In a game similar to the teams’ previous matchup this season, the No. 17 Wisconsin men’s basketball team cruised to a 78-46 win over Indiana Thursday night in Bloomington, Ind.
UW’s 32-point road win was its largest Big Ten road win since Feb. 9, 1942, and the team’s biggest road win over a Division I team since a 36-point win at Loyola Marymount in 1993.
All five of Wisconsin’s starters scored at least 11 points, with senior guard Trevon Hughes leading the way with 17 points. Hughes also chipped in two rebounds and a steal. The game also marked the first time in a while that junior forward Tim Jarmusz didn’t start, as UW head coach elected to go with a three-guard lineup.
The game was close for most of the first half, with the score tied at 6 with 13:53 to play. The game continued to go back and forth for the next five minutes, with the Hoosiers pulling to within 14-16 after a Tom Pritchard dunk with 8:26 to go. From there, UW outscored IU 23-8, with Jon Leuer making a three-pointer with five seconds left to close the scoring in the half.
Leuer finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and four blocks.
The Badgers came out in the second half with an 11-2 run. It took the Hoosiers just over five minutes to score four second-half points. IU would never come within closer than 19 points after the 18:01 mark.
UW had a 34-point lead with 2:29 to go after a Jordan Taylor three-pointer. Derek Elston would get a tip-in later to end the game’s scoring.
Elston was the only Indiana player to score in double figures, finishing the game with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting. IU’s starters scored just 25 points in the game, with Verdell Jones III and Christian Watford leading the Hoosier starters with eight points apiece.
In contrast, Wisconsin’s starters had 68 points, including 14 from junior forward Keaton Nankivil. Nankivil tied Leuer for the team lead with four blocks.
Senior guard Jason Bohannon had a quiet 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting. His performance was a stark contrast to UW’s previous matchup with Indiana at the Kohl Center on Feb. 13. Bohannon scored a career-high 30 points, including seven made three-pointers in Wisconsin’s 83-55 win.
Wisconsin’s bench scored just 10 points, led by Jarmusz’ five. Rob Wilson added four points while freshman Mike Bruesewitz made a free throw for his single point.
On the night, the Badgers shot 54 percent from the field and 12-15 from the free throw line. The Hoosiers were held to just 35.3 percent from the field and made just 50 percent (10-for-20) of their free throws.
Indiana dropped to 9-18 and 3-12 in the Big Ten. The win total is still better than IU’s 6-25 mark last season, which was head coach Tom Crean’s first at Indiana. Crean was ejected in the second half of the game after arguing with officials.
The Hoosiers haven’t won since Jan. 21, a 67-61 win at Penn State. IU has now lost nine games in a row.
UW improved to 21-7, including 11-5 in Big Ten play. The win marked the third-straight season the Badgers have swept Indiana.
The Badgers are currently in fourth place in the Big Ten, behind Purdue, Ohio State and Michigan State. Indiana is tied with Iowa for ninth in the conference, one win better than Penn State.
Wisconsin is in the midst of a 5-3 stretch, after losing at home to Illinois on Feb. 9 and on the road at Minnesota, getting blown out at the Barn by a score of 68-52. Despite the losses to unranked opponents, the Badgers dropped to just No. 17 in the AP poll and No. 19 in the ESPN/Coaches poll.
UW has two regular season games left – a home matchup against Iowa and a road game at Illinois.
-UWBadgers contributed to this report
