UW-madison 61, UW-milwaukee 40 Final

[ChicosBailBonds]

Saturday's game is going to be interesting.  A lot of similar scores when you look at where games were played (I have no doubt MU would beat UW-M by 20+ at home).

Our strengths are their weaknesses and vice versa. 

[cheebs09]

Watched some of the game, they seem a lot more turnover prone than usual, and not just this game. Also, it will depend what Nankivil we see. He can be a 20 point scorer or totally invisible in games in seems like.

[MUfan12]

Guards will have to pull their weight rebounding the basketball. UW's best perimeter shooters are two of their bigs- Nankivil and Leuer. Could be a lot of long rebounds for the guards.

[thebadge10]

UW is #1 in the country in assist/turnover ratio!  Not sure what you are watching!

[cheebs09]

Hmmm, just looked it up and they are. Sorry didn't really check stats, just seemed like it from watching the games that they turned it over more. I must have been just looking at things hoping they were turning it over more. Saturday is going to be a tough game. Hopefully DJO can start off hot and get us going. Butler getting some fouls on Leuer would be helpful too if Leuer guards him.

[MerrittsMustache]

MU-Wisco should be an interesting game, as always, but each team's game against UWM means absolutely nothing in regards to their match-up with each other.

[NersEllenson]

If MU plays the way it did against TX Chorpus Christi....it will definitely beat the Badgers.  Offensively and defensively that was by far the team's best performance of the year.  I anticipate MU's athleticism, and quickness to cause UW a number of problems - particularily as UW tries to execute offensively.

[Mobot]

I think the Badgers are going to kill us with their three point shooting.  Buzz has MU overcommitting the weakside help which makes it difficult for our players to get back to their man when the ball gets reversed.

Cadougan's lack of quickness and conditioning (compared to Smith and Buycks) compounds this problem, which is why he is not getting the minutes that so many of you would like to see.

[dsfire]

UW's been very streaky with their 3-point shooting.  If they shoot like they did against NC State, they could kill us.  If they shoot like they did against Boston College, our weak perimeter defense may not be a concern.

They were definitely uncharacteristically sloppy in terms of turning the ball over last night (of course, they were still +2 on turnover margin so they weren't looking like Michigan State out there).  That could definitely play into our favor on Saturday.  On the other hand, they doubled up UWM on the boards, which definitely does not play into our favor.

I think a lot of it depends on our offense.  If we get shut down for long stretches, it'll be hard to dig out of a hole against UW.

[Daniel]

One of the keys will be our bigs staying out of foul trouble.  Both Otule and Gardner get called a lot.  We need them in the game whenever Buzz wants to go big.

[M@RQUETTEW@RRIORS]

Hmmm, just looked it up and they are. Sorry didn't really check stats, just seemed like it from watching the games that they turned it over more. I must have been just looking at things hoping they were turning it over more. Saturday is going to be a tough game. Hopefully DJO can start off hot and get us going. Butler getting some fouls on Leuer would be helpful too if Leuer guards him.

Butler is too quick for Leuer.  I dont think Leuer will guard Butler.

[Stretchdeltsig]

Whether its Butler, Crowder, Gardner or Otule, the key is that they shoot into Leuer to induce Leuer to foul.  "Take Leuer out of the game" by making him sit in foul trouble will be the determining factor of the game for MU.

[79Warrior]

If MU plays the way it did against TX Chorpus Christi....it will definitely beat the Badgers.  Offensively and defensively that was by far the team's best performance of the year.  I anticipate MU's athleticism, and quickness to cause UW a number of problems - particularily as UW tries to execute offensively.

Yeah, that is a fair comparision. Our play against Corpus whatever and how we play against Wisconsin.

[GGGG]

UW's perimeter defense was really impressive yesterday.  UWM went for a good dozen minutes in the first half getting nothing but contested shots.  UWM hit those shots v. MU because our defense isn't nearly as good.

Good thing UW has been real streaky from the outside though.

[cheebs09]

Butler is too quick for Leuer.  I dont think Leuer will guard Butler.

True, but that brings up the question who will Leuer guard? I don't see him guarding Otule if Nankivil is in the game. Crowder if he is in the game instead of Otule? If we go three guards with Butler and Crowder, we could create a lot of mismatches for their frontline. However, Leuer is a matchup nightmare for us. He does well shooting over someone with a turnaround jumper and can shoot the three, and can pound it in inside. I would much rather let him shoot the three than get killed in the paint by him. I think if we can force Leuer to take a decent amount of threes and get the rebound, we will be in good shape.

I think we win if we can get Leuer in foul trouble or keep him from having a big game and limit offensive rebounds. I also think we have to shoot better from 3 than we have done so far this season, but we can win with just an average shooting game.