LIVE BLOG: Follow Along As Indiana Men's Basketball Plays At Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. - Welcome to Kohl Center on the campus of the University of Wisconsin! Indiana's men's basketball team hopes to end its three-game losing streak against high-scoring 21st ranked Wisconsin.

The Badgers average 81.5 points per game and are third-ranked in Big Ten games at 79.8 points per game. Indiana is not noted for its defensive prowess, but the Hoosiers showed some signs of stopping power in its near-miss loss at Purdue last Friday.

• The Big Ten availability listed Myles Rice and Kanaan Carlyle as questionable. Rice participated in pregame shootaround, but Carlyle did not. Rice has been inconsistent of late, but if he can go, it's a big help to the Hoosiers. No one is listed on the Badgers' report, so Indiana will get no breaks tonight on the opponent's injury front.

• Indiana's history at Wisconsin is notorious, having not won in Madison since 1998. It's a bizarre series. Gen Xers and those older will remember that Indiana absolutely dominated Wisconsin during the Bob Knight era. Wisconsin nearly went 0-for-the-1980s and 0-for-the-1990s against Indiana, winning one game against Indiana in the 1980 season. Indiana's win streak against Wisconsin wasn't broken until 1997, the only Badger victory in the 1990s. Wisconsin didn't win in Bloomington from 1978-2001.

• I know of the Indiana-Wisconsin series quite well. Wisconsin native here. Born and raised in Milwaukee. I was a Marquette fan growing up and more of a Wisconsin football fan than basketball, but when my family moved to Indianapolis when I was in high school, the only way to have a dialogue with my new high school friends was to have a Big Ten team. So I threw my weight behind the Badgers.

This was in the late 1980s, and you've seen how the Indiana-Wisconsin series was at the time. Lonely existence as a Badgers fan in the salad days of the Bob Knight era. Most of the games, at least in Madison, were close too. The triple overtime game Indiana won at UW Field House in 1987 sticks in my mind a bit differently than it does for IU fans. Wasn't any better for Wisconsin against Purdue in those days either.

Not to worry, Indiana fans. It's all about Indiana for me these days.

• Kohl Center is a strange building. Built in the late 1990s, it's surprisingly spartan. Exposed cinder block at the suite level is kind of an odd aesthetic choice. Last year when Indiana came, the students were gone. Not so tonight. It's a White Out and the Wisconsin students are ready to go.

• It's cold in Madison. Temps in the 20s. It's not as bad as it was last year when Madison resembled the ice planet Hoth with below-zero temps to match. How winter should be!

• The story probably won't publish until tomorrow now, but I worked up a piece on the College Basketball Crown tournament, which will take place in Las Vegas after the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament concludes. If you're thinking Indiana might be able to bow out of the postseason if the Hoosiers don't make the NCAA Tournament? Well ... you'll just have to read my piece tomorrow.

• Starters: Indiana - Myles Rice, Anthony Leal, Malik Reneau, Oumar Ballo, Mackenzie Mgbako. So Rice is a go.

Wisconsin - John Tonje, Max Klesmit, John Blackwell, Steven Crowl and Nolan Winter. Only Crowl averages less than 10 points per game. He only averages 9.7 ppg.

• Al Falaschi does a saxophone version of the National Anthem. The name Al Falaschi would be high on the they're-from-Wisconsin name list. "I'm going to the fish fry with Al Falaschi" hits just right. For my ears anyway.

• It's game time. Let's see if Indiana can exorcise its many Kohl Center demons.

• Wisconsin 8-0, 17:48 1H. Not loving what I'm seeing from Indiana early on. Three possessions where the pace was lethargic. Credit to the Badgers for stopping what Indiana wants to do with its pick-and-roll game and dribble-penetration, but the movement off the ball has been nonexistent.

• Wisconsin 13-2, 16:29 1H. Starts don't get much worse than that for the Hoosiers. Wisconsin is 4-for-5 from the field and 3-for-4 from 3-point range. Steven Crowl, Nolan Winter and John Tonje have all connected from long range ... all on easy looks. Myles Rice got a layup, but apart from that, passive isn't a strong enough word to describe Indiana's offense so far.

• Wisconsin 19-2, 15:40 1H. Badgers are firing at will from 3-point range ... and why not? They're making them (5-for-6) and the Hoosiers have not closed out with any kind of tenacity at all.

• Wisconsin 24-4, 13:49 1H. Embarrassing start for Indiana. Offensively, Indiana is not creating anything and settling for jump shots that aren't falling. The defense? What defense? Wisconsin shooters have had wide open spaces to fire away from 3-point range and this Badgers team thrives on that. As their 6 of 7 start from long range attests.

• Wisconsin 26-6, 11:43 1H. Badgers are averaging 1.857 points per possession. That's a very difficult height to reach, but Indiana's complete obliviousness on the defensive end helped a lot. Indiana is averaging 0.459 points per possession. Thanks in part to plays like Indiana's second-last trip down the floor ... where Malik Reneau dribbled into a triple-team and still attempted the shot instead of passing out of it.

