INDIANAPOLIS — The Wisconsin basketball team forced 17 turnovers, grabbed 11 offensive rebounds to Illinois’ two and showed poise coming back in the final minutes befitting their senior leadership.
And none of it matters if you can’t hit shots.
Wisconsin fell 58-54 at the hands of the Fighting Illini in Friday’s quarterfinal matchup almost solely because the Badgers failed to put the ball in the basket.
Sounds like an oversimplified explanation? With statistics this appalling, it is not that hard to argue.
UW missed 27-of-33 field goal attempts in the first half (18.2 percent shooting), hit merely 28.6 percent for the game, started the second half with a five-and-a-half minute scoreless stretch and only scored eight points in the second frame’s first 10 minutes.
Making matters worse, the Badgers played virtually turnover free, only giving the ball away five times. They simply missed too many shots.
“You know, we were getting some decent looks and they just weren’t falling,” UW junior Jon Leuer said. “But we had to work a little harder to finish inside. Obviously we missed some bunnies, but for the most part we were getting good shots. It was just a matter of us finishing.”
While certainly not the only culprit, Trevon Hughes’ inability to finish in the lane may have been the most damaging.
The senior guard finished the contest with a respectable 14 points, but shot only four-of-16 from the field and missed all six of his two-point attempts.
Four times Hughes found the lane and four times the senior left the layup attempts short.
“How many shots did he miss around the basket?” Ryan asked after the game. “A couple times he could have pump faked, could have been at the free-throw line for a few more… but he didn’t. I think he was expecting some contact. He didn’t get it.”
Still, despite the Arctic cold shooting, UW had a chance to tie the game with 26 seconds left on the strength of a harassing defense and sheer will.
So could the Badgers have pulled the game out even with grade-school shooting percentages?
According to Ryan, absolutely — as long as they were given a little free help.
“When you’re in a game like that where you’re not hitting shots, you need 20-plus free throws, and you need to turn the ball over anywhere between five and nine times,” Ryan said. “We lost by four, and you look at the two statistics that I just gave you, the five to nine we took care of. We didn’t get to the line enough (8-for-14).”
Tisdale explodes
D?j? freaking vu.
As Wisconsin fell to Illinois in the two teams’ first matchup at the Kohl Center, the Illini exploited the matchup problem of a sweet shooting big man by finding 7-foot forward Mike Tisdale early and often for midrange jumpers.
One month later, nothing had changed.
The formula is a simple one. First team all-Big Ten guard Demetri McCamey starts with the ball at the wing and, using Tisdale for a pick, drives middle toward the lane. Tisdale pops out and waits for McCamey to draw the defense in far enough, before finding himself open for an 18-foot jumper.
At the Kohl Center, Tisdale finished the game with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting. This time around it was 21 points on 8-for-10 from the floor.
“We gave him too easy of looks and let him get comfortable. He just got on a roll, and he’s a good player,” Leuer said. “He knocked out some shots. Sometimes you’ve just got to tip your hat when a guy can do that.”
