New era, very different results for the Wisconsin Badgers against the Indiana Hoosiers. UW entered Tuesday night’s contest winning 14 of the last 15, it left losers of a 59-58 slugfest and having dropped two of the last three against Tom Crean’s bunch.
This one was all about scoring, and who could actually do it and when. Neither team could do it consistently, and unfortunately for the Badgers they were the last team tagged in to go on a scoring slump.
Ultimately, it was a near seven-minute drought during the middle of the second half that would see a back-and-forth game become a multi-possession lead for the Hoosiers. In the end it was too much for the Badgers to overcome.
Indiana’s senior point guard, Yogi Ferrell, started off cold and wound up the game hot — leading all scorers with 19 points on just 6 of 14 shooting. He was joined in double figures by OG Anunoby (11) and freshman center Thomas Bryant (10).
UW countered with its own threesome of double digit scorers, with Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig tying for the team lead with 15 points each. Freshman Ethan Happ put up 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting, while also grabbing eight rebounds.
Still, those three were not enough on what was one of the uglier nights of basketball between these two teams in some time.
Neither team was great on the night, with Indiana shooting 49 percent from the field (21 of 43) but committing 19 turnovers and allowing UW to convert them in to 24 points.
Wisconsin finished the game shooting just 41 percent (19 of 46), and were done in largely by an off night from beyond the arc and at the free throw line. UW shot just 4 of 16 from three-point range and made just 16 of 23 free throw attempts.
It failed to take advantage of a 13 free throw attempts advantage on the night, not being able to help themselves at critical moments and when the field goal shooting wasn’t coming either.
The up and down nature of the field goal shooting was evident from early on — for both teams.
After trading buckets through the early part of the half, the Badgers went on a 15-0 run that coincided with Indiana going over 6:30 without a field goal. It resulted in the Badgers pulling ahead by nine (22-13) with 7:58 to play.
Looking to build off of that lead, the Badgers instead showed why they are still a work in progress.
Wisconsin’s lead seemed like it would only grow as it continued to get to the free throw line and created turnovers (10 of 19 total in the first half). However, the Badgers managed to shoot just 6 of 11 from the free throw line in the half and failed to make a single field goal for nearly 8 minutes to end the half.
It meant a game that should’ve been out of hand was closer than the stats would have you believe. Wisconsin went in to the half up just four (28-24), but ended the half by breaking an 8-minute field goal drought (0 of 5) with a three-pointer by reserve guard Jordan Hill.
No one really ran away with things offensively in the first half for the Badgers, as Ethan Happ and Bronson Koenig tied for the team lead with six points each.
Indiana countered with freshman big man Thomas Bryant, who led all scorers in the half with 10 points on 5 of 6 shooting.
Any hopes of the Badgers getting momentum from Hill’s triple came crashing down faster than the opening dunk of the second half from Hayes.
Following his dunk, the Badgers went on a 0-5 field goal shooting drought. Luckily for them, the Hoosiers weren’t much better as the 0 of 5 streak for UW was matched by an IU three-minute scoring drought at the same time.
It led to a nearly blank slate for the rest of the second half, as the Badgers led just 32-31 with 15:25 to play. Neither team could find a foothold though, as the next four minutes saw just five combined points and the two teams sat tied at 34-34 with 11:39 to play.
Wisconsin’s woes continued, while Indiana found at least a glimmer of hope as Anunoby hit back-to-back three pointers to put the game at a two possession advantage at 40-34.
It took Wisconsin a few more minutes, but it broke a near seven-minute scoring drought with a layup from Zak Showalter with 7:38 to play in the second half.
The Badgers got themselves back in the game thanks to free throws and drives to the hoop from Koenig in the final minutes. He had 4 straight to get the Badgers within one at 46-45, but Indiana answered right back with a three from Nick Zeisloft, who had just five points on the night.
Koenig simply put the Badgers offense on his back, scoring seven of Wisconsin’s final 15 points. None were more important than the three-pointer he hit to get UW within a score late.
However, the Badgers offense stagnated like it did for the majority of the night and found itself unable to come up with the needed production when it mattered most.
UW got three straight free throws from Nigel Hayes to tie it up 53-53 with 52.3 seconds to play, but it was Ferrell who would take control of the game — hitting a jumper and helping to seal the deal following that.
Down just one possession with under 40 seconds to play, Wisconsin lost the game with a failed inbounds after a shot clock and game clock operation issue. UW got the ball in, but Showalter was stripped and IU was off the races.
The Hoosiers ran out a bit of time and Ferrell hit a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left to make it 57-53.
Wisconsin couldn’t get a fast enough shot off and a put back by Happ with five seconds left made it a too little too late effort. Ferrell would cap off his big night with the final seven points for Indiana, hitting a pair of free throws after UW fouled with just over three seconds remaining.
Hayes would make it a one-point game by hitting a buzzer beating three, but it was just dressing on an ugly sandwich for the Badgers.
The defensive effort was to be applauded for sure, especially on the road in a place like Assembly Hall. However, with the Maryland Terrapins staring them in the face, the Badgers better have way more in the tank on offense if they want to compete at the highest level.
Wisconsin will take on Maryland at the Kohl Center on Jan. 9 at noon CT.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
