In their third loss in a row, the the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team (11-5) fell to Indiana (11-6) with a final score of 63-45 Jan. 14.
Prior to the tip at the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, the Wisconsin Badgers boasted a 24-3 record in their previous 27 contests against the Indiana Hoosiers, including five consecutive victories from December 0f 2019 to February of 2022. With an identity characterized by defensive poise and inside-out, quality shot selection, Greg Gard’s teams typically decelerate both the game and an opponent’s pace.
Mike Woodson’s Hoosiers certainly mimicked this scheme on Saturday afternoon. With 17,222 raucous fans in attendance, IU absolutely dominated the final 20 minutes of regulation. On almost every pass attempt, the Hoosiers applied heavy on-ball pressure and forced Wisconsin to second-guess entry feeds both down low and near the perimeter.
Men’s Basketball: Badgers fall to Spartans for second consecutive conference defeat
Whether it be tipped balls, deflections or takeaways, Indiana’s defensive intensity curtailed UW’s offensive attack. In fact, most of Wisconsin’s shot attempts arrived late in the shot clock, a byproduct of Indiana’s suffocating defense.
Regardless, neither team pulled away during the first half. The two Big Ten foes combined for six total points within the first five minutes of regulation, and the largest discrepancy in scoring was 15-11, Indiana. At the break, IU held a one-point advantage, 21-20, with seven of its 10 made field goals coming in the painted area.
Within just seven minutes following intermission, Indiana transformed a one-tally lead into a 17-point advantage. Capped by an impressive feed from Trayce Jackson-Davis to Jordan Geronimo for an and-one layup, IU executed on six unanswered field goals after halftime for a 12-0 scoring surge. From that point on, Woodson’s squad did not waver.
The Hoosiers started the half on 9/11 split from the field compared to an abysmal 1/11 mark for the Badgers. UW clawed back with a quick 7-0 spurt, but Indiana’s paint presence proved too overwhelming. On one possession, Steven Crowl pinned Jackson-Davis directly beneath the hoop. But with seemingly no space to operate, Jackson-Davis spun right and flushed a dunk over Crowl to stretch IU’s lead to 18. In other words, he appeared utterly dominant.
Despite shooting just 12.5% from downtown and pocketing four made attempts from the charity stripe, the Hoosiers controlled nearly every other facet of the game. Without guard Xavier Johnson and forward Race Thompson, IU relied heavily on Jackson-Davis, a team captain and 2022 Second Team All-Big Ten member.
Jackson-Davis accounted for a game-high 18 tallies, snagged 12 boards and blocked a staggering five shot attempts. His teammate, Jordan Geronimo, performed a copycat impression of a prime Dwight Howard. Despite averaging just under six points per contest, Geronimo notched 12 points, corralled 11 rebounds and provided contagious energy throughout the match. Geronimo and Jackson-Davis clogged the lane, contesting everything that went toward the cylinder.
Indiana’s Jalen Hood-Schifino erupted in the second half as well. The freshman scored 12 of his 16 points during the closing frame off an array of floaters and midrange jumpers.
For Wisconsin, Connor Essegian led the team in both scoring and rebounding off the bench. Essegian, who played his high school ball in Albion, Indiana, canned three attempts from beyond the arc and grabbed 11 rebounds in his home state. Crowl, who averaged roughly 17 points per appearance during a seven-game stretch, was limited to just five points off 25% from the floor, largely due to the Mutombo-esque performance from Jackson-Davis.
Max Klesmit chalked up nine points and grabbed three steals, and Chucky Hepburn added four made field goals in 29 minutes on the hardwood. Again, with Tyler Wahl absent for Wisconsin’s third consecutive game, UW’s offense suffered.
Looking ahead, Wisconsin returns to the Kohl Center for another conference showdown against Jalen Pickett and the Penn State Nittany Lions Tuesday, Jan. 17.
