Wisconsin Basketball Keys to Victory vs Chicago State

After taking a week off for final exams, Wisconsin basketball returns to the hardwood Friday night. The Badgers will conclude their non-conference portion of the schedule with a game against Chicago State. Tip time is 7 PM on BTN. Can the Badgers end their successful non-conference schedule on a high note? Here is a preview of Friday night’s game.

Wisconsin Basketball Should Continue to Feed the Post

This will be another game Steven Crowl and Tyler Wahl should have success in. Chicago State will likely not have a player bigger than 6’7 in their rotation. With anywhere from a 2-5 inch height advantage, I would like to see more set plays for these two.

With Big Ten play beginning in a few weeks, the only way you will have success is of you have a good post game. After the Providence game, the Wisconsin basketball posts have played really well outside of the Arizona game. This is a group that can play with any other post players in the Big Ten. It will be interesting to see if Gard tries to expose Chicago State right away.

Control the Tempo and Pace of Play

It seems like Chicago State wants to make this game ugly and fast pace. They average 14 turnovers a game. However, Chicago State went into Evanston a few weeks ago and beat the Wildcats 75-73. In that game, they forced Northwestern to commit 14 turnovers. That is almost unheard of for a Chris Collins led team.

Wisconsin basketball does have tendency to play a little too fast sometimes. It results in slpoppy turnovers and poor stretches in a game. The Badgers just have to play their style and make Chicago State defend them for 30 seconds. If they are able to do that, this game won’t have drama.

Stay Involved From the Tip

I thought the Badgers did a great job in the Jacksonville State game avoiding a slow start. It look them a few minutes to get into the game, but once they did, I thought they were efficient on offense.

Finals should be done and it should be just basketball for the next month plus. However, I am not expecting a big crowd either because of the holidays. Like the Jacksonville State game, Wisconsin basketball can’t be caught sleeping.

Unlike Jacksonville State, if the Badgers are caught sleeping, Chicago State can beat this team, After seeing what they did to Northwestern, Chicago State will come onto this game believing they will win. I wouldn’t blame them. It’s getting more difficult to win in Evanston over the last few seasons.

As I mentioned earlier, if the Badgers avoid the slow start and play their game, this should be a fairly easy end to the non-conference season.

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