At 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, the Kohl Center becomes the undisputed center of the college basketball world. No. 2 Wisconsin (7-0) will welcome No. 4 Duke (7-0) to Madison in the headliner of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Two preseason All-American centers, senior Frank Kaminsky and freshman Jahlil Okafor, will square in a clash of two completely different recruiting and development paths.
We’ve already seen Wisconsin assert itself as a Top 5 team this season, flaming every opponent in its path except for Georgetown, which still couldn’t take down the Badgers when Kaminsky had by far his worst game of the season. The Blue Devils have looked equally as good, with Okafor leading the way, averaging a team-high 17.7 points per game.
“Size and maneuverability, I haven’t seen [Okafor] dance but I bet he can dance, he’s got good feet,” said head coach Bo Ryan in a Monday press conference. “That baseline move he has? He’s pretty good that way. You can put names on guys, McDonald’s All?American, Freshman of the Year but he backs it up, just like the guy before him.”
Watching Okafor work in the post against Kaminsky, with The Tank playing his stretch game all around the court, will be the matchup to watch.
Another intriguing matchup will be redshirt senior Josh Gasser against senior guard Quinn Cook. Cook, a former point guard, is thriving as an off-guard this season, averaging 15.6 points and 4.0 assists per game.
“He’s shooting a lot more threes. On the year he’s made about 20 threes so far and he’s shooting 50 percent, so he’s definitely really aggressive,” Gasser said. “He doesn’t get talked about that much. He’s very talented and I’m excited for that matchup.”
We could keep talking about matchups that should be mouthwatering for fans, like junior forward Sam Dekker and sophomore forward Nigel Hayes matching up against Justise Winslow, ranked as the No. 4 NBA Draft prospect by Draft Express. We could also mention senior guard Traevon Jackson trying to contain the best freshman point guard in the country in Tyus Jones.
However, the biggest battle of the game could be taking place on the sidelines, with Ryan, nationally renowned as an in-game strategist, leading his players against arguably one of the greatest coaches of all time, Mike Krzyzewski.
“He’s done more for college basketball—for basketball, period, not just because of the national championships but all the time he has spent with USA Basketball and developing the USA Basketball youth all the way up,” Ryan said. “I don’t think it will be much about a matchup between us. I’m pretty sure they’re going to be talking about their players against our players, and that’s where it will be settled, out there on the court.”
