Indiana University
14-9,5-7Big Ten
Wisconsin
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Hoosiers Drop Tuesday Contest in Madison
2/4/2025 10:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
MADISON, Wis. -- Answers wouldn't come, not on Tuesday night, not in the Kohl Center hallway, not as Indiana head coach Mike Woodson contemplated a 76-64 loss to No. 21/19 Wisconsin, IU's sixth defeat in the last seven games.
"Right now, we're not a tough team," he said. "We're not. Mentally, we're not a tough team.
"You figure you have a game like we did at Purdue, where we really competed for 40 minutes, and then to come in here and lay an egg ...
"That's on me. We're pushing and pulling and scraping and trying to get what we can get and guys didn't step up. We have to get it fixed. We only have eight games left, and five are at home. We've got to figure them out."
Woodson was just as blunt in talking to Voice of the Hoosiers, Don Fischer, during the postgame radio show.
"We were awful," Woodson told Fischer while thinking about a Hoosier defense that allowed 12 Wisconsin 3-point baskets, nine in the first half when the game was basically decided.
The No. 21/19 Badgers (18-5, 8-4) came in as the Big Ten's top 3-point shooting team, hit six 3-pointers in the first six minutes and built a 22-point lead the Hoosiers (14-9 overall, 5-7 in the Big Ten) never overcame.
"We came out with good intentions," Woodson told Fischer, "but we were awful defensively. Just terrible. We knew this was a great 3-point shooting team, and we still didn't guard the 3-point line early. They had nine at halftime. That was the major difference in the game."
IU lost for the 21st-straight time at the Kohl Center, dating back to 1998.
Ineffective early offense also was a problem.
"We struggled to make shots early," Woodson told Fischer. "We couldn't throw it in the ocean, and they capitalized on it.
"We played a little better in the second half, but it was totally different from how we competed at Purdue."
Still, the Hoosiers fought back behind better transition defense. They allowed just 11 points in the last 12 minutes of the first half to close within 12. But IU never got any closer.
"You can't spot anybody 20 on the road and expect to win," Woodson told Fischer. "Our defense was non-existent.
"When you're struggling to score, you've got to get stops and we didn't do that."
Sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako led IU with 15 points. Redshirt sophomore guard Myles Rice bounced back from a couple of difficult games to total 10 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Sixth-year center Oumar Ballo, who had been so dominant the last month, was limited to four points and six rebounds in 26 minutes.
"This is the first game this season that he's had a bad game," Woodson told Fischer. "Nothing was going right for him."
IU only had 11 turnovers, nine fewer than it had against Purdue last Friday night. Still, Wisconsin scored 18 points off of them.
Wisconsin opened with a pair of 3-pointers and two free throws for an 8-0 lead. Rice attacked with a layup for IU's first points. The Badgers pushed ahead 19-2, then 26-4 and then 29-8.
Freshman forward Bryson Tucker came off the bench with six quick points. With eight minutes left in the half, the Hoosiers had closed to 33-20. By halftime, they trailed 40-28. Rice led with eight points. Wisconsin had nine 3-point baskets.
Four turnovers blunted IU's early second-half momentum. The Badgers capitalized with an 11-4 run for a 51-32 lead five minutes into the second half. It was 58-36 with nine minutes remaining.
The Hoosiers closed within 61-45 two minutes later off a Tucker dunk. He finished with nine points and six rebounds in 24 off-the-bench minutes.
IU scored the game's final six points, but it wasn't nearly enough.
"It's not rocket science," Woodson said. "Our backs are against the wall. I've got to get these guys feeling good about themselves."
The Hoosiers play again Saturday when they host No. 24/22 Michigan (16-5, 8-2) at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
"We can't afford to lose any more home games the rest of the way," Woodson told Fischer. "We have five left. We've got to win all five and figure out these last three games on the road."
