Game Day Essentials
Indiana (16-8, 7-7) v. No. 15/16 Wisconsin (19-5, 10-4)
- Tip Time: 9 p.m. Eastern
- Location: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana
- Television: ESPN2 (Jason Benetti, Jay Bilas, Myron Medcalf)
- IU Radio Network: IU Radio Network
- Stream: Watch ESPN
- Point Spread: Indiana is an 3-point favorite
- KenPom Projected Score: No. 41 Indiana 67 No. 36 Wisconsin 64
- Series: Indiana leads 96-79.
- Last Meeting: WIS 64, IU 59 (Dec. 8, 2021 in Madison)
Additional Game Coverage
- Hoosiers look to end losing skid, Tamar Bates works through freshman slump
- Trey Galloway and Tamar Bates pre-game Q&A
Wisconsin Notes
At 19-5, Wisconsin is off to its best start under Greg Gard and best since 2016-17. Along the way, UW has built one of the top resumes:
- 8 – UW owns the nation’s No. 8 strength of record and has played the 14th-toughest schedule in the NCAA according to ESPN.
- 8 – Wisconsin’s 8 Quad 1 wins are 2nd most in the country, trailing only Baylor (9). The Badgers 11-4 in the first 2 quadrants.
- 9 – UW has 9 wins away from home this year.
Wisconsin is 1 win away from the 20-win mark for the 17th time in the last 20 seasons. Greg Gard has led UW to four 20 win seasons.
UW has 10+ Big Ten wins for the 19th time in the last 21 years. The only team to do so.
The Badgers are 11-1 in games decided by 6 or fewer points – most “close” wins in Div. 1.
Wisconsin is averaging 70.9 ppg, which would be the team’s highest mark since 2016-17.
Over the last 14 games, UW is averaging 72.6 ppg (topping 70 pts in 10 of those 14 games).
The Badgers are playing at their fastest pace in over 20 years.
6-foot-5 Johnny Davis is playing like an All-American and is the only Big Ten player to lead his team in ppg (20.3), rpg (8.2) and apg (2.5).
- During conference play, Davis has been even better, ranked 3rd in the Big Ten in points (20.4 ppg) and 2nd in rebounds (9.3 rpg).
- Davis has been at his best in big games, leading the nation in scoring against Top-25 teams. In 7 games against ranked opponents this season, Davis is averaging 25.3 ppg and 8.6 rpg.
- In UW’s 3 biggest wins, Davis scored 37 at Purdue, 30 vs. Houston and 25 at MSU.
6-foot-4 senior Brad Davison is having the best year of his career, ranking 17th in the Big Ten scoring 14.4 ppg. He is 4th in the B1G shooting 36.5% 3FG in conference play.
- Davison has more than carried the load when needed. Since Dec. 1, Johnny Davis has scored below 19 points just 6x. In those games, Davison averaged 17.5 ppg.
Wisconsin is 9-2 away from home this year, including a mark of 6-2 in true road games, leading the Big Ten in wins in both categories.
UW is shooting 74% at the FT line and has made 86 more FTs (331) than its foes (245).
Wisconsin leads the NCAA averaging just 8.4 turnovers per game.
In his 7th season as head coach, Greg Gard has guided Wisconsin to a 138-75 (.648) record – 79-49 (.617) in Big Ten play. Gard owns the 7th-highest win percentage of any Big Ten coach of the last 40 years. Including a win at No. 3 Purdue this season, Gard has led UW to 9 top-10 wins, including 6 away from home (4 in true road games).
Coming off a career-high 23 points vs. Rutgers (2/12), 6-foot-9 junior Tyler Wahl is averaging 12.8ppg and 6.4rpg in Big Ten play, shooting 55.5% FG.
7-foot sophomore Steven Crowl has made a big jump, averaging 9.1 ppg and 4.4 rpg. Last season, he had a total of 8 points and 9 rebounds.
6-foot-2 freshman point guard Chucky Hepburn has turned the ball over just 31 times in 731 minutes played.
Three Keys to the First Meeting
Here were our three keys to Wisconsin’s come-from-behind win in December in Madison:
1. A second half collapse. Indiana led 42-20 late in the first half but could get nothing going after the break. The Hoosiers made just 7-of-31 shots in the second half including 0-of-5 from three. They scored only 17 points and just .531 per possession and made just 3-of-9 free throws after halftime. Xavier Johnson made just 1-of-10 shots in the half. Indiana still led 59-53 with 3:08 left but Wisconsin scored the last 11 points of the game.
2. No good matchup for Davis. Johnny Davis was too quick off the bounce for IU and scored 23 points. The Hoosiers switched extensively and tried several different players on him but no one was particularly effective on the 6-foot-5 three-level scorer. Davis had 11 points in the first half, 12 in the second, and he made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:10 left. Davis was the only Wisconsin player in double figures.
3. Jackson-Davis taken out of the game. Indiana’s leader had just 9 points and 6 rebounds. Wisconsin did a good job of limiting Jackson-Davis’ touches. When he did get the ball he was either too far away from the basket or trapped in the paint. He made just 4-of-10 shots, only got to the foul line once, and had just six rebounds. Although he came in averaging nearly four blocks per game, Jackson-Davis had only one, and he was also unable to get out and run ahead of the defense in transition.
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