The scoring woes continued in Wednesday night’s contest for the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team (4-4, 0-0 Big Ten) as they dropped their third consecutive game of the season.
The Badgers now sit at .500 on season after losing in their first true road test against the North Carolina State Wolfpack (6-2, 0-1 ACC). Since dominating Marquette in mid-November, the Badgers have struggled to score.
In last night’s game against the Wolfpack, the Badgers had another dismal 54-point performance. On the bright side, Wisconsin held the Wolfpack to just 69 points, 14.6 points below their season average of 83.6 points per game.
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The issue is that the Badgers struggle to score more than 60 points a game, making it challenging to win games. The Badgers haven’t reached the 55-point mark in any of their last three losses. Wisconsin’s three-point shooting percentage has now dropped to below 30, as they are currently shooting 29.7% from beyond the arc.
The Badgers have converted on 14 of their 76 three-point attempts in the past three games, highlighted by a 2-for-26 (7.7%) performance against New Mexico. In the three games prior to their slump, the Badgers shot 36-for-82 (44%) from beyond the three-point line.
The road ahead does not get any easier for the Badgers either. Wisconsin will open up Big Ten play this Saturday against the red-hot Indiana Hoosiers. The Hoosiers are 8-0 on the season, defeating No. 17 Florida State on Tuesday night.
Indiana has played all eight of their games this season at home and against arguably lesser opponents which might have something to do with why they are still unranked through the first four weeks of the season. But the Hoosiers did impress against the Seminoles, whom they beat in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge by a score of 80–64.
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Similar to NC State, Indiana favors the offensive side of the ball, putting up big scoring numbers on a nightly basis. The Hoosiers are putting up 85.6 points per game with a winning margin of 22 points per game. In contrast, the Badgers are only scoring 66.5 points per game, something they’ll need to address if they want a chance at beating the Hoosiers.
Indiana will be facing their first true road test of the season when they come to the Kohl Center this Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m., and you can catch the action on the Big Ten Network or listen live with the Badger Radio Network.
