Hoosiers played great and the Badgers' defensive effort was mediocre at best. They got off to a slow start on Tuesday at Kohl Center. Indiana had the lead heading into halftime as Wisconsin turned in a poor shooting performance as well as a poor defensive effort. Everything changed in the second half leading Wisconsin to a 69-58 victory. This is the exact reason why Wisconsin could beat almost any team and lose to any team in the nation due to their reliance on the jump shot.
What a bizarre game this was for Wisconsin with under 20 points in the first period and then getting 50 in the next period. Obviously, this leads to poor shooting with Wisconsin shooting 25 percent from the field before half and nearly 62 percent after it. Badgers did not play a complete game, and we can debate all day whether that is important in the grand scheme of things. I would say the importance of it would be a concern that Wisconsin becomes comfortable believing they can sort of 'turn it on' whenever the Badgers want versus attacking early and often.
This was the first game in recent memory where Wisconsin did not get anything from their bench, but that was fine as Badgers had all five starters in double-figures led by Sam Dekker. Amid the poor team shooting, Dekker had another strong performance from the field making five of seven shots, only shooting two threes making one and getting to the line five times. This is what you want from Dekker. The ability to attack the basket and get fouls instead of launching threes in an attempt to get him going. It seems like the Badgers power forward is coming into stride with how to create opportunities for him. This is a positive thing to see from Dekker.Ben Brust seemed to have fallen into a slump in the past couple of games. Badgers fans started to get restless when it came to Brust continuing to shoot the ball in the first half and finding iron. He only made three of his 10 shots on Tuesday and nine of them came from behind the arc. All of his damage came in the second half with a fury of threes. In the last two games, the Badgers shooting guard had nine points total going 4/18 from the field and while this game does not look perfect on paper, it seems like Brust started to get himself going again. I also think people looked way too far into it. He had 20 points two weeks ago against Minnesota yet we had people worried about Brust's shooting. Hopefully, the second half quiets the weird Brust ground swell.
Usually this space is spent on Wisconsin, but it is hard to believe with this team, Indiana has nine losses in Big Ten play. I realize this is one of the best conferences in college basketball, but with the talent Indiana has, they should be at least a bubble team. Crazy thing is with how prestigious Indiana is as a program, they do not even need to be a good bubble team. Just be on there and the tournament will find a spot for them yet right now, Indiana looks like a subpar middle of the road program. Instead they are four games under .500 and it is probable Noah Vonleh heads to the NBA, possibly Yogi Ferrell too plus they lose Will Sheehey. Tom Crean's seat is starting to get warm. He will not get fired, but the pressure is building on the Indiana coach. One positive is they have three of their last four games at home and against ranked teams (Michigan is on the road), they could still make a push for the bubble if they win out.
Wisconsin continues its dominance against Indiana especially at the Kohl Center. I believe Crean has not won there since coaching for Indiana. This is not how it used to be as Wisconsin holds only a 23-41 against the Hoosiers since 1979. How times have changed in the Big Ten.
Charlie.
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