VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova's final non-conference regular season matchup brings it to a familiar destination against an unfamiliar opponent Friday night. The Wildcats (8-2 overall, 0-0 BIG EAST) meet Wisconsin (7-3 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) in Milwaukee at 8 p.m. eastern time.
 
The game is set for Fiserv Forum, the home of the Marquette Golden Eagles. Friday's clash is the second half of a basketball doubleheader in the Milwaukee Hoops Showdown. Milwaukee hosts South Dakota State in the opener that tips at 5 p.m. eastern time.
 
The Wildcats are 1-5 lifetime at Fiserv Forum, where they will return to meet the Golden Eagles on Saturday, Jan. 10 (2:30 p.m.).
 
This is just the third all-time meeting between the Badgers and Wildcats. The first came at the Maui Classic in 1995, a 66-58 Villanova victory. The more recent clash came in Buffalo in 2017, when Wisconsin ended the Wildcats' dreams of a second straight NCAA Tournament title with a 65-62 win in the second round.
 
Friday night's battle will air nationally on Fox with Tim Brando and Jim Jackson on the call. Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby will also be on site for the audio description on the Villanova Sports Network on IHeart (Sirius XM channel 386).
 
The Wildcats have been idle since posting a 79-61 win Saturday at Finneran Pavilion over Pittsburgh. Among the highlights of that afternoon were 20 assists on 26 field goals with only three turnovers.
 
"When you have young guards," said Villanova head coach Kevin Willard, "you have to get them to understand what works reading defenses. We saw a monster drop coverage at Michigan. That size is something they've never seen before. (Against Pitt), we saw more switching.
 
"It's just getting them used to what defenses are giving them. And we still need to do a much better job when teams are switching on us."
 
Villanova's primary ballhandlers have settled in nicely. On Monday, Acaden Lewis was tabbed BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for the third time and leads the conference in assists per game (5.6 apg). Sophomore Bryce Lindsay paces the Wildcats in scoring at 17.2 points per game and has 23 assists with just eight turnovers thus far. Graduate transfer Devin Askew has averaged 13.3 ppg in his last three outings.
 
One area where the Wildcats were hurt on Saturday was on the backboards. The Panthers enjoyed a 36-27 edge on the glass and that led to a 17-8 advantage on second chance points. Through 10 games, Villanova outrebounds its opponents 37.5-32.0 but that will be tested the rest of the way, beginning Friday night.
 
The Badgers aren't the same slower tempo team they were when these squads last met. Under head coach Greg Gard, Wisconsin averages 85.1 points per game and has shot 217 free throws in 10 outings thus far – 21.7 per contest. One of its seven wins was a 96-76 win over Villanova's BIG EAST rival, Marquette.
 
The Wildcats will have a quick turnaround following this matchup as they open the BIG EAST portion of their schedule on Tuesday night at the Prudential Center against red-hot Seton Hall (10-1 overall). That game will tip at 7 p.m. and air nationally on the NBC Sports Network and stream on Peacock.