Wisconsin came into Bloomington winning the last 14 of 15 matchups against Indiana, but the Badgers collapsed in the second half en route to a 59-58 loss. Without an impressively lucky three-pointer by Nigel Hayes at the end of the game, Wisconsin would have lost by four.
After going on a 15-0 run and heading to the locker room up 28-24 in the first half, Wisconsin went 9-25 (2-10 from 3FG) in the second half. The team went almost eight minutes without a field goal in the second half, but held tight. Zak Showalter’s turnover with 18 seconds left gave the Hoosiers two free throws up by two points, and Indiana never looked back. The Badgers turned the ball over 14 times, although forcing 19 Indiana turnovers.
A 7-25 combined shooting night from Wisconsin’s best players in Bronson Koenig and Hayes, who had 15 points a piece, did not help the team’s cause. Wisconsin played strong defense on Indiana’s top scorer Yogi Ferrell most of the game, but Ferrell’s clutch jumper and free throw shooting down the stretch buried the Badgers. Overall, Wisconsin was still able to hold a team averaging close to 90 points per game to 59 points.
Other Notes
- Wisconsin has now lost five close games (Western Illinois, Milwaukee, Marquette, Purdue, and Indiana) by a total of 12 points.
- Aaron Moesch was the ninth and final player to log minutes tonight, as Charlie Thomas did not play in a game for the first time all season.
- The Badgers had three 30-second shot clock violations, as the swing offense continues to adjust to the shorter shot clock.
- Bronson Koenig in wins: 51-101 (50.5%), 15.8 points.
Bronson Koenig in losses: 27-92 (29.3%), 11.6 points. - Indiana was without guard James Blackmon, Jr., who the program announced will be having knee surgery and will miss the rest of the season.
Tweet of the Night
Photo: Darron Cummings / Associated Press.