Tuesday, January 5
Bloomington, IN
7:00 PM
Indiana University
13-3, 3-0
59
vs
58
Wisconsin
9-7, 1-2
1
2
F
Wisconsin
28
30
58
Indiana
24
35
59
IU Wins Big Ten Home Opener Against Wisconsin
1/5/2016 9:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Sam Beishuizen, IUHoosiers.com | Twitter
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana survived a down-to-the-wire slugfest with Wisconsin to win its third consecutive Big Ten game to open conference play, 59-58.
The Hoosiers and Badgers never separated by more than six points in the second half and were tied 53-53 with just 52 seconds left before senior guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell closed the game with six points to Wisconsin's five en route to a game-high 19 points.
IU's 59 points was the fewest its scored in a game since being held to 50 in a loss to Michigan State last January and the fewest its scored in a win since defeating Illinois 56-46 January 26, 2014. With their offense slowed, the Hoosiers (13-3, 3-0) turned to their defense to grind out a second consecutive win against the Badgers (9-7, 1-2) at Assembly Hall.
"It's not about how pretty it is," head coach Tom Crean said. "It's about how you persevere and find a way to win, and that's exactly what we did."
Wisconsin junior wing Nigel Hayes tied the game at 53 with just under a minute left to play before Ferrell answered with a pull-up jumper to give Indiana a two-point advantage with just over 30 seconds left.
With a chance to take the lead or tie, Wisconsin was unable to get off a shot before IU sophomore guard Robert Johnson knocked the ball away from
Wisconsin's Zak Showalter on a pass from Ethan Happ. Ferrell ended up with the ball, hit a pair of free-throws and then two more on the next possession after another stop and ensuing Wisconsin foul.
Hayes converted on a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to pull Wisconsin within one point, but it was too little, too late.
Indiana hung on.
"What was key for us was to get stops," Ferrell said. "We knew this was going to be a grind-out game, and the only way was to basically just buckle down on defense."
And that was exactly what Indiana did.
The Hoosiers held Wisconsin to just two makes on its first 14 field goal attempts over 12 minutes to start the second half. By the time the Badgers snapped out of the cold streak, they were averaging less than 0.5 points per possession.
Indiana battled troubles of its own—most notably 19 turnovers and a more than 30-minute stretch without a free-throw attempt to begin the game—and grinded out as much as Wisconsin. The teams combined to go 6-for-22 with 16 combined points to begin the second half before things got more interesting late.
"We get on each other now (about defense), and we don't want to go into a game where it's only offense carrying us," said freshman center Thomas Bryant, who had 10 points and seven rebounds. "We're an offensive and defensive team, too."
Bryant helped headline another strong outing for Indiana's freshmen post players. OG Anunoby and Juwan Morgan combined to slow down Hayes defensively.
The soft-spoken Anunoby finished with 11 points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc and 2-of-2 shooting from the free-throw line. The 6-foot-8 forward is averaging 10 points and four rebounds per game over his last three games, all against Big Ten opponents.
"He was just a shy, quiet guy in the summer. He knows it," Ferrell said of Anunoby. "But we've been on him about bringing that out; we're going to need that to win. And these three big-time games that we've played, I feel like OG has been a great factor for us in these wins."
And in front of members from the 1975-76 undefeated Indiana Hoosiers, the current team walked away with another grind-it-out win to remain at the top of the conference standings.
That much has Crean's group excited about the future.
"Immaturity could have kicked in in a hurry," Crean said. "We never let that happen, and I'm really proud of the way we did that."
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana survived a down-to-the-wire slugfest with Wisconsin to win its third consecutive Big Ten game to open conference play, 59-58.
The Hoosiers and Badgers never separated by more than six points in the second half and were tied 53-53 with just 52 seconds left before senior guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell closed the game with six points to Wisconsin's five en route to a game-high 19 points.
IU's 59 points was the fewest its scored in a game since being held to 50 in a loss to Michigan State last January and the fewest its scored in a win since defeating Illinois 56-46 January 26, 2014. With their offense slowed, the Hoosiers (13-3, 3-0) turned to their defense to grind out a second consecutive win against the Badgers (9-7, 1-2) at Assembly Hall.
"It's not about how pretty it is," head coach Tom Crean said. "It's about how you persevere and find a way to win, and that's exactly what we did."
Wisconsin junior wing Nigel Hayes tied the game at 53 with just under a minute left to play before Ferrell answered with a pull-up jumper to give Indiana a two-point advantage with just over 30 seconds left.
With a chance to take the lead or tie, Wisconsin was unable to get off a shot before IU sophomore guard Robert Johnson knocked the ball away from
Wisconsin's Zak Showalter on a pass from Ethan Happ. Ferrell ended up with the ball, hit a pair of free-throws and then two more on the next possession after another stop and ensuing Wisconsin foul.
Hayes converted on a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to pull Wisconsin within one point, but it was too little, too late.
Indiana hung on.
"What was key for us was to get stops," Ferrell said. "We knew this was going to be a grind-out game, and the only way was to basically just buckle down on defense."
And that was exactly what Indiana did.
The Hoosiers held Wisconsin to just two makes on its first 14 field goal attempts over 12 minutes to start the second half. By the time the Badgers snapped out of the cold streak, they were averaging less than 0.5 points per possession.
Indiana battled troubles of its own—most notably 19 turnovers and a more than 30-minute stretch without a free-throw attempt to begin the game—and grinded out as much as Wisconsin. The teams combined to go 6-for-22 with 16 combined points to begin the second half before things got more interesting late.
"We get on each other now (about defense), and we don't want to go into a game where it's only offense carrying us," said freshman center Thomas Bryant, who had 10 points and seven rebounds. "We're an offensive and defensive team, too."
Bryant helped headline another strong outing for Indiana's freshmen post players. OG Anunoby and Juwan Morgan combined to slow down Hayes defensively.
The soft-spoken Anunoby finished with 11 points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc and 2-of-2 shooting from the free-throw line. The 6-foot-8 forward is averaging 10 points and four rebounds per game over his last three games, all against Big Ten opponents.
"He was just a shy, quiet guy in the summer. He knows it," Ferrell said of Anunoby. "But we've been on him about bringing that out; we're going to need that to win. And these three big-time games that we've played, I feel like OG has been a great factor for us in these wins."
And in front of members from the 1975-76 undefeated Indiana Hoosiers, the current team walked away with another grind-it-out win to remain at the top of the conference standings.
That much has Crean's group excited about the future.
"Immaturity could have kicked in in a hurry," Crean said. "We never let that happen, and I'm really proud of the way we did that."
Team Stats
WIS
IND
FG%
.413
.488
3FG%
.250
.412
FT%
.696
1.000
RB
27
27
TO
14
19
STL
9
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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