Wisconsin basketball is set to take on Montana State at the Kohl Center on Thursday night.
The Wisconsin Badgers get ready to take on Montana State coming off a 24-point victory against Holy Cross. This is the first regular season matchup of the year for Montana State, a team that has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three seasons by winning the Big Sky Conference Tournament.
General Information
Teams: Wisconsin (1-0) and Montana State (0-0)
Tip Time: 7 p.m. CST (8 p.m. EST)
Watch: B1G+
Listen: Badger Radio Network
What to know about Montana State
Montana State won the Big Sky Conference Tournament last year despite going just 9-9 in conference play. The Bobcats then fell to Grambling State in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament.
Coming off their third straight tournament appearance, the Bobcats return three of their top four scorers from last year. Brandon Walker, Brian Goracke, and Patrick McMahon all averaged between 13 and 14 points per game last season. However, they did lose their top scorer from last year in Robert Ford III, who averaged 16 points per game.
Montana State loves to shoot. Last year, the Bobcats attempted more than 26 three pointers per game, connecting at a high clip of 37 percent. In Wisconsin’s win over holy cross, the Badgers fell behind by 16 points just four minutes into the game. In their first half struggles, they allowed Holy Cross to connect on 6 of 13 three point attempts, many of which came in transition. Montana State’s ability to shoot the three may determine the outcome of this game.
Latest on Wisconsin basketball
Wisconsin has started slowly in both their exhibition against UW-River Falls and their opening win against Holy Cross. Wisconsin pulled to within one point at the end of the first half against Holy Cross, and dominated the second half to win by a final score of 85-61. Expect Head Coach Greg Gard to have his squad energized from the tip tonight.
John Tonje, the transfer from Missouri, has been a prolific scorer to begin the season for the Badgers. Tonje posted a team-high 23 points in the season opener, and was 6-for-11 on his shots. Tonje got to the free throw line on four separate occasions, knocking down all eight attempts.
Nolan Winter also impressed, scoring a career-high 15 points on a perfect 6-for-6 night from the field, including a couple of threes. Winter and Steven Crowl, both an even seven feet tall, will have a size advantage over the Bobcats, whose tallest player BJ Kolly clocks in at 6-10.