The Basics

Who: No. 17 Wisconsin Badgers vs. Idaho State
Where: Madison, Wis.; Kohl Center (17,2871)
When: Wed., Dec. 7; 7p.m. CT
Live Stream ONLY: watchESPN
All-Time Series: Wisconsin leads 1-0
Last Meeting: UW won, 60-58, on Dec. 9, 2008 (in Madison, Wis.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Idaho State Bengals (1-7)

G Ethan Telfair — Sr. 6-0, 175 (19.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 6.2 apg)
G Brandon Boyd — Fr. 5-11, 170 (14.3 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.2 apg)
G Geno Luzcando —  Jr. 6-3, 200 (11.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.2 apg)
F Robert Jones — Jr. 6-8, 195 (6.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 0.9 apg)
C Novak Topalovic — So. 7-0, 230 (9.8 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 1.5 apg)

Wisconsin Badgers (7-2)

G Bronson Koenig — Sr. 6-3, 190 (15.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.7 apg)
G Zak Showalter — Sr. 6-3, 185 (6.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.2 apg)
F Nigel Hayes — Sr. 6-8, 240 (13.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 3.8 apg)
F Vitto Brown — Sr. 6-8, 235 (7.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.0 apg)
C Ethan Happ — So. 6-10, 232 (13.7 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 2.4 apg)

Biggest Matchup: Ethan Telfair vs. Zak Showalter

Chances are most Badgers fans know nothing about Ethan Telfair going in to the matchup against Idaho State. The hope for Zak Showalter is that is exactly how things stay after the game.

At just 6-feet tall, Telfair isn’t the biggest guy on the court, but he does it all for the Bengals. He leads the team in scoring, is third on the team in rebounding and distributes over six assists per game as well. If the Bengals are to have any chance, Telfair has to be the one doing the scoring and dishing.

Showalter is Wisconsin’s lock-down defender at times and will likely draw this assignment defensively. Can he handle the shifty and crafty guard? It sure helps that Showalter is tied for second on the team with six steals so far this season.

The additional question is, will Showalter also be able to make Telfair work on the defensive end by hitting some shots and becoming a part of UW’s offense more than he has in the past? One thing we do know is that Showalter will take care of the ball, holding a team-best 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio heading in to this game.

3 Numbers to Know

— 13: That is the number of home games won by the Badgers under head coach Greg Gard. UW’s overall record since he was named to the head post is 13-2 at the Kohl Center. Home court advantage worked well against the likes of Syracuse and Oklahoma last week, expect much of the same here against one of the worst teams in D1 basketball.

— 2: That is the number three-pointers attempted by Nigel Hayes in the last three games. It should come as no surprise it also has coincided with him going nuts from the field, shooting an incredible 58.6 percent over the last three games. Perhaps also related, Hayes has hit 18 of 24 free throw attempts in those three games as well. Simply put, the less of Hayes we see jacking up triples and the more of Hayes we see taking on cats down low the better. Oh and did we mention that this is just the second overall meeting between these two teams? Yep, indeed it is.

— -9.7: That is Idaho State’s rebounding margin heading in to this game. If you are a Badgers fan, this is good news, as Wisconsin is fourth in the country heading in to tonight’s contest with a +13.7 rebounding margin on the season. Could we see a repeat of the day against Georgetown? The numbers certainly suggest it is UW’s stat to own.

Prediction

Wisconsin 88, Idaho State 58

Because I’m a big college sports geek, I have already seen Idaho State play, and it wasn’t pretty. Outside of Ethan Telfair this team doesn’t present much of a challenge for Wisconsin. The only worry is maybe this team looks forward to its matchup against Marquette on the weekend. I don’t see Happ, Hayes and Koenig letting this team do that.

In fact, this is a game that likely sees a deep rotation to help players like Brevin Pritzl and D’Mitrick Trice shine. Wisconsin wins easy and rolls in to Milwaukee on a 4-game win streak.