On Thursday, No. 20 Wisconsin heads to Williams Arena to take on Minnesota. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. EST and you can catch it on ESPN. The Badgers beat the Golden Gophers 45-44 on Jan. 26 and are 4-3 against them over the last four years.

Wisconsin is in third place in the Big Ten, Minnesota is in sixth place.

In a 65-62 triumph over Michigan on Feb. 9, Ben Brust put up 14 points for the Badgers. He contributes a team-high 2.6 assists per game and 1 steals per game. For the Golden Gophers, Austin Hollins finished with 16 points in the 57-53 loss to Illinois on Feb. 10. He averages 11.2 points per game in addition to a team-best 2 steals per game. Minnesota will hope to exploit their strengths, which include: offensive rebounding percentage at 46.3 percent and free throw rate at 42.2 percent.

Minnesota StatSmack

  • A for effort, but Wisconsin has emerged victorious against Minnesota the last four times they've played.
  • The Wisconsin three-point leader (Ben Brust, 52 three-pointers) has more three-pointers than the Minnesota three-point leader (Andre Hollins, 48 three-pointers).
  • Wisconsin has more wins over the last 5 years than Minnesota (143 vs. 120).
  • Wisconsin is better under pressure, and has defeated Minnesota in six out of the last nine games decided by five points or fewer.
  • Wisconsin is ranked higher than Minnesota in the Big Ten (No. 3 vs. No. 6).
  • Boom! Wisconsin defeated Minnesota by 1 point the last time they played (Jan 26, 2013).
  • Minnesota has to pay up to win. The coach for Wisconsin has a much lower base salary than Minnesota ($1,550,000 vs. $1,861,000).
  • Wisconsin has a much lower in-state cost per year according to Kiplinger than Minnesota ($17,777 vs. $20,977).
  • Wisconsin has a better conference record than Minnesota this season (8-3 vs. 5-6).