• Wisconsin 33-20, 7:52 1H. Bryson Tucker connected from 3-point range twice. That 's something Indiana needs from its freshman, who had made just one 3-point shot all season. A bit of a silver lining in a dark cloud for the Hoosiers so far. Indiana has cut relatively deep into a peak deficit of 22 points. That deficit came in the first 7:22 of the game. That's how bad it was for Indiana in the early going. Nine Badgers have played and four of them have at least four points.

• Wisconsin 36-22, 3:15 1H. Now both teams are playing ugly. Hoosiers and Badgers have combined to make just two of their last 16 shots. Indiana has had chances to cut its deficit further, but the offense can't create an open look.

I spent most of the time watching the Indiana bench between timeouts. One criticism I think is fair is there are too many cooks in the stew. There are sometimes three coaches standing on the sideline in addition to Mike Woodson barking out various instructions. It's chaotic and it doesn't seem organized to me.

• Halftime: Wisconsin 42, Indiana 28. Honestly? It could be a whole lot worse, given that Indiana was down 26-4 at its nadir, but that start was so shockingly bad for the Hoosiers that it just saps your soul, so even some mild success in the face of that horrible start barely registers in the mind.

Wisconsin was 9 of 16 from 3-point range in the first half, seven of those came in the first 8:30 of the half. Indiana converted 34.5% from the field. Myles Rice leads Indiana with eight points. The only two team stats that Indiana is winning is steals (3-2) and bench points (13-12).

• Halftime adjusted score: Wisconsin 40, Indiana 28. Halftime score change after review. Indiana catches a break as a goaltending call on Oumar Ballo was reversed long after the fact. A 12-point deficit isn't ideal, but it's manageable.

• Different starting five in the second half as Luke Goode, Trey Galloway, Mackenzie Mgbako, Myles Rice and Oumar Ballo begin the half.

• Wisconsin 48-32, 1536 2H. The latest issue for Indiana is turnovers. Hoosiers have had four since halftime. One reason why the Hoosiers have only taken three shots. Turnovers also a big reason Wisconsin has taken six more shots and made one more than Indiana has attempted. Compared to a stirring performance against Purdue last Friday, this has been the polar opposite.

• Wisconsin 51-32, 14:44 2H. I don't know if there's a play that better symbolizes this game than Indiana running a perfect back-door play for Anthony Leal ... who then missed right at the rim. Been the kind of game where you just die inside a lot.

• Wisconsin 58-36, 10:55 2H. Looking for positives for Indiana in the box score just to break up the drumbeat of badness ... well ... Bryson Tucker has 8 points. That's good. It's tied 32-32 ... since the Hoosiers spotted the Badgers a 26-4 lead. That's about it.

Indiana hasn't made a bucket in 2:54 and is on a 1-for-9 streak from the field. John Blackwell is also just driving right at Indiana defenders for easy conversions at the rim.

• Wisconsin 61-45, 6:46 2H. A 6-0 run for Indiana makes it look better. The thing about this game? Indiana's ceiling has been mediocre and its basement has been downright awful, but since the early surge? It's not as if Wisconsin has brought that much quality to this game either. This is one you never watch again regardless of which team you support. Just ugly basketball.

• I think the early surge and then middling play since took the crowd out of the game too. I'm certain Kohl Center has been louder than it has been tonight.

• Wisconsin 65-45, 5:35 2H. Monitor review for a hard foul by Bryson Tucker on Carter Gilmore. Originally ruled a flagrant two foul (per live stats), it was changed to a flagrant one. Looked to me that Tucker was trying to go for the ball, but made hard contact just below Gilmore's head. Gilmore certainly sold it a bit too. Looked worse watching it live than it really was. Tucker proclaimed his innocence. Flagrant one is the right decision.

• Wisconsin 70-52, 3:24 2H. Indiana's long losing streak at Wisconsin is not going to end tonight. The 1998 Hoosiers can still claim to be the last Indiana team to leave Madison with an Indiana victory. Hoosiers never gave themselves a chance after that horrific start. Since then, it's just been a slow, drawn out march to the inevitable. No joy in this.

• Wisconsin 76-58, 1:17 2H. Two Hoosiers have reached double-figure scoring. Mackenzie Mgbako has 13 points, but on 4 of 12 shooting. Myles Rice has 10 points and is 3 of 3 from the field, but he also has three turnovers. Trey Galloway (9), Bryson Tucker (9) and Luke Goode (8) are close to double figures too, but the nature of this defeat makes statistical distinctions pretty meaningless.

FINAL: Wisconsin 76, Indiana 64. Hoosiers make the score look a bit better than it really was in the end. A four-game losing streak and six of seven. These are not good times for the Hoosiers. Michigan and Dusty May come to town next on Saturday.

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