'Sconnie Six Pack 12/9 - What's happening tonight?
Enjoy the first half of today's six-pack before your favorite teams get into action tonight
What’s brewing?
6:00 PM: #2 Wisconsin women’s hockey begins two-game series against Minnesota State tonight
8:00 PM: Wisconsin men’s hockey looks to pull an upset in the Border Battle against #2 Minnesota
9:00 PM: The Milwaukee Bucks are in Dallas for a late-night matchup against Luka Doncic and the Mavericks
#2 Wisconsin women’s hockey begins two-game series against Minnesota State tonight
The Wisconsin Badgers women's hockey team is in Mankato, Minnesota this weekend for a two-game series against the Minnesota State Mavericks. Wisconsin (13-2-1, 10-1-1 WCHA) and Minnesota State (7-9-0, 5-9-0 WCHA) drop the puck tonight at 6:00 PM CST. You can watch tonight's WCHA conference matchup on B1G+.
Historically, Wisconsin has dominated Minnesota State - leading the all-time series 95-3-3. The Badgers defeated the Mavericks in each of last season's four matchups, winning by a combined score of 20-7.
The Mavericks are without their best player this season. Captain Anna Wilgren, who redshirted last season to participate in the US National Team Selection Camp ahead of the 2022 Olympic Games, suffered a season-ending injury in the third game of the season.
Junior forward Jamie Nelson is leading the way for Minnesota State as the Mavericks try to replace Wilgren's production. Nelson has recorded 14 points in as many games this season and is her team's second-leading goal-scorer.
Wisconsin men’s hockey looks to pull an upset in the Border Battle against #2 Minnesota
The Wisconsin men's hockey team (7-9-0, 1-7-0 Big Ten) drops the puck in the Border Battle against the #3 Minnesota Golden Gophers (13-5-0, 8-2-0 Big Ten) tonight. You can watch tonight's game at 8:00 PM CST on the Big Ten Network.
After winning one of two games against the #5 Michigan Wolverines last weekend, the Badgers will be tested against a top-ranked team once again. To upset Minnesota, Wisconsin will need to capitalize on what may be only a few power play opportunities.
Minnesota is the least penalized team in the country, so Wisconsin will need to score at a higher rate on the power play than it did against Michigan. After scoring on only one of 12 power play opportunities against Michigan, Badgers head coach Tony Granato said on his weekly radio show that his team was "sloppy on the details," including their zone entry, on the power play.
On the other side of the special teams game, Wisconsin's penalty kill has been outstanding lately, killing 42 of its last 47 penalties. The Badgers held the Wolverines' power play - the seventh-best in the nation - scoreless on eight opportunities.
The Milwaukee Bucks are in Dallas for a late-night matchup against Luka Doncic and the Mavericks
The Milwaukee Bucks (18-6) play against the Dallas Mavericks (13-11) tonight in a matchup of two of the NBA's top-five scoring defenses. Luka Doncic and the Mavericks last played Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks on November 27th in Milwaukee - a game the Bucks won by a score of 124-115 in which Milwaukee's Grayson Allen made his first seven three-pointers. Tonight's game tips-off at 9:00 PM CST and will be televised on ESPN and Bally Sports Wisconsin.
Giannis and Luka will surely put on a show tonight. In their previous matchup, the two all-stars combined for 57 points. They are the top-two leading scorers in the NBA by points per game.
Luka does it all for the Mavericks. He leads his team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals per game. Milwaukee will look to force Doncic into committing errors tonight. When the Mavericks traveled to Fiserv Forum, Doncic turned the ball over a season-high six times.
Yesterday, the Bucks assigned rookie MarJon Beauchamp to its G-League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd. Beauchamp has fallen out of Milwaukee's rotation as of late after a stint as a starter. The Herd do not play again until Wednesday, December 14th, so Beauchamp may have been assigned for a short-stint to get additional practice time.