Preview: Wisconsin Badgers prepare for youthful Marquette in annual I-94 showdown

The Wisconsin men’s basketball team renews one of college basketball's most storied rivalries, facing Marquette for the 132nd on Saturday.

Here is a look at both teams and a prediction for tonight's contest.

Marquette (5-4, 0-0 Big East) vs. Wisconsin (6-2, 1-0 Big Ten)

Date/Time – Saturday, December 6, 1 p.m.
Arena – Kohl Center
TV – FS1 (Jeff Levering and LaPhonso Ellis)
Radio – Badgers Radio Network (Matt Lepay and Brian Butch)
Coaches - Greg Gard at Wisconsin (219-119 in his 11th season). Shaka Smart at Marquette (103-45 in his 5th season; 375-187 in his 17th season)
Series – Wisconsin leads 71-60, including 41-18 in Madison
Point Spread – Wisconsin -10.5

The annual I-94 rivalry will happen tomorrow at a sold-out/red-out Kohl Center between Wisconsin and Marquette. Here's how to watch, listen, or stream the game, and some info on both teams #Badgers https://t.co/wt0fvIz7Bu
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) December 5, 2025

Wisconsin probable starters

2 Nick Boyd (6-3 Senior Guard, 20.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 3.3 apg)
7 Andrew Rohde (6-6 Senior Guard, 6.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.8 apg)
25 John Blackwell (6-4 Junior Guard, 19.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.6 apg)
31 Nolan Winter (6-11 Junior Forward, 13.1 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 1.6 apg)
32 Aleksas Bieliauskas (6-10 Freshman Forward, 3.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 0.5 apg)
Off the bench
0 Braeden Carrington (6-5 Senior Guard, 5.8 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 1.3 apg)
5 Jack Janicki (6-5 Sophomore Guard, 3.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 0.8 apg)
22 Austin Rapp (6-10 Sophomore Forward, 10.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.1 apg)
23 Will Garlock (7-0 Freshman Center, 0.8 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 1.9 apg)
Player to watch
Blackwell poured in 26 points, including 23 in the first half, against Northwestern and added 11 rebounds to earn his fourth career double-double. He became the 4th-fastest Badger since 2000 to reach 1,000 points on Wednesday

For the 132nd time... Wisconsin vs. Marquette.

Narrated by Kamari McGee pic.twitter.com/zwLgAfIjct
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) December 6, 2025

Marquette probable starters

0 Nigel James Jr. (6-0 Freshman Guard, 12.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3.7 apg)
2 Chase Ross (6-5 Senior Guard, 20.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.0 apg)
7 Zaide Lowery (6-5 Junior Guard, 7.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.6 apg)
12 Ben Gold (6-11 Senior Forward, 9.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 0.9 apg)
18 Caedin Hamilton (6-9 Sophomore Forward, 5.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 0.8 apg)
Off the bench
5 Tre Norman (6-5 Junior Guard, 3.7 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 0.6 apg)
10 Adrien Stevens (6-4 Freshman Guard, 5.3 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.3 apg)
13 Royce Parham (6-8 Sophomore Foward, 7.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 0.8 apg)
Player to watch
In the last two outings against Oklahoma and Valparaiso, James Jr. contributed 20.5 points, 4.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game while shooting 48.4 percent (15-of-31) from the floor.

Series notes

Separated by just 79 miles, Wisconsin and Marquette began its series in 1917, a 15-14 Wisconsin victory decided on a controversial free throw from All-American William Chandler in the final seconds. MU unsuccessfully protested that the corresponding foul had occurred after time expired. Chandler would later serve as the head coach at Marquette from 1930-51.

Marquette is Wisconsin's most played nonconference opponent and have played every year but one since the 1958-59 season. MU has met only DePaul more times (137) than Wisconsin in program history.

UW has won three of the last four match ups overall and each of the last three meetings in Madison.

Saturday's game will mark just the ninth time since 1998 that neither Wisconsin or Marquette is in the AP Top 25 at the time of the meeting.

In the Greg Gard era, UW is 5-4 vs. Marquette and is averaging 76.1 ppg in those nine meetings.

UW has scored at least 75 points and shot at least 42 percent from the field in each of the five wins.

Only three current Badgers have seen time against Marquette. Junior John Blackwell scored 17 points in last season's meeting.

Wisconsin notes

The Badgers are averaging 86.9 points per game and have scored 80+ points in six of their eight games this year. UW sports a 120.0 offensive rating per KenPom, which ranks 29th in the country and would be tied for the fourth-best mark in school history.

The Badgers rank 10th in the country in attempted 3-pointers, averging 33.0 attempts per game. UW have made double-digit triples in five contests, going 5-0 in such games.

The Badgers have scored double-digit fast break points for five-straight games. UW averages 15.9 fast break points per game, which ranks third in the Big Ten this season. Last year UW only averaged 7.14 fast break points per contest.

This season Wisconsin ranks second in the conference and ninth nationally in free throw percentage with a 79.7 percentage rate.

Marquette notes

Through games of Dec. 3, Ross ranks among the league leaders in scoring (1st, 20.3 ppg.), field goal percentage (3rd, .505), free throw percentage (9th, .797), assists (6th, 4.0 apg.), steals (t2nd, 2.00 spg.), assist-to-turnover ratio (14th, 1.80), and minutes played (2nd, 32.7 mpg.).

Lowery is playing nearly 10 more minutes per game and as a result has seen his scoring average jump from 4.1 points to 9.0 points per contest.

Hamilton, who averaged just 6.3 minutes per game as a reserve in 29 outings last year, has started all nine contests this season and is playing 19.4 minutes per night.

The freshman class of Nigel James Jr., Adrien Stevens, Josh Clark (redshirt) and Michael Phillips Jr. have combined to play an average of 57.8 minutes per game.

Prediction

It's hard to believe that this is a Quad-4 game for Wisconsin. That's how much of a struggle it has been for Marquette this season. The Golden Eagles are 107th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency, 72nd in adjusted defensive efficiency, 265th in three-point percentage, 283rd in effective field goal percentage, and 294th in field goal percentage.

Smart has resisted the urge to go into the transfer portal, preferring to recruit and develop them over the course of their careers. It's great for the long term (assuming he can keep them) but it causes growing pains in the short term. Not only has Marquette not beaten a power-conference team yet, but the Golden Eagles have lost to two sub.70 NET teams and needed overtime to beat the 221st team in the NET.

Gard initially resisted the portal but struck gold in 2023 with A.J. Storr, 2024 with John Tonje, and looks to have done it this year with Boyd, who is the only player in men's college basketball in the last 15 years to have 35 points, seven assists, seven rebounds and 0 turnovers in the same game. Boyd currently ranks second in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 20.9 points, and has logged 20+ points in five of his eight games this season. Gard isn't against developing high school recruits, but that's not where the game has headed. He's adapted and UW has been better because of it.

Objectively, Wisconsin has a clear advantage across the board. The Badgers are a better team and should win rather easily.

Prediction: Wisconsin by 17
Worgull's Prediction: 7-1 (3-5 ATS)
Points off Prediction: 84 (10.5 ppg)

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