The Wisconsin Badgers take on their second-straight opponent on a neutral court, as they meet up with the Providence Friars in San Diego for the Rady Children’s Invitational on Thanksgiving Day. Tip-off is at 4:30 pm on Fox Sports 1.
The Badgers took one on the chin last Friday against the BYU Cougars, as the 98-70 loss dropped Wisconsin out of the Top 25. A disjointed defense and an inefficient offense doomed the Badgers, especially in the second half against the more athletic Cougars.
What should
Badger fans know about the Providence Friars?
Opponent Preview
Kim English’s Providence squad owns a 4-2 record, including a 77-65 win over Penn State on November 22nd. The Friars average 93.2 points per game, which is their highest points per game total since the 1990-91 season. However, their defense ranks 281st in opponent points per game, having allowed 82.5. As a result, they rank 92nd in KenPom’s defensive efficiency.
Providence will be the quickest team the Badgers have faced this season, as the Friars rank 25th in KenPom’s adjusted tempo.
The Friars’ go-to man is former North Texas and Vanderbilt guard Jason Edwards. Edwards leads Providence with 19.3 points and 4.0 assists per game. Edwards leads a talented Providence backcourt that also features transfer guard Jaylin Sellers, sophomore Ryan Mela, and freshman Stefan Vaaks.
Sellers is second on the Friars’ team with 16.0 points per game and shoots 90.9 percent from the free-throw line. Mela, who made the All-Big East first-year team last year, leads the Friars with 1.5 steals per game. Vaaks, a 6-foot-7 guard from Estonia, started the previous two games for Providence but has averaged 14.8 points per game this season and led the Friars with 15 points against Penn State last Saturday.
In the frontcourt, the Friars start Oswin Erhunmwunse, a 6-foot-10 athletic forward from Nigeria. Erhunmwunse has started all six games for Providence this season and leads the team with 8.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game.
Score Prediction
Thursday’s game will be the first time this season that we will see how well the Badgers respond to adversity. Like BYU, Providence is another athletic team whose length could once again disrupt Wisconsin. For the Badgers to win this game, they have to move the ball better, get open shots, and avoid getting into too many isolation ball situations. Unlike BYU, the Friars are a weaker defensive unit.
Therefore, I predict we see a bounce-back performance from this Badgers’ unit and get back into the win column.
Prediction: Wisconsin 87-79.
