The old adage “every possession matters” mostly rings true in Big Ten conference play, where the team who can control the offensive glass or win the turnover margin often finds themselves in winning positions.
But by those parameters, Tuesday’s contest was an anomaly.
The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team hoisted a staggering 22 more shots, outpaced Indiana University 10-4 in offensive rebounds and was plus-nine in the turnover margin. Yet, it was the Hoosiers who claimed victory.
Indiana was plenty more opportunistic — cashing in on 61.7% of their field goal attempts while shooting 42.9% from beyond the arc.
On the offensive end, UW was dissuaded from attacking the rim by center Kel’el Ware, who amassed five of Indiana’s seven team blocks. With Ware roaming the paint, the Badgers seemed content to play on the perimeter, attempting 26 3-pointers. But, they connected on just eight of those shots and reached the free throw line only three times in 40 minutes.
Indiana had no problems probing UW in the painted area, as Ware and forward Malik Reneau combined to shoot 17-of-20 from the field while the team attempted 15 free throws.
UW’s inability to defend on the interior was exposed early and often by the Hoosiers, who jumped out to a 17-8 advantage after starting 7-for-10 from the field, including five layups.
Though the Badgers would answer with threes by guard John Blackwell and guard Max Klesmit to trim the deficit to three points, Ware pushed UW right back into the hole.
The Hoosiers’ standout center would personally outscore Wisconsin 10-3 in the next four minutes, prompting head coach Greg Gard to call a timeout down 32-17 at the six minute mark.
Coming out of the break, the Badgers found their offensive rhythm, making six of their next seven attempts as part of a 16-6 run that slimmed the difference to five at the half.
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At the break, forward Steven Crowl and Klesmit tied for the team-high in points with eight, while Blackwell provided seven points off the bench on four shot attempts. Indiana received a whopping 20 points, seven rebounds and three blocks from Ware, while veteran guard Trey Galloway dished out six assists.
After being limited to just eight first half minutes due to foul trouble, it was Reneau’s turn to take over — scoring or assisting on five of the Hoosiers first six baskets to open up the final frame. Despite Reneau’s hot start, the Badgers managed to remain within striking distance, going basket-for-basket with Indiana in the first six minutes of the period.
Following a made jumper by Galloway with 13:42 on the clock, UW held the Hoosiers scoreless for over four minutes and tied the game up at 54 with 10:06 left when Assembly Hall inexplicably had to be evacuated as fire alarms began to sound and flash in the stadium.
After a brief pause due to an elevator issue in Assembly Hall, and ensuing fan re-entrance and player warm-up period, the Badgers took their first lead of the game at the 9:29 mark, but they were unable to maintain or extend the advantage and found themselves tied at 63 with four to play.
While UW scored on their next three possessions, they surrendered baskets on four of their five defensive bouts, and ultimately fell 74-70 after being held scoreless in the closing two minutes.
Point guard Chucky Hepburn led UW in scoring with 15 points and tallied seven rebounds, six assists and two steals. Five other badgers joined Hepburn in double figures in guard AJ Storr (14), Blackwell (11), Klesmit (11) and Crowl (10).
For the Hoosiers, Ware finished with 27 points (11-for-12 FG), 11 rebounds and five blocks, Reneau accounted for 14 points and eight rebounds and Galloway doled out 12 of the team’s 17 assists.
The schedule does not ease up for UW for the rest of the week, as they welcome in No. 13 ranked University of Illinois for a 12:00 p.m. game on Saturday. Gard and the Badgers will look to exercise some demons against the Fighting Illini, as they haven’t beaten one of their Big Ten rivals since the 2018-19 season.
