FACTS & STATS: Site: Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) -- Evanston, Illinois. Television: Local. Home Record: Wisconsin 16-2, Northwestern 5-10. Away Record: Wisconsin 9-2, Northwestern 3-10. Neutral Record: Wisconsin 0-0, Northwestern 0-0. Conference Record: Wisconsin 15-2, Northwestern 1-16. Series Record: Wisconsin leads, 105-60.

GAME NOTES: The 10th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers will attempt to claim the outright Big Ten Conference regular-season title today as they take on the Northwestern Wildcats in Evanston. Wisconsin clinched at least a share of the conference crown with a 77-41 romp over Penn State on Wednesday. The victory was the sixth in a row for the Badgers, who are 25-4 overall. As for Northwestern, it has lost two straight games and nine of the last 10 overall. On Tuesday, the Wildcats dropped a 67-62 decision to Iowa, and they are now just 1-16 against Big Ten competition. Wisconsin recorded a 62-50 victory over Northwestern on January 19th, and the Badgers own a commanding 105-60 lead in the all-time series.

Wisconsin is not an explosive offensive team by any means, as it is scoring a modest 68.3 ppg. Fortunately, the club excels at the defensive end, limiting the opposition to 54.4 ppg on 38.2 percent shooting from the field. In addition, the Badgers are grabbing more than five rebounds per game more than their foes. Brian Butch is the leading scorer for the team with his 12.4 ppg, and he is also pulling down 6.7 rpg. Trevon Hughes is netting 12.1 ppg for Wisconsin, and Marcus Landry adds 11.2 ppg. In the romp over Penn State last time out, Landry tallied 15 points. Butch added 12 points for the Badgers, who shot 52.7 percent from the floor while limiting the Nittany Lions to 29.6 percent field goal efficiency. A 39-25 rebounding advantage also led to the wide margin of victory.

Northwestern is only scoring 62.5 ppg this season while allowing 68.5 ppg to the opposition. Kevin Coble leads the Wildcats with 16.0 ppg, and Craig Moore adds 13.4 ppg. The third and final double-digit scorer in the lineup is Michael Thompson with his 11.5 ppg. Northwestern lost to Iowa earlier this week despite finishing with 13 more field goal attempts than the Hawkeyes. The Wildcats only turned the ball over seven times, but they were outrebounded and permitted the Hawkeyes to connect on 12-of-23 three-point attempts. Coble tallied 15 points in the clash, but his 6-of-17 shooting performance from the floor was far from impressive. As for Michael Thompson, he tallied 14 points.

There is no question that Wisconsin will knock off Northwestern today on the road. Expect the Badgers to jump on top early and cruise to victory.

Predicted Outcome

Wisconsin 77, Northwestern 62