While the story of the game was the Badgers’ second-half 11-0 run, the spotlight should also be on the defensive effort of Devin Harris and Freddie Owens.
In addition to handling his own point-guard duties, Harris was also responsible for guarding Indiana’s Tom Coverdale. The senior guard has been one of the steady forces for the team; he ranks No. 3 in the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio with a ratio of 1.85. He also puts up 11.9 points per game, which is good enough for No. 22 among conference scoring leaders.
Coverdale played 32 minutes but was only able to put five points on the board, and three of those points came on a shot with only 0:22 left in a game that was already decided.
“Coverdale has got to get his grove going,” said Indiana head coach Mike Davis.
Harris forced Coverdale into 2-8 shooting for the day, allowing him to contribute only one rebound, zero assists, zero steals and one block.
“We just tried to keep them out of the middle of the floor and make the shots that they took very difficult,” Harris said.
Owens, who also employed this strategy, was given the difficult task of following freshman phenom Bracey Wright around all afternoon.
Wright, who just recently rejoined the Hoosier lineup, is No. 4 among conference scoring leaders, averaging 17.4 points per game. The freshman is also No. 4 in the conference in 3-point field goals made with 2.44 per game.
With his superb defensive effort, Owens was able to hold the guard to six points on 3-10 shooting in 37 minutes of play. Wright was only able to pull down five rebounds, zero assists, zero blocks and zero steals.
Lesser of two evils: While the Badgers were able to stop Coverdale and Wright on offense, the team had to give less attention to Indiana forward Jeff Newton.
“It was very hard to get help to Newton, and then when we went to our hard help he was making that move so quick; he had that good bounce working, he was a load,” head coach Bo Ryan said. “We had to give up a little something … you want to play Coverdale in a horse game, Wright, Strickland, Hornsby? I don’t think we want to play them in a horse game, so therefore you have to defend both. You have to be able to defend in the post and you have to be able to defend on the perimeter.”
Newton, who is No. 11 among conference scoring leaders with 14.3 points per game and No. 2 in rebounding with 8.7 rebounds, dumped in 20 points and 12 rebounds on the Badgers Saturday afternoon.
“He is a great player, he knows how to get open, and he knows how to use his body,” Mike Wilkinson said. “He made me work hard, but I was up for the challenge and I was going to make him work hard for everything he got on the offensive end. He made some tough shots, but he also missed some, so it went both ways.”
On the flip side: Even though the Badgers were not able to give Wilkinson enough help on defense with Newton, Wilkinson was able to give his team an enormous amount of effort and intensity on the offensive end of the court.
“Wilkinson is a warrior; he really plays hard,” Davis said.
In 37 minutes of play Wilkinson tallied 16 points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
“When hasn’t Mike done it? Execution sometimes maybe isn’t always exactly where we want it, but who plays harder then Mike Wilkinson, who battles on every possession? I am certainly not looking to trade him,” Ryan said of his sophomore forward.
