The Badgers cruised to another victory at the Kohl Center on Tuesday.
Returning home after a week-long road trip, the Wisconsin Badgers blew out the Indiana Hoosiers 76-64 on Tuesday, starting off hot with a 19-2 run once again and keeping the lead for the entire game.
Wisconsin relied on their three-point shooting early, hitting seven of their first eight threes, which set the tone for another dominant performance, while their defense was stifling, both inside the paint and on the perimeter.
With the win, Wisconsin temporarily moved into fourth place in the Big Ten, improving to 18-5 on the season and 8-4 in conference play.
Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s 76-64 win over the Indiana Hoosiers on Tuesday.
Hot start at home
After their Los Angeles road trip in mid-January, the Badgers responded with a major 83-55 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers at home, firing up the Kohl Center crowd.
The catalyst for that blowout win? A 19-2 start, fueled by a barrage of threes, which paved the way for one of the more consistent performances of the season for the Badgers.
Well, Wisconsin jumped out to a similar 19-2 start against the Hoosiers on Tuesday, coming off a multi-game road trip, firing up the Kohl Center crowd early. That set the tone for the game, as the Badgers never trailed in the win over Indiana.
The Badgers were on fire from three to begin, as early triples from Steven Crowl and Nolan Winter started things off. Then, after Indiana scored to make it 8-2, Wisconsin went on an 11-0 run, as Max Klesmit hit a pair of threes, while John Tonje added another in the stretch.
Wisconsin ultimately started out with a 26-4 lead over the first seven and a half minutes, with Carter Gilmore even chipping in with a three of his own.
But, the Badgers were as impressive on the defensive end as they were offensively. Wisconsin controlled the paint, stopping Oumar Ballo from making any form of impact. They hounded the ball and forced Indiana into a ton of three-pointers, which they haven’t hit at a high rate this season. And they compounded that defense into transition offense, which led to a number of their early threes.
The Badgers have benefitted from tremendous starts in each of their last two home games, playing off the crowd’s energy to dominate essentially the entire evening. That continued in a massive way on Tuesday, leading to another marquee victory.
Three-point shooting
Three-point shooting has been a key for the Badgers all season long, and it proved to be a big difference in Tuesday’s win over Indiana.
Coming in, Wisconsin had a big advantage in that department and they parlayed into success on both sides of the court early, carrying that through for the entire game.
Indiana came into Tuesday shooting the third-least threes per game in the Big Ten, but they shot 15 threes on 29 field goal attempts in the first half, connecting on only four. The Hoosiers weren’t much more efficient on twos, but they couldn’t keep up with Wisconsin’s gameplan.
On the other hand, Wisconsin shot threes at their usual rate, as they had 16 attempts on 31 field goal tries in the first half, connecting on nine of their triples. That was aided by their hot start, where the Badgers hit seven of their first eight threes, but it was an efficient half nonetheless, thanks to their success from deep.
Additionally, the threes came by committee for the Badgers, which hadn’t been the case as much in recent games. Six different players hit a three in the first half for Wisconsin, while Max Klesmit, Carter Gilmore, and Nolan Winter each connected on a pair of triples.
In the second half, Wisconsin didn’t see the same efficiency from three, but was extremely successful inside the arc, while continuing with their elite defense. Indiana hit just 3/12 of their threes in the second half, putting them at 7/27 for the game in an ugly offensive showing for the Hoosiers.
Tuesday’s matchup was one between different styles of teams, but Wisconsin was able to force Indiana to cater to their gameplan, leading to another blowout victory.
Big man battle
Coming into Tuesday, one of the bigger matchups to watch for was Wisconsin’s big man duo of Steven Crowl and Nolan Winter versus Indiana’s duo of Oumar Ballo and Malik Reneau.
Wisconsin had struggled to defend Reneau in their matchups against Indiana last year, even though they came out with victories in those games.
In last week’s loss to Maryland, the Badgers had been tested by the duo of Julian Reese and Derik Queen, who created problems with their rim-protection and paint defense, so this matchup was going to be one to watch.
Well, the Badgers dominated the battle on Tuesday, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
Wisconsin absolutely eliminated Oumar Ballo from Indiana’s gameplan, as the center finished with just four points on 1/3 shooting, while being a -16 in the loss. Ballo wasn’t aggressive at all, which allowed the Badgers to work more into other aspects of their defensive performance, creating tougher looks for the Indiana offense.
Reneau, on the other hand, didn’t have much of an impact either, being held scoreless in nine minutes of action in the first half.
More known for their paint scoring, Indiana couldn’t get many quality looks near the rim until the game was out of hand, as the Badgers had good paint defense to match their three-point defense.
Off the bench, Carter Gilmore and Xavier Amos both provided quality minutes on both ends, as they were tasked with defending Indiana’s bigs, despite having a size disadvantage, while also providing a spark offensively when needed.
Gilmore finished with three three-pointers, hyping up the crowd on each one, while Amos found a rhythm attacking the basket, getting to the free throw line twice and hitting a pair of close shots.
Wisconsin’s bigs have seen their fair share of challenges this season. They won Tuesday’s battle on both ends of the floor, which was crucial in the blowout victory.