Saying that basketball is a game of runs is a cliche.

But sometimes, teams truly embody the game’s hot-and-cold nature.

UCLA men’s basketball (10-4, 2-1 Big Ten) will face one of the streakiest teams in the country Tuesday night in Wisconsin (9-5, 1-2) at the Kohl Center in Madison. The Badgers have outscored their opponents in their nine wins by an average of 25.4 points, but their five losses – three of which came against top-10 teams in the week nine AP Poll – have come by an average of 19 points.

Wisconsin’s peaks and troughs are largely due to the team’s reliance on the three-point line. The Badgers are 15th nationally in 3-point shots attempted per game, with a mark eclipsing 30.

The Badgers shot at or below 25% from beyond the arc in four of their five losses this season, reaching a season-low 16% in their affair against Purdue on Jan. 3. However, the squad shot over 35% from deep in five of its nine victories.

On the other side of the court, the Badgers are tied for No. 226 in the country in 3-point percentage allowed, sitting at a 33.7% clip.

Wisconsin’s lack of defensive pressure at the arc may prove beneficial for a UCLA squad that has boasted a 38.8% mark from deep, which ranks second in the Big Ten and No. 17 in the nation.

But Skyy Clark’s injury may hamper the Bruins’ prowess from the three-point line. The senior guard missed a large portion of the squad’s last game after suffering an apparent hamstring injury.

[Related: UCLA men’s basketball loses to Iowa 74-61 despite strong second-half effort]

Clark has yet to be ruled out for the contest, but his absence could be detrimental, as he is shooting 48.6% from beyond the arc this season. In UCLA’s loss to then-No. 25 Iowa on Jan. 3, the team shot 2-for-11 from deep in his absence.

The Badgers’ backcourt has spearheaded the team’s shooting success, with guards Nick Boyd and John Blackwell anchoring the unit. The two average 19.5 and 17.5 points per game, respectively, but do so on inefficient shooting clips – mirroring the team’s struggles to convert consistently this season.

While Boyd is shooting 29.4% from deep and Blackwell boasts a 37.6% clip from the field, statistics should not detract from the fact that both guards are proven scorers.

Boyd has reached double-digit scoring in every game this season, dropping a career-high 36 points against Providence on Nov. 27.

Although Blackwell has struggled recently – notching single-digit points in three of his last four appearances – he has shown offensive flashes, garnering four 25-plus-point performances, including a three-game stretch where he had 30, 26 and 30 from Nov. 28 to Dec. 6.

Following the Iowa loss, coach Mick Cronin said he wants to avoid the defensive mistakes that occurred against guard Bennett Stirtz, who knocked in 27 points on 80% shooting from the field.

“Guys are too concerned. Stirtz hit a few threes in the first half, but we got too spread out, getting beaten off the dribble. If you can’t guard the ball, you are not going to have a good defense,” Cronin said.

Without Clark, senior guard Donovan Dent will have to build off his season-best performance against Iowa, where he dropped 25 points on 63.2% shooting from the field – both of which are season highs.

Dent had struggled all season prior to the Iowa defeat, eclipsing the 20-point mark just two other times while shooting a catastrophic 2-for-20 from beyond the arc.

But Saturday night, Dent seemingly found his spark again.

“The break was needed for me mentally, that helped me a lot,” Dent said. “I went into the second half with the confidence that I know I can play, and that is what took over in the second half.”

Clark’s potential absence Tuesday night may also help the Badger backcourt. Without the stifling man-to-man defender, sophomore guard Trent Perry will have to step up.

Perry has averaged 9.5 points on 47.6% shooting from the field and 38.7% from beyond the arc and could see improved scoring metrics with a larger sample size. But it is yet to be determined if Perry can mirror Clark’s defensive tenacity.

UCLA has also focused on not letting the team’s offensive struggles impact its defense, something that plagued the squad against Iowa when four early misses at the rim translated to an 18-point deficit at halftime.

“Stuff like that is going to happen; we just have to get it done on the defensive end and trust in the offense,” said senior forward Tyler Bilodeau about persevering through missed shots.

Apart from inefficient scoring, turnovers stymied the team’s defensive effort against Iowa – something Dent said needs to be avoided in order to win games.

“Me and Tyler, the two senior vets, we can’t have eight of our first nine turnovers. It just kills us in the first half,” Dent said. “We are giving them momentum, crowd getting into it, they are hitting threes off the turnovers, getting into … transition, we just can’t do them (turnovers).”

Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at the Kohl Center.