The Indiana Hoosiers are off to a 2-0 start in Big Ten play and they will look to continue their seven game win streak when they welcome in the Wisconsin Badgers Tuesday night to Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
Along with it being the first Big Ten home game, Tuesday night is a big night in Bloomington as they will honor the undefeated 1976 national championship team at halftime, as well.
Last Time Out
Indiana is coming off a 10-point road win against Nebraska on Saturday which followed a win last Wednesday at Rutgers. This is the first time since the 2012-13 season where Indiana has won two Big Ten road games in a row.
As for Wisconsin, they come in following a 22-point win over Rutgers in a game they really didn't have many issues in. They did however drop their conference opener last week at the hands of Purdue.
Scouting Report: Wisconsin:
This is a Wisconsin team and program coming off of a national championship appearance a season ago and has reached consecutive Final Four's. That, however, was under Bo Ryan who stepped down as head coach earlier this season. They are now under the direction of Greg Gard who is taking over in the interim for Ryan.
As for the team, they return two players who were major contributors a season ago when they made the final in Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig who are two leaders for this Badgers team going through a bit of a transition period.
Hayes is a 6-8 forward who is the team's leading scorer, averaging 15.7 points per game and also leads the team in assists with four assists per game. He has struggled with his jump shot, however, as he is shooting just over 38 percent from the field.
Koenig is another Badger who can fill it up and is second on the team in scoring averaging 13.9 points per game while shooting 37 percent from beyond the arc. It hasn't been the best season for the junior guard, but he is coming off of a 14-point performance against Rutgers.
Besides Hayes and Koenig, Ethan Happ is the next option for the Badgers when looking to score the basketball. The 6-9 freshman leads the team in field goal percentage at 53.7 percent and also averages 11.2 points per game.
Zak Showalter, coming off a 21-point performance versus Rutgers, along with Vitto Brown round out the starting five for the Badgers. Gard goes generally uses about four guys off of a young bench that includes three freshman along with one sophomore.
Wisconsin hasn't played a Big Ten road game thus far and with a younger Wisconsin team, it will be interesting to see how Gard and the team fares in his first road game as Wisconsin head coach.
What Indiana Needs To Do
For the Hoosiers to move to 3-0 in the Big Ten and 9-0 at Assembly Hall this season, the Hoosiers just need to play their game. They have scored 79 points in their last two games, but are generally a better scoring team at home. It will be interesting to see if coach Tom Crean will use a zone defense or the typical man-to-man as both have been used this season.
Thomas Bryant is coming off of one of his best games thus far and if guys like Yogi Ferrell, Troy Williams, and Robert Johnson are finding him running the floor or setting up on the block, expect Bryant to have a big game.
Even though Indiana is favored in this game, they still have to deal with two of the Big Ten's best in Hayes and Koenig. Adding on to that, the Hoosiers haven't necessarily played their best basketball against Wisconsin in the past as Indiana hasn't beaten them since January of 2014.
As for James Blackmon Jr. who has missed the last two games, coach Crean said that he is still being evaluated and added "When a decision is made on what comes next, we'll go from there."
Another player who has played some good basketball of late is OG Anunoby coming off of the bench. He isn't filling up the stat sheet, but on this team filled with great offensive players, he doesn't need to. Anunoby is getting that clutch rebound or making a hustle play on defense and is slowly gaining the trust of the coaching staff in meaningful minutes.
What To Expect
Indiana comes into this game favored mostly anywhere you look, but what it will come down to is if Wisconsin can keep up with Indiana offensively. The Hoosiers are one of the most prolific offensive teams in the country and to beat the Hoosiers you have be shooting a high percentage.
Assembly Hall will be raucous with it being the first home Big Ten game along with Indiana looking for a 3-0 start. Wisconsin has had success against Indiana lately so they will look to that success to try to help them get a road victory.
Prediction:
Indiana 85, Wisconsin 74
Game Info:
First tip is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EST on ESPN (Mike Tirico & Dan Dakich) at Assembly Hall.