Indiana Falls at No. 11/8 Wisconsin

Friday, January 19

Madison, Wis.

8:30 PM

Indiana University

12-7,4-4Big Ten

Wisconsin

14-4,6-1Big Ten

Indiana

Wisconsin

1/19/2024 11:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com

MADISON, Wis. -- The Indiana Hoosiers have a week to figure it out.

A week to get healthy, to find effective offense and stifling defense, to regain poise and tenacity before their next game, a Jan. 27 opportunity at top-20 Illinois.

Friday night's 91-79 loss at Wisconsin was a reminder of how work IU has to do.

"We have a long way to go as a ballclub," coach Mike Woodson told Voice of the Hoosiers Don Fischer on the postgame radio show. "I have to get this fixed. We're not playing well on the road."

IU (12-7 overall, 4-4 in the Big Ten) has lost three-straight conference road games since opening with a win at Michigan, losing to Nebraska, Rutgers, and now Wisconsin.

"We had that one good game at Michigan and you feel good about yourself," Woodson told Fischer, "and we haven't been close on the road since."

With center Kel'el Ware out with an ankle injury suffered in practice, forward Malik Reneau took charge with 28 points and eight rebounds in 40 minutes.

Forward Mackenzie Mgbako added 17 points. Guard Trey Galloway had 10 points. Center Payton Sparks replaced Ware and totaled seven points, two rebounds, two steals, and a block in 29 minutes.

"I'm proud of Payton," Woodson told Fischer. "He hasn't played a lot of minutes, and he gave us some really positive play.

"Malik is playing well. He's had a helluva season."

The Hoosiers found their offense in the second half, shooting 66.7% from the field. But it wasn't enough against a Wisconsin team that shot 59.6% for the game and made 25-of-29 free throws.

"That's great," Woodson told Fischer about the second-half scoring, "but you've got to put some defense behind that. (Wisconsin coach Greg Gard is) probably saying the same thing -- who's going to play defense? They had a big enough cushion to do what they needed to do, but neither team played defense in the second half. "

IU's comeback effort took a big second-half hit when guard CJ Gunn was ejected for a flagrant foul.

"We cut it to seven, we were right where we needed to be, and then we had the flare up with CJ, and it went haywire," Woodson told Fischer. "Stuff like that can't happen. I'm disappointed about that. We have to stop doing things that we shouldn't do. You can't do that on the road and win."

The No. 8/11 Badgers (14-4, 6-1) maintain their lead in the conference standings.

With Ware out, Reneau went into frontcourt beast mode in the opening minutes, totaling four points and four rebounds as IU jumped ahead 8-3 and 10-5.

The Badgers shot their way ahead 13-12. Reneau's eight points kept the Hoosiers within range trailing 20-14.

Freshman guard Gabe Cupps found his offense for seven points, but with Reneau not scoring again, it wasn't enough. IU trailed 39-26 at halftime.

A Reneau basket and a Mgbako 3-pointer and two free throws provided an offensive spark. Still, the Badgers shot ahead 49-33 in the first three minutes of the second half.

IU responded with a 9-0 run that included a Galloway 3-pointer, and a steal and dunk by Sparks for a 49-42 score. The Hoosiers had momentum and a chance.

Then it was gone.

Consecutive 3-pointers sparked a 12-2 Wisconsin run. Gunn's flagrant foul got him ejected and helped Wisconsin push ahead 67-44 with 12 minutes left.

Reneau, Mgbako, and Sparks helped IU close within 12, then 11, then 10, but no closer. Not with Wisconsin's Max Klesmit scoring 20-straight Badgers points en route to a 26-point night.