Purdue Boilermakers vs Wisconsin Badgers Basketball: Preview and Prediction

On Tuesday the No. 10 ranked Purdue Boilermakers will travel to Madison, Wisconsin to face the No. 18 ranked Wisconsin Badgers in what should be a hard-fought Big Ten battle.

The Badgers are coming into this matchup with a record of 15-5 and 5-3 in Big Ten play, and are coming off a tough loss to a very pesky Penn State team who has loved playing Cinderella against ranked teams this season. 

They are led by 6'10" forward Jon Leuer, who is averaging 19.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and shooting over 45 percent from beyond the arc.

Leuer creates a lot of matchup problems for opponents by extending the court and playing well in both the post and on the perimeter. 

Along with Leuer, the Badgers are also very dependent on junior guard Jordan Taylor. Taylor, the 6'1" guard out of Bloomington, MN, is averaging 17.4 points per game along with 4.5 assists and rebounds.

Taylor is shooting 45 percent from the field and is a guard that needs to be watched heavily. 

For the Boilermakers, E'Twaun Moore is still in his slump, but the 6'3" senior guard is likely to break out of it soon. It would definitely be a big boost to the Boilermakers' confidence if this happened against the Badgers.

With Moore's recent struggles, the Boilermakers have been blessed with number of players stepping up to fill his shoes.  

Lewis Jackson and Ryne Smith are both coming into their prime right when it counts and providing sparks offensively.

The Boilermakers have also given JaJuan Johnson some help in the paint recently, with the continuing improvement of Travis Carroll and the surprising performance of Patrick Bade against Minnesota.

The Badgers are a very large team and play a physical brand of basketball under Bo Ryan. 

The Boilermakers will need to be on their toes defensively and shut down the Wisconsin big men while keeping tabs on Jordan Taylor.

If the Boilermakers expect to win this game they will need to have a good showing by their post players JaJuan Johnson, DJ Byrd, Patrick Bade and Travis Carroll.

This should be a physical battle, but I think the Boilermakers will just be too much for the Badgers.  

JaJuan Johnson is playing out of his mind and will be tough for Wisconsin to guard, and with Lewis Jackson and Ryne Smith both raining three-pointers, it could be a long night for the Badgers.

This game will be a very close battle.

Purdue 67, Wisconsin 61

James Evens serves as a National Featured Columnist for college football and basketball as well as the FC for the Purdue Boilermakers. Follow him on Twitter or like him on Facebook.