Madison, WI (My Sportsbook) - The 18th-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers have traveled to Madison for a Big Ten Conference battle with the Wisconsin Badgers.

Tubby Smith has done an outstanding job of turning the Minnesota program around, and his team is 15-1 this season. The lone loss came in the league opener against Michigan State, but the Gophers have beaten three straight conference foes since that setback. On Sunday, they crushed a solid Penn State squad by a 79-59 final, and they carry a 2-0 mark in true road games into tonight's tilt.

As for Wisconsin, it is 8-1 at home and 12-4 overall, so the Badgers certainly won't be intimidated by the nationally-ranked Gophers. On Sunday, Wisconsin dropped a 65-52 decision to Purdue, dropping the Badgers to 3-1 in conference action.

Minnesota owns a 91-84 series lead over Wisconsin, but the Badgers have won the last six meetings.

There is only one double-digit scorer in the lineup for Minnesota, as Lawrence Westbrook is posting a modest 12.8 ppg. Still, the Golden Gophers are averaging a solid 72.1 ppg this season thanks to contributions from many different players. Defensively, they are holding opponents to 61.0 ppg on 38.4 percent shooting from the field. Devron Bostick was tremendous for Minnesota in the victory over Penn State on Sunday, as he scored 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field in only 16 minutes of action off the bench. Paul Carter contributed 14 points in a reserve role, and Westbrook tallied 13 points. The Golden Gophers connected on 62.5 percent of their field goal attempts, including a staggering 9-of-9 showing from three-point range.

Wisconsin is far from explosive at the offensive end, as the team is only scoring 66.4 ppg. Fortunately, the club has been able to limit its opponents to 59.2 ppg on 42.0 percent shooting from the field. Marcus Landry paces the Badgers with 12.8 ppg, and Trevon Hughes is close behind with his 12.1 ppg. As for Jason Bohannon, he provides 11.2 ppg. In the 13-point loss to Purdue on Sunday, Joe Krabbenhoft tallied 13 points for Wisconsin, but he was the only player on the team to reach double figures in scoring. The Badgers only connected on 37.5 percent of their field goal attempts and were outscored 13-4 from the foul line. A 34-29 rebounding disadvantage also hurt the cause.