PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers men's basketball team (14-9, 8-5 Big Ten) heads to Madison this weekend to take on the No. 14 Wisconsin Badgers for a 2 p.m. (ET) tipoff on Saturday.
No. 14 Wisconsin represents the third straight game against a ranked foe in a stretch of six straight games against ranked teams, all of them ranked No. 16 or better in the nation.

Success against ranked teams

 The last week saw RU defeat No. 13 Michigan State (84-63) and No. 16 Ohio State (66-64) in succession. The wins represented the first time that RU defeated ranked teams in back-to-back games since 2008 (No. 18 Villanova on Jan. 23 and No. 13 Pittsburgh on Jan. 26).

Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell had now defeated 11 ranked foes as the head coach of the Scarlet Knights.

He moved past Tom Young for the most ranked wins for a coach in Rutgers program history. Pikiell has claimed wins over No. 1 Purdue, No. 9 Maryland, No. 13 Michigan State, No. 13 Illinois, No. 15 Seton Hall, No. 16 Ohio State, No. 16 Ohio State, No. 20 Penn State, No. 22 Iowa and No. 22 Seton Hall.

This season, RU is 3-0 against ranked Big Ten teams (No. 1 Purdue, No. 13 MSU, No. 16 OSU), with the lone ranked loss coming to No. 23 Seton Hall. The Wisconsin game is their first road game against a Big Ten ranked foe this season.

Last time out

On Wednesday, the Scarlet Knights overcame an eight-point deficit with 3:48 to play and finished the game on a 10-0 run to earn a 66-64 win over No. 16 Ohio State.

In a game that featured 16 lead changes, Rutgers defense stood strong in the final four minutes where the Buckeyes did not score a point and made just one of their last 12 field goals.

The charged was keyed by a chase-down block from Caleb McConnell, one of five RU blocks in the final three minutes. Geo Baker had a game-high 25 points, tying for his second-highest output this season.

History with Wisconsin

Wisconsin leads the all-time series 9-3, dating back to 1949. Wisconsin won the lone meeting last season.

Rutgers has won three games over the Badgers, all at home since joining the Big Ten. In 2015, Rutgers downed No. 4 Wisconsin 67-62 for the highest-ranked victory in program history.
Myles Mack scored 21 points and Kadeem Jack added 20 points to deal UW one of four losses during its national finalist campaign.

With a victory

A win over Wisconsin would represent:

 - Three straight wins over ranked teams, the first time that RU defeated ranked teams in three consecutive games in program history
- Three straight wins in matchups against ranked teams for the first time since 2001-02 (No. 17 UConn, No. 14 Syracuse, No. 13 Miami in a span of seven games overall).
- Four wins over ranked Big Ten teams in the same season for the first time in program history
- The second time for RU defeating four ranked teams in one season under head coach Steve Pikiell (also done in 2019-20)
- The highest ever ranked road win since joining the Big Ten
- The second ever ranked road win in Big Ten play (also: No. 22 Iowa, 3/2/19)
- The highest ranked road win since Jan. 26, 2008 (at No. 13 Pittsburgh)
- The third ever ranked road win in the past 20 years (2002 and onwards)
- The first ever road win at Wisconsin