Kohl Center – Madison, WI
Tip-off: Thursday, 9:00 p.m. ET
Line: Wisconsin -15.5, Total: 119.5

Nebraska looks to pick up a signature win to put on its resume on Thursday night when it visits No. 7 Wisconsin in Madison.

Nebraska (4-9 ATS) was expected to be a team that could contend in the Big Ten, but right now, the Cornhuskers aren’t playing the up to those expectations. However, head coach Tim Miles team was in a similar boat last season, but then the team responded and made it to the NCAA Tournament. After allowing 70 points in back-to-back losses to open conference play, Nebraska has allowed only 46.0 PPG in consecutive home wins versus Rutgers and Illinois. Wisconsin (10-7 ATS) enters this game coming off a surprising 67-62 upset loss at 15-point underdog Rutgers, where the team lost PG Traevon Jackson indefinitely to an ankle injury. Star C Frank Kaminsky missed that game due to concussion symptoms, but has been upgraded to probable for this contest. For the Badgers, this is a game that could get the team on the right track, as Nebraska has struggled against quality teams this season, going 2-8 ATS versus schools with a winning record. But Wisconsin is only 1-8 ATS at home after playing as a road favorite in the past two seasons. These schools met only once last season on March 9, 2014, with the Cornhuskers jump-starting their season with a 77-68 home victory where they outshot their opponent 52% FG to 43% FG.

Can Wisconsin roll to an easy victory on Thursday night? For the latest college basketball picks, check out The Platinum Sheet for all the StatFox Experts selections every week throughout the entire 2013-14 season. The experts have caught fire since Dec. 23, combining for a 57% ATS mark (45-34) in college basketball Best Bets. StatFox Gary is 10-5 ATS during this timeframe to improve to 62% ATS (28-17) for the season. StatFox Brian is 9-3 ATS in Best Bets since Dec. 28 to improve to 57% ATS (26-20) this season, while StatFox Scott is on an 11-4 ATS Best Bets run since Dec. 23.

Nebraska has really struggled on the offensive end of the court, as the team ranks 192nd in the nation in rebounding (34.7 RPG), 191st in shooting (43.4% FG), 219th in scoring (65.9 PPG) and 311th in passing (10.3 APG), while committing 13.8 turnovers per game. But this is a very strong defensive team that allows only 60.7 PPG (51st in nation) on 37.8% FG (23rd in NCAA) and 27.6% threes (13th in nation). The Cornhuskers have one of the best scoring duos in the nation with SG Terran Petteway (18.9 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.2 SPG, 1.3 BPG) and SF Shavon Shields (17.1 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 2.1 APG) combining to average 36.0 PPG. Neither guy shoots the ball very well from behind the arc (Petteway 34% threes, Shields 24% threes), but both players tallied 26 points in the upset over the Badgers last season. Petteway made 7-of-16 FG and 11-of-14 FT with 10 rebounds in that meeting, while Shields was 10-of-17 FG and 6-of-7 FT. For Nebraska to pull off another upset, it must get contribution from someone else. PF Walter Pitchford (7.7 PPG, 4.9 RPG) will have a tough task trying to slow down Kaminsky, but he will have to be a presence on the offensive end of the court, just like last season when he dropped 15 points (5-of-7 FG, 3-of-5 threes) with five rebounds in the win versus Wisconsin.

The Badgers have been a solid offensive team this season, ranking 19th in the nation in shooting (48.8% FG), 60th in scoring (73.5 PPG) and 154th in assists (13.0 APG) while committing the fewest turnovers in the nation (8.3 TOPG). On defense, Wisconsin has been suffocating with holding opponents to 54.9 PPG (7th in NCAA) on 40.7% FG and 35.0% threes. Leading the way for the Badgers is All-American candidate C Frank Kaminsky (16.9 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 53 % FG), who is one of the most difficult matchups in college basketball. He has the ability to step out and hit from long-range (36% threes, but he has all kinds of moves on the low block as well. It will be interested how many minutes that he plays after sitting out with a concussion, because even with four fouls in last year's meeting, he still tallied 14 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and three assists in 26 minutes. If Kaminsky is on top of his game, he attracts attention away from frontcourt mates SF Sam Dekker (12.4 PPG, 4.6 RPG and 1.2 APG) and PF Nigel Hayes 12.2 PPG, 7.1 RPG and 1.9 APG). Hayes came off the bench versus Nebraska last year with 12 points (5-of-6 FG) in just 19 minutes before fouling out. Dekker did not play well versus the Cornhuskers, scoring only six points on 3-of-9 FG with two rebounds. With PG Traevon Jackson (9.4 PPG, 2.9 APG, 1.1 SPG) out for a significant amount of time, that will put more pressure on SG Josh Gasser (7.5 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 41 % threes) to step up and hit the outside shot. Backup PG Bronson Koenig (4.9 PPG, 2.1 APG) will fill the void for Jackson at the point where he's posted an impressive 4.5 Ast/TO ratio this season with 36 assists and only eight turnovers. Koenig had 12 points (5-of-7 FG, 2-of-4 threes) and three assists in a career-high 31 minutes in Sunday's loss at Rutgers.