Indiana Gets Blitzed Early, Loses Again at Wisconsin, 76-64

MADISON, Wis. — Indiana has anguished through some brutal last-minute losses lately, but the Hoosiers didn't have to worry about that on Tuesday night at the Kohl Center.

Their game with No. 21-ranked Wisconsin was practically over before it started.

The Hoosiers were down by 20 points in the first six minutes, and lost 76-64 in a game that wasn't nearly that close. For the second straight year, Indiana trailed here by 23 points before losing by 12, putting some lipstick on the pig.

Indiana is now 14-9 on the season and 5-7 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers have lost six of their last seven games — and they're a mess right now.

"I don't know how to explain it. We were awful tonight,'' Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "Right now, we're just not a tough team. Mentally, we're not tough. We really competed for 40 minutes at Purdue, but we come in here and we lay an egg based on how we started the ballgame.

"You spot a team 20 on the road and it's going to be tough to get back in it. That's on me. We're pushing and pulling and scraping, but guys just didn't step up again tonight. We're not playing great basketball. It's weighing on them. None of these guys like to lose. I don't like to lose.''

Wisconsin jumped out to a 19-2 start, and it was 24-4 by the 13:50 mark, Woodson had already used two timeouts to try to stem the tide, but nothing worked, on the court or in the huddle.

Wisconsin plays with two bigs, 7-footer Steven Crowl and 6-11 Nolan Winter. They each hit a three to start the game, and the Badgers made six overall in the 26-4 start. They made 12 in the game, the fifth time the Hoosiers have given up double-digit threes in the past three weeks, all losses.

"Their bigs got away from us, and I thought that was the difference,'' Woodson said. "Malik (Reneau) and (Oumar) Ballo did an awful job guarding their bigs and we were awful in transition, too.''

The Hoosiers did make a few runs, getting the lead down to 11 at one point. But Wisconsin took off again, and had their biggest lead — 23 points — at the 5:01 mark. Indiana ended the game on a 14-6 run, but it was irrelevant.

This was their sixth double-digit loss of the season and the 28th of Woodson's career in three-plus seasons. Woodson is 77-49 as Indiana's head coach, which means that 57.1 percent of his career losses have been by double figures.

That's just not competitive.

Time is running out on the Hoosiers now, too. They have eight games left in the regular season — five at home, starting on Saturday with Michigan — and they need to win at least five of them to stay in the postseason conversation. That's not going to be easy.

Especially playing like they did Tuesday. Their shooting percentage hovered in the low 30s most of the night before the late flurry. They finished 23-of-57 from the field (40.4 percent) and made seven threes.

Sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako led the Hoosiers with 15 points, but he was just 1-for-7 from three. Luke Goode had 11 points and Myles Rice had 10. Trey Galloway and Bryson Tucker each added nine off the bench.

No Indiana players were made available for postgame comments.

The defeat added to a school-record losing streak for Indiana, which has now lost 21 games in a row at the Kohl Center. It's one of the strangest flips in Indiana history, because from 1979 to 1997, the Hoosiers won 16 straight games in Madison — and 36 in a row overall.

The tide has definitely turned. Wisconsin coach Greg Gard, who is 12-4 all-time against Indiana, said that hot start was a result of good scouting and even better execution. The Badgers got the shots they wanted — and they made them.

"I thought we set the tone early,'' Gard said. "When you get bigs that can shoot — and we've had them here for years — it's an important piece and it makes our offense that much better. This group has continued to improve, and has shown a lot of humility. They're very coachable."

It also helped the the Badgers weren't giving anything away on the other end, forcing the Hoosiers into one tough shot after another. It kept the lead stretched out, even when the Wisconsin offense went through a few lulls.

"I thought we really were dialed in and really making good decisions defensively," Gard said. "At times we turned our defense into offense, so that was the main thing. I think we kept the ball out of the paint when it did get there, we were able to swarm and either force them into a tougher shot or force them to kick it out."

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