INDIANAPOLIS — Matt Ferris is a 6-foot-6, 195-pound walk-on guard who may never see the floor for consistent minutes in his Wisconsin basketball career. Dakari Johnson is a 7-foot, 255-pound load of a center, a McDonald’s All-American who is almost assuredly another future NBA Draft pick for Kentucky.

This week, however, the two players are one and the same.

"I’m like the third-tallest guy on the scout team, and I’m usually a 4 or a 5 that comes off the bench," Ferris said. "With Kentucky, they’ve got nine deep and they’re all McDonald’s All-Americans. You’ve kind of got to play up a little bit."

To simulate the size, length and talent of undefeated Kentucky is a near impossible task for Wisconsin’s scout team, and Ferris is only one example. Collectively, the Badgers’ seven scout team players give up 24 inches — a full two feet — of size to their counterparts at Kentucky. And some of the moments from practice this week in the buildup to Wisconsin’s Final Four game against Kentucky on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium have been downright comical.

Badgers assistant coach Greg Gard, perhaps only half-jokingly, suggested on the first day of preparations that his scout team wear pads with foam sticks on their arms to increase their length.

"I thought about trying to put guys on shoulders and just run around, like double guys up," Gard said. "Tape them together or something like that. But they thought that was a health hazard. We couldn’t do that in case some guys tipped over."

UW’s scout team is routinely challenged to prepare the starters by replicating an opponent’s roster filled with high-caliber players. But the Badgers agree there is no greater discrepancy this season than what they’ve faced this week against a team that includes nine McDonald’s All-Americans, and one player — 7-foot center Willie Cauley-Stein — who is a first-team All-American despite not being a McDonald’s All-American out of high school.

Take, for example, a play from Thursday’s practice that scout team point guard Jordan Hill relayed. The 6-3 Hill, tasked with being Kentucky’s 6-6 guard Andrew Harrison, was supposed to throw the ball in the post to 6-9 teammate Ethan Happ, who was working as 6-11 forward Karl-Anthony Towns. Except Happ couldn’t create separation against 7-foot national player of the year center Frank Kaminsky, and Hill’s angle inside was almost nonexistent.

"I was hesitant, and I didn’t want to turn the ball over," Hill said. "It wasn’t there, and I passed it away and coach was yelling. I’m like, ‘It’s not open. I don’t know what you want me to do.’"

Kentucky starts a front line that goes 7-foot (Cauley-Stein), 6-11 (Towns) and 6-10 (Trey Lyles). That does not include the 7-footer Johnson and 6-9 forward Marcus Lee off the bench. No player on Wisconsin’s scout team, meanwhile, is taller than the 6-9 Happ.

"He’s almost 7-foot," Happ said of Towns. "He can dunk at will. I can’t, and I’m not 7-foot. He might be a lottery pick, and I’m definitely not. There’s just a sample of differences to start off."

A look at how UW’s scout teamers match up to their Kentucky counterparts

The two most significant scout-team mismatches belong to Ferris and 6-5 guard Riley Dearring, who is charged with being the 6-10 Lyles. And in addition to the obvious challenges that presents, it also means members of Wisconsin’s scout team have to drastically tailor their style of play to fit the opponent.

The main message Gard imparted to the scout team players was to repeatedly pound the ball inside, which is Kentucky’s biggest strength. But Ferris and Dearring are guards who would much prefer to stand on the wings and shoot 3s.

"It’s extremely frustrating for me because I break somebody down and someone’s open and I pass it to Ferris and he’s Dakari Johnson and he can’t shoot a baseline jumper," Hill said. "None of them really do. So if I get somebody open and they’re not right next to the basket, they won’t shoot."

Another significant issue Wisconsin’s rotation players must remember is that what they achieve in practice this week against the scout teamers won’t necessarily be indicative of what will happen in the game. The fact the two teams met in last year’s Final Four has certainly helped to hammer home that point.

"It’s like if they throw an alley oop to Matt Ferris in practice and I get over there late, I might be able to still block it," Badgers forward Vitto Brown. "But I know in the game, I would’ve just gotten dunked on right there. So I need to focus on that."

Despite the challenges, it is a role members of Wisconsin’s scout team take very seriously in an effort to best prepare the team’s regulars. And their efforts have gone a long way toward helping Wisconsin break the single-season school record for victories and reach a second consecutive Final Four.

They may not possess the size or the talent, but scout teamers can provide starters with an accurate representation of tendencies and what areas on the floor Kentucky players might stand — and every bit of assistance will be needed to knock off one of the best collections of talent in college basketball history.

"Obviously our scout team isn’t going to be the same, but I think if we get an understanding of what Kentucky likes to do and how they like to play, it will be easier for us knowing what they like to do," Kaminsky said. "We won’t see the athletes in size, but we can take things away from our scout team that can definitely help us."

Follow Jesse Temple on Twitter