Hoosiers Fall at Wisconsin

Saturday, December 7

Madison, Wis.

4:30 p.m.

Indiana University

8-1,0-1Big Ten

Wisconsin

5-4,1-0Big Ten

Indiana

Wisconsin

12/7/2019 6:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Every play counts, and when a team gets off to a shaky start in the Big Ten—especially on the road—it's tough to bounce back.

The Hoosiers started slowly at Wisconsin, falling behind 19-4 in the first seven minutes of the game, and struggled to bounce back in an 84-64 loss in Madison. The Badgers shot 54 percent from the field overall and went 8-of-20 from 3-point range to send Indiana to its first loss of the season.

"Credit obviously to Wisconsin, their team, and their staff - they did a great job today," head coach Archie Miller said. "Obviously ready to play in the Big Ten opener. They hadn't been home in a while, and coming off of a few tough ones, we knew we would be dealing with a sharp group that was ready, and they were. They were very sharp offensively, and we didn't have a lot of resistance."

The Hoosiers were led by guard Al Durham, who scored 17 points, and forward Justin Smith added 10 points and a pair of rebounds. UW, meanwhile, saw sophomore Kobe King enjoy a career night, scoring 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting, and he added four rebounds. Wisconsin forward Nate Reuvers was effective inside, scoring 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

The Hoosiers were undone by poor shooting in the first half, and UW's defense made life difficult for Indiana to find a good shot. Wisconsin, meanwhile, exploded offensively in the first 20 minutes, shooting 62.5 percent from the floor overall and 6-of-13 from 3-point range.

"Them being able to get off to a good start shooting the ball probably alleviated some pressure off their back," Miller said. "They hadn't been shooting the ball too well earlier in the past week or two weeks. But our team did not play well on either end of the floor. Sometimes that happens to groups early in the season – you're on the road, especially in a conference environment against a conference team, you're going to run into some of these opportunities where you're going to have to find out a little bit about yourself."

IU scored the first points of the game when Durham made a pair of free throws, and the Badgers responded with a Reuvers bucket in the paint. After an IU miss, King drained a 3-pointer, but forward Joey Brunk answered for Indiana with a score in the paint to make it 5-4.

Then IU went cold at the same time UW got hot.

Wisconsin sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a miss at the rim by freshman forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, and following an IU turnover, King scored on a putback to put Wisconsin up 13-4. Smith then missed a 3-pointer, and Reuvers responded with a turnaround jumper to give the Badgers a double-digit lead less than five minutes into the game.

By the time IU forward Race Thompson scored on a layup off a pass from senior guard Devonte Green, Wisconsin had put together a 14-0 run to go up 15 points. The Hoosiers, playing their first road game of the season, struggled to gain traction, and they couldn't string together stops to get back into the game.

Case in point: Jackson-Davis scored on a traditional three-point play with 3:41 left in the first half to bring IU within 35-23, but King answered with a dunk, and 3-pointer from Wisconsin's Aleem Ford on UW's next possession put the Badgers back up by 17.
Wisconsin took a 47-27 lead into halftime.

"We were searching for that breakout moment where we could get our feet on the ground and say, 'We're OK,'" Miller said. "We never really got there. That was a little frustrating. But that happens. You go through season after season, and we have to become a more grindy team, especially on the road."

The Hoosiers looked more like their usual selves after the break. Indiana kept the ball moving, recorded five assists on 11 made baskets after halftime, and shot 55.0 percent from the field. Indiana also went to the free-throw line 19 times in the second half, continuing to build on a strength from the first eight games.

But IU couldn't quite make the big push it needed to get back into the game. After falling behind 61-31 with 14:36 to play, Indiana chipped away at the advantage to get within 19 points with just over five minutes to play, but it could get no closer.

"This feeling that's in us right now, it's not going to go away until you work it out," Miller said. "We're on a big stage Tuesday night (vs. Connecticut). We're going to try real hard to do that."