Beyond the Box Score: Wisconsin 69, Indiana 58

(Photo courtesy Mary Langenfeld)

I guess it’s good they play two halves.

After an unwatchable first half, the Badgers played like the Badgers we have gotten used to and ran away with a 69-58 win over Indiana.

It was nice getting revenge and coupled with the Iowa loss, puts the Badgers in sole possession of 3^rd place in the Big Ten.

Let’s head over to the box score.

• The five starters played 163 of the 200 minutes. Part of this was some early foul trouble from Hayes, but as I’ve mentioned before, it’s a dangerous game to play. If everyone stays out of foul trouble, though, it can be great as the players know each other very well. Hayes and Koenig are both great off the bench, and Dukan can help a little as well.
• The Badgers were 22-24 from the free throw line while Indiana was only 2-3. Twenty extra points is very nice to have from the line and while some of that is to be expected because of style of play, that’s a huge difference. It’s also nice to see them hit 91% of the free throws as that will be huge come tournament time.
• Wisconsin outscored Indiana 14-3 on points off turnover. Again, like the Michigan game, the Badgers turned the ball over so infrequently that the Hoosiers couldn’t make anything of them. Another nice stat to win each night.
• Next is a road game at Penn State. While it’s a should-win, don’t sleep on the Nittany Lions at home. It’s a crazy year in the Big Ten and you can’t take anything for granted.