minutes for Wisconsin this season.
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5. SCOUTING NEBRASKA: In the rematch between the Badgers and the Cornhuskers, UW will be out for revenge on their home court Wednesday night. Sitting sixth in the Big Ten with all seven of their losses coming from conference teams, the 20-7 overall Huskers come to Madison off of a win over Minnesota last Sunday. Nebraska shot 54.1% from the field and 10-21 from the 3-point line. A high scoring offense with players like Alexis Markowski (13.0 PPG) and Jaz Shelley (12.0 PPG), Nebraska ranks fourth in the conference, averaging 78.7 points per game. The Badgers will look to continue their recent success on defense to shut down the Huskers on Wednesday.