CHICAGO —
After Wisconsin’s quarterfinal win on Friday in the Big Ten Tournament, Bo Ryan was asked about his team’s success against its next opponent, Indiana.
“I don’t know about anything that you’re talking about,” Ryan said. “I don’t even think about those kinds of things. Never have. And people that know me will tell you that.”
How about after the Badgers defeated the top-seeded Hoosiers 68-56 on Saturday, Wisconsin’s 12th straight win in the series which denied IU the chance for the program’s first conference tournament championship?
“We don’t really think about that,” Jared Berggren said. “We just take it one game at a time. We wanted to come down here to try to win a championship.
“But we knew that we were capable of having success against this team. If we stuck to our rules and played our style of basketball, we were able to do that today to come up with a win.”
Indeed, the Badgers (23-10) stuck to their game plan while the Hoosiers (27-6) did not.
“We’ve been defending the three the last six or seven games at an incredibly high level. And today we didn’t,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said.
Wisconsin wasn’t stellar from 3-point range, hitting just 7-of-18 (38.9 percent). But each make seemed to come just as the Hoosiers were mounting a comeback.
“They got some kick-out threes and things of that nature, but we got away from what had really been making us better, and we started to over-help again and tried to cover for one another when there was no need to do it,” Crean said.
The Badgers led 34-31 at halftime after shooting 15-of-29 from the field. Wisconsin extended its lead to 40-31 before an IU comeback.
The Hoosiers used a 10-0 run, capped by a Remy Abell free throw, to take a 41-40 lead with 13:27 to play. Ben Brust hit a 3-pointer to put Wisconsin back in front, then Jordan Hulls tied the game at 43-all on a jumper with 12:51 remaining.
Sam Dekker scored the game’s next seven points to put Wisconsin ahead 50-43, but the Hoosiers answered with a 6-0 run to pull within one.
Another Wisconsin run gave the Badgers a 55-49 lead, and the Hoosiers wouldn’t get within four points the rest of the way.
“Credit them, they did a great job down the stretch, and we had some key turnovers,” said Victor Oladipo. “We’ve got to look back and see what we did wrong and fix it, get ready for the NCAA Tournament.”
Ryan Evans credited Wisconsin’s success against Indiana to the defense. The Hoosiers shot just 21-of-55 (38.2 percent) from the field, including 9-of-28 in the second half.
Is that a blueprint other teams can use against the Hoosiers?
“Teams have been trying to slow it down on us all year,” Cody Zeller said. “We always want to speed up the pace with our pressure; if we’re getting after them on the defensive end, getting deflections, that’s how we want to play.
“We didn’t do enough of that to speed up the pace tonight, which is why we got beat.”
Christian Watford led the Hoosiers with 14 points. Zeller had 13 points and 11 rebounds, but shot just 4-of-10, the day after making 9-of-11 shots against Illinois.
Zeller’s fellow player of the year candidate, Oladipo, had 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting, but had four steals to tie Isiah Thomas for IU’s single-season steal record with 74.
Evans scored 16 to lead the Badgers, who also had double-digit scorers in Brust (12), Berggren and Dekker (11 apiece).
The "Z" Watch
Wisconsin beats IU for 12th straight time
- The "Z" Watch
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IU still working towards sixth banner
Monday night in Atlanta, Louisville won the school’s first National Championship since the year I was born - 1986. This accomplishment is significant to Indiana basketball fans, because the last two times the Cardinals cut down the nets (1980, 1986), the Hoosiers did it the following year. The stat, of course means nothing, other than both schools had strong programs in the 1980s.
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Zeller declares for NBA
Indiana’s Cody Zeller turned down one chance to play in the NBA. He couldn’t say no twice.
The 7-foot sophomore center who returned to school last fall for one more shot at a national championship announced Wednesday he is leaving college early to enter the NBA draft. The reason was simple. -
Washington shows support for Zeller
Washington residents don’t get to see Tyler Zeller much these days, but for one night, he was back in Indiana.
Zeller, along with his Cleveland Cavaliers teammates played the Indiana Pacers Tuesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, much to the enjoyment of more than a hundred Washington residents that made the two-hour trip to Indianapolis. -
Zeller scores 18, but Pacers beat Cavs 99-94
For the first 43 minutes Tuesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, it looked like a great homecoming for former Washington Hatchet - now Cleveland Cavalier - Tyler Zeller. The final five belonged to the Indiana Pacers.
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Oladipo, Zeller named All-Americans
Statistics through March 17
First Team
Trey Burke, Michigan, 6-0, 190, sophomore, Columbus, Ohio, 19.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 6.7 apg, 40.1 3-pt fg pct, 1.6 steals, 35.2 minutes (62 first-team votes, 319 total points)
Otto Porter Jr., Georgetown, 6-8, 205, sophomore, Morley, Mo., 16.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 42.7 3 pt-fg pct, 1.9 steals, 35.3 minutes (62, 319)
Victor Oladipo, Indiana, 6-5, 214, junior, Upper Marlboro, Md., 13.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 59.9 fg pct, 44.3 3-pt fg pct, 2.2 steals (58, 306)
Doug McDermott, Creighton, 6-8, 225, junior, Ames, Iowa, 23.1 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 56.1 fg pct, 49.7 3-pt fg pct, 86.0 ft pct (44, 279)
Kelly Olynyk, Gonzaga, 7-0, 238, junior, Kamloops, British Columbia, 17.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 65.2 fg pct (47, 278) -
Hoosiers look ahead after disappointing finish
Indiana left Washington in a dour mood.
Tom Crean knows his team can't afford to let it linger if it intends to continue chasing another national championship banner. -
Turnovers spell disaster for No. 1 Indiana
Nineteen turnovers. Sixteen baskets. A season-low 50 points.
Top-seed Indiana had no answer for the 2-3 zone of Syracuse, and now the Hoosiers are heading home after a 61-50 loss Thursday night bounced them from the NCAA tournament. -
Indiana can't solve Syracuse zone in Sweet 16
It took winning a national title for Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim to get over a late-shot loss to Indiana the last time the schools faced off in the NCAA tournament.
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Top four seeds left in East Region
Yelps of support and echoing applause greeted the voice booming over the loudspeakers Wednesday at the scheduled start of practice for the East Regional's fourth seed: "Coached by Jim Boeheim, please welcome the Syracuse Orange!"
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Basketball is a king's sport in Indiana
Indiana athletic director Fred Glass must be ready for the game each time he goes out.
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