7 thoughts from Wisconsin basketball's overtime loss at Indiana
A look at a game where the Badgers came back and had the lead, but squandered it.
The first of a rough three-game conference stretch didn’t go the University of Wisconsin basketball team’s way.
Especially with an overtime ending and a couple of late foul calls that stirred up plenty of emotions.
Wisconsin (16-7, 8-4 Big Ten) once again trailed by double digits for multiple stretches to a conference foe, this time having to claw back against Indiana (16-8. 7-6) in the second half. The Badgers nearly pulled off another comeback victory, leading both late in the second half and overtime, but the Hoosiers recovered to pull off a 78-77 win in Bloomington, Indiana.
Here are some thoughts from the rough loss as matchups at No. 5 Illinois and home against No. 10 Michigan State await in the next week.
Wisconsin can’t put itself in such a bind as it has in recent games
It’s become a trend where this team has gone down double figures during a contest, especially last month and last seen during its home win against Ohio State a week ago. The Badgers allowed the Hoosiers to shoot 47.6% overall, and for much of the game, that percentage was higher. If it wasn’t for Indiana only connecting on 1 of 8 from the field in overtime, it would have been over 50% for the contest.
Wisconsin didn’t help its cause either in shooting only 38% overall, 32.4% in the first half. Guard John Blackwell finished with 18 points, but he only scored two on 1-of-8 shooting during those first 20 minutes.
Saturday could have been the fifth victory in the last eight contests where the program stormed back for a W after trailing by 10 or more points.
Indiana won in the paint
Wisconsin’s relied on shots from 3-point range all season, as we’ve all seen, but it only made 15 of 35 on 2-point attempts Saturday. Guard Nick Boyd scored 20 points, but 15 of those came on 3s.
Indiana clogged the lanes and tallied a season-high nine blocks, led by forward Sam Alexis with five, and outscored Wisconsin 44-28 in the paint. Alexis was dominant and efficient inside, finishing with 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting to go with seven rebounds. Indiana forward Tucker DeVries also had with 16 points and eight rebounds.
About those two late calls
The adage of never allowing the refs to decide games can be applied here in the closing seconds of overtime with the offensive foul called on Boyd and the one on the defensive end assessed against Blackwell with 2.8 seconds remaining.
There’s plenty of clips of both fouls on Twitter after the game. You can see the postgame reaction from Wisconsin coach Greg Gard on Boyd’s foul via colleague Evan Flood from Badger Blitz.
A career afternoon for Nolan Winter
Winter scored a career-high 26 points on 9 of 13 shooting and 12 rebounds, giving him his 11th double-double of the regular season. His 14 points in the first half helped lift the team with Blackwell’s rough start.
Winter’s rebounding prowess has stepped up as a junior where he’s third in the Big Ten in rebounds per game (8.8).
Would have been interesting to see how Wisconsin operated with a healthy Austin Rapp
Word came down from the program Saturday morning that Rapp would not play due to an illness. The Badgers didn’t turn to freshman Will Garlock for the road contest, as Winter and freshman Aleksas Bieliauskas were the only two big men to play against the Hoosiers. The team mostly worked with a smaller lineup, as Bieliauskas (zero points, 1 rebound, two assists) played just over 14 minutes on the court.
Wisconsin missed Rapp’s offensive contributions off the bench, as guard Braden Carrington (seven points) was the only reserve to score in the loss.
You have to like what Braeden Carrington brings on the court
With all the talk of Boyd, Rapp, guard Andrew Rohde from the transfer portal in the offseason, Carrington’s really emerged as a key contributor off the bench.
His shooting performance wasn’t great, 1 of 7 from 3-point range and 2 of 7 overall, but he grabbed four rebounds (two on the offensive glass) and recorded two steals in the loss. There was an effort and a toughness from his game Saturday that’s a microcosm of Wisconsin’s resurgence as a whole in the last month.
The Badgers didn’t get to the free-throw line enough until later in the game
Indiana got to the charity stripe more than Wisconsin on Saturday, connecting on 13 of 15 free throw attempts that included the final two that clinched the Hoosiers’ win. The Badgers made 11 of 12, but they didn’t attempt one the entire first half of the game (it was actually a pretty clean first half where the Hoosiers didn’t attempt one either).
For what it’s worth, both teams are among the top tier in the conference in free throws made and free throw percentage. Indiana’s second in free throw percentage (78.8%), while Wisconsin’s third (78.1%).
Who’s first? That’s Illinois at 78.9% entering its matchup against Michigan State on Saturday night. The Badgers will face the Fighting Illini on Tuesday night in Champaign, Illinois.