The Wisconsin Badgers (2-5 Big Ten, 6-11 overall), not the Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-3, 12-6), have dug themselves a deep burrow that they soon hope to pop out of. With five Big Ten losses already, the Badgers are fighting for any win they can get, knowing full well their chance of postseason play is dwindling. Minnesota, on the other hand, enters the Kohl Center Saturday morning looking to win its third straight conference game and seventh straight against the Badgers en route to beginning its postseason surge.
How Wisconsin defends the Golden Gophers will likely determine the outcome of the game. The Golden Gophers have already scored 90 points in seven games this season, whereas the Badgers have given up 90 or more only twice, the second time coming against Maryland earlier this week.
In recent games the Badgers have been experimenting with using the 2-3 zone to try to slow down opposing offenses, but after initial success against both Illinois and Maryland, the Badger defense wore down, leading to major deficits that proved too much to overcome.
The Badgers have seemingly dug themselves a hole all season long.
“We don’t have a whole bunch of 20-point scorers who can dig us out of these holes,” head coach Bobbie Kelsey said. “If we come out well, we don’t play a good third quarter. If we play a good third then we probably didn’t come out well.”
Against Maryland earlier this week, the Badgers came out aggressive and actually led by five points after one quarter, but were promptly outscored 62-31 in the second and third quarter combined.
Against both Illinois and Iowa last week, the Badgers were trailed by double digits due to slow starts before furious fourth quarter rallies gave the Badgers a puncher’s chance to pull out upset victories.
Wisconsin and Minnesota’s first quarter statistics are the antithesis of one another. The Gophers have a plus 50 differential in the first period, which is near the top of the Big Ten, while the Badgers’ minus 16 first quarter differential puts them in the bottom three of the conference.
While the Badgers are the only team in the conference to have a losing record at home, Wisconsin’s struggles have seldom been self-inflicted. They actually lead the conference with only 11.1 turnovers per game.
That stellar ball control has actually been a saving grace for the Badgers.
“It could have been worse,” Kelsey said after her team’s defeat to the Terrapins. “But we kept our turnovers down. We had a couple of drops, a couple of finishes around the basket but we have to build on this and get ready for Minnesota.”
Senior point guard Dakota Whyte has played more minutes of late alongside redshirt freshman point guard Roichelle Marble, which is one reason for the Badgers’ improved turnover numbers.
Whyte admits that Marble is “the future” for UW at the point guard position and Kelsey has noted on multiple occasions how impressed she has been by both Marble and sophomore Cayla McMorris’ play this year.
McMorris and Marble both haven’t been around for many losses to Minnesota, so the team’s losing streak to their rivals probably doesn’t mean much. But to quote football coach Herm Edwards, “you play to win the game,” and the Badgers are in dire need of a victory.
Tip-off is Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Kohl Center.
