The Indiana Hoosiers haven’t won in Madison since 1998 against the Wisconsin Badgers, and Tuesday night at the Kohl Center was no different.
The Hoosiers were looking to win their 13th straight game along with their eighth straight conference game, but the curse in Madison couldn’t be broken. When these two teams met back on January 5 in Bloomington, the Hoosiers squeaked out a one point win, so the Badgers were looking for a bit of revenge.
Back And Forth First Half
Indiana opened up this ballgame on a 6-0 run with two three pointers and it looked as if they were off to the races again like they were in their previous two games against Illinois and Northwestern. No one expected this game to be like those, and it wasn’t as the first half was a dogfight.
The Hoosiers held a lead for most of the first half, but Wisconsin had a run in them and used a 12-3 run to take a 31-25 lead with 2:16 to play in the first half. Indiana, however, also had a run in them and cut it down to just a one point deficit at 35-34 heading into halftime.
Wisconsin didn’t close the half like they may have wanted to, but for Indiana, they had some momentum going into the locker room.
Setting Up the Finish
When the second half got underway, Wisconsin took control, but Indiana never went away. It mostly stayed within a four-point window until Wisconsin got it up to six with 4:46 to play on a Nigel Hayes free throw.
In the last 3:59 following an Ethan Happ basket, the Hoosiers closed on a 12-6 run highlighted by the play of Yogi Ferrell.
A three by Ferrell with 1:13 and a layup as well with 23 seconds to play both put Indiana up by two, but in between both of those were two Hayes free throws to tie the game up.
Indiana had the last shot of regulation, but Ferrell couldn’t quite get the bucket to go as Hayes tightly guarded him. To overtime we went.
Did anyone expect Indiana to get their first win in Madison without some drama? Honestly, not really, but the free throws were a big factor.
Hoosiers Can’t Quite Overcome Free Throws In Overtime
In overtime, the Badgers scored 11 points and eight of those points came off of free throws. The Hoosiers never led in overtime and once Happ and Hayes continued their terrific performances, Indiana really was out of options.
Thomas Bryant ended up fouling out to go along with Max Bielfeldt and Collin Hartman, leaving Ferrell on an island trying his best to give Indiana a chance up until the end. He did end up doing that, but it was just a little bit too late as the Hoosiers couldn’t quite get a last second prayer off.
A big talking point in this game was the free throws, as the Badgers attempted 19 more shots from the charity stripe and made 12 more. Also, just like the game a few weeks ago in Bloomington, the Hoosiers turned it over 19 times which makes it quite hard to win, especially on the road.
Players of Note
Wisconsin was led by Nigel Hayes on this night who finished with 31 points along with shooting 17-of-22 from the free throw line. Whenever the Badgers needed offense, Hayes was the man to get it done and he sure did. A nice complement to Hayes was freshman Ethan Happ who chipped in 25 points and eight boards. These two players were basically all the Badgers needed to escape the Hoosiers.
As for Indiana, it was mostly Yogi Ferrell who finished with 30 points and just one assist. Other than Ferrell, Thomas Bryant finished with 16 while Troy Williams had 15. This game was dominated by Yogi Ferrell and no one else provided much help as the team shot just 45 percent.
What’s Next
Indiana will return home to face Minnesota on Saturday while Wisconsin will hit the road to face Illinois.