No. 11 Wisconsin (8-1, 0-1 Big Ten) vs. No. 5 Marquette (8-1, 0-0 Big East)

Date/Time – Saturday, December 7th, 12:30 p.m

Arena – Fiserv Forum (17,385)

Regard – FOX (Jeff Levering and Jim Jackson)

Radio – Badgers Radio Network (Matt Lepay and Brian Butch), Sirius 113 or 197, stream online on iHeartRadio.

Series – Wisconsin leads 71-59 (Marquette leads 41-30 in Milwaukee)

Last meeting – Wisconsin won 75-63 in Madison on December 2, 2023

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Twitter: @Badger_Blitz

Betting line: Marquette -6.5

Player to Watch: Klesmit shoots the worst overall (32.6 percent) and from three-point range (25.4). In the last four games, Klesmit is 9-for-39 from the floor (23.1 percent) and 5-for-28 from beyond the arc (17.9). In last season’s win over third-place Marquette, Klesmit scored 21 points (all in the first half).

Player to Watch: With Chase Ross questionable with an ankle injury, rookie Royce Parham could see significant action. Against No. 5 Iowa State on Wednesday, Parham finished with a career-best 17 points, shooting 7 of 12 overall and 3 of 4 from behind the 3-point line. He also grabbed four rebounds and blocked shots in 23 minutes.

Wisconsin’s most-played non-conference opponents, the Badgers and Golden Eagles, have played every year but one since the 1958-59 season.

Marquette has only met DePaul more times (135) than Wisconsin in program history.

UW has won three straight games in the series, the longest streak by either team since Wisconsin won four straight games from 1998 to 2001.

Saturday’s game will be the first meeting since 2011 and just the fifth all-time to feature both UW and MU. The Badgers are 3-1 in such matchups.

In the Greg Gard era, UW is 5-3 against Marquette and averaged 76.4 ppg in those eight meetings. UW has scored at least 75 points and shot at least 42 percent from the field in each of its five wins.

UW has earned 13 wins over top-10 teams under Gard, including eight wins over top-five teams.

UW scored more than 79 points in each of its first seven games, the longest such streak in school history. The Badgers are averaging 82.9 ppg and are on pace to challenge the highest single-season scoring average in school history (1970-71 – 86.3 ppg).

Wisconsin scores (26.2 3FGA) and makes (9.0 3FG) 3 points in its first nine games. That’s the highest UW average in both categories since the 3-point line was introduced in 1986-87.

Wisconsin is holding teams to 29.2 percent from 3-point range this season. Only one of UW’s last seven opponents shot 30 percent or better from deep (UTRGV).

Despite the increased scoring and tempo, the Badgers continue to take care of the basketball. UW averages 9.3 turnovers per game, the best in the Big Ten.

Senior guard Kam Jones ranks second in the BIG EAST and 10th nationally in assists (60) and 12th in assists per game (6.7).

Marquette is second in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6).

Marquette’s bench averaged 8.8 points per night through the first six games. However, over the last three games, the reserves have averaged 32.0 points per game, highlighted by a season-high 37 points in the win over Western Carolina.

The Golden Eagles are atop the Big East and fifth nationally in turnover margin (+7.4).

There won’t be many teams Wisconsin will play that are as active as Marquette. The Golden Eagles have an adjusted defensive efficiency (93.2) that is nearly identical to Michigan (92.7). But while the Wolverines anchor their unit with two 7-footers, the Golden Eagles do it with speed and quick hands.

Shaka Smart challenges the rotation to generate approximately 32 deflections per game and control passes to break up the offensive flow and create transition opportunities. This season, MU averaged 42.3 deflections per game (383 total). That number equates to 11.4 steals per game (second best nationally) and 16.1 fast break points (28th nationally).

In Marquette’s 70-62 win over Central Michigan on November 11, Marquette completed the highest number of 65 deflections in a single game. That number was largely created by junior guard Charlie Ross. In 36 minutes of play, Ross collected 18 deflections, marking the most by a Marquette player in a game since Shaka Smart’s arrival in the 2021-22 season. Ross owns the three best single-game totals at MU (18-CMU, 15-Purdue, 14-George Mason) and averages a team-best 9.1 deflections per game.

He could play an important role on the bench. Ross injured his ankle in Wednesday’s loss to Iowa State and is listed as doubtful. Freshman forwards Royce Parham and Damarius Owens picked up the slack with a combined 28 points and six rebounds and will likely continue to learn.

UW’s offensive problems were clear to see on Tuesday. The Badgers settled for too many jump shots instead of getting to the rim, which led to Michigan being eliminated in transition and the Badgers failing to score from the line. The Wolverines’ 19-4 advantage in fast-break points and the fact that UW hit six free throws below its season average was a big difference in a three-point loss, not to mention going 6-for-27 from three -Points range.

It will be a competitive game between two good teams. The advantage usually lies with the home team. So if Wisconsin wins this game, they will fully earn the title of Kings of the State for the fourth consecutive year.

Worgull’s prediction: Marquette at 6

Record: 6-3 (6-3 ATS)

Point deficit forecast: 92 (10.2 per game)

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