Wisconsin basketball takes on Rutgers following a dominant 116-85 win over Iowa. Read more for a Wisconsin vs Rutgers prediction and preview.
The Badgers have won three in a row falling their three-game losing streak in early December. Meanwhile, Rutgers lost on Thursday 84-74 to Indiana, falling to an abysmal 8-6 record.
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The Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper experiment has not been going great for Rutgers. Bailey and Harper, who are almost guaranteed to be one-and-done and go in the top five of the 2025 NBA draft, have averaged 19.9 points per game and 22.6 points per game, respectively.
The defense has simply not been there for the Scarlet Knights, who have given up 79 or more points in all six of their losses. That does not fare well as they prepare to take on a Badger squad coming off a 116-point performance.
While some of their losses were to higher caliber programs like #9 Alabama and #20 Texas A&M, they have also lost to Princeton and Kennesaw State. To be fair to Rutgers, they played close games with both #9 Alabama and #20 Texas A&M, losing by 5 and 4 points, respectively. This Rutgers team is going to struggle to keep Wisconsin under 80 points, but they certainly have the offensive firepower to keep up.
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Wisconsin should try and replicate their performance against Iowa in every game they ever play. The Badgers were 21-for-31 from three-point land, setting a single-game record for most three-pointers made by any team in the Big 10. What is even more absurd is that Wisconsin’s bench was 10-11 on their three-pointers.
John Blackwell had a career-high 32 points. Blackwell has been instrumental to the offense. While John Tonje was the go-to player early on in the season, Tonje has slowed down. If Blackwell can continue his scoring prowess, the Badgers may now have two go-to guards.
One underrated performance was Max Klesmit. Klesmit had just eight points, which all came consecutively in the first half to give Wisconsin a lead. However, he took just five shots and had six assists. Klesmit has traditionally had a shooter-first mentality, but he has now shown the ability to move the ball around on the floor.
Wisconsin vs Rutgers prediction: Badgers by 18
While Wisconsin is favored by just 1.5 points, I expect them to blow by Rutgers. Head coach Greg Gard is going to be able to get his guys to stifle Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey. Badgers keep the momentum going in 2025.