Louisville basketball: A quick preview of Cards’ match up with Wisconsin

Louisville basketball will face Wisconsin in the ACC/ Big Ten Challenge.

Louisville basketball got one step closer to rounding out it’s 2020-21 non-conference schedule on Thursday when it was announced that the Cardinals will travel to Wisconsin for the ACC/ Big Ten Challenge.

This will be the first time the Cardinals have faced the Badgers since hosting Wisconsin on December 28th, 1978 in a game Louisville won 70-53.

Louisville’s trip to Madison will be its first ever at Wisconsin, and the first game the Cardinals will play in the state of Wisconsin since a loss to Marquette in 2012.

This will be a tough match-up for a young Louisville team. Lemme tell you why.

Here are a few quick things to know about the 2020-21 Wisconsin Badgers.

Wisconsin is the defending Big Ten Champ

It feels like forever ago, but Wisconsin actually won its first Big Ten title since 2015 in March, and the Badgers had a legitimate chance at making a deep run in the postseason.

So much so that ESPN’s BPI simulated the NCAA Tournament and had the Badgers winning the National Title— Seriously.

The Badgers return their starting five

Outside of losing Kobe King, who abruptly left the team after starting 19 games and senior guard Brevin Prizl to graduation, Wisconsin returns the bulk of that championship team from a season ago.

The Badgers are going to start five seniors, including three redshirt seniors. Head coach Greg Gard has been in Madison for five seasons, and his first two recruiting classes are now talented and extremely dangerous.

Center Nate Reuvers is a stud

Senior center Nate Reuvers is an absolute problem up front, and everything that the Badgers do is going to go through him. Through three seasons, he is already fourth in school history in blocks.

Reuvers led the team in points and rebounds last season with 13.1 points and 4.5 boards. He will be a real handful and a good match-up against Malik Williams stretching the floor and knocking down threes and free throws at an efficient rate.

The Wisconsin backcourt is a fascinating match-up with Louisville

Lastly, the Wisconsin back court may be the best that the Cardinals see in a non-conference that includes a match-up with Kentucky.

Redshirt senior D’Mitrik Trice leads the Badgers from the point guard spot where he is a consistent playmaker. He averaged 9.8 points, 4.2 assists, and 4 boards last year.

Next to Trice in the backcourt is glue guy, senior Brad Davison. As a junior, the 6’4” guard averaged 9.9 points and 4.2 rebounds. Davison is a career 35 percent three-point shooter and fires up nearly five shots a game from beyond the arc.

This should serve as a really solid early season test for the back court of David Johnson and Carlik Jones.