Live Blog: Follow Indiana's Game Against Wisconsin in Real Time
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana aims to snap a four-game losing streak Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET against Wisconsin at Assembly Hall.
Coach Mike Woodson and the Hoosiers are coming off an 83-74 loss at Penn State, in addition to losses to Nebraska, Northwestern and Purdue. On the other side, Wisconsin had a week to rest after its 74-70 home victory over Maryland on Feb. 20. In the season's first matchup on Jan. 19 in Madison, Wisconsin defeated Indiana 91-79 behind 26 points from Max Klesmit.
Welcome to our live blog, where we'll share updates, highlights and thoughts on the game.
9:14 p.m. – Mgbako misses the front end of the one and one, but Klesmit and Hepburn miss threes on the final possession. Indiana wins, 74-70.
9:12 p.m. – Officials say Leal was out of bounds going for the rebound. Leal is arguing that he called a timeout before. Wisconsin gets the ball back, but Storr is called for a foul going for a rebound after a missed three by Hepburn.
9:11 p.m. – Mgbako gets fouled, then hits both free throws. IU leads 74-70 with 25.1 left.
9:08 p.m. – Storr missed a three, and Galloway did a great job boxing out Wahl on the rebound as the ball went out of bounds. IU ball, up two points with 35.1 left.
9:07 p.m. – Reneau gets the layup to fall through traffic, but he fouled out on the next possession. Woodson is absolutely irate with Reneau, Indiana's leading scorer. IU leads 72-70 with 48.6 left.
9:05 p.m. – Here's the official statement from IU regarding the delay: "It was determined a fire alarm went off in the balcony. Emergency management officials stationed in the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall Command Center followed state law and evacuated the arena for the safety and well-being of everyone in attendance. Once it was determined there was no immediate threat, everyone was allowed back in the building."
9:03 p.m. – Timeout Wisconsin. Galloway tied it 70-70 with perfect touch on a floater from about six feet out. Assembly Hall isn't very full, but the fans that came back after the fire alarm delay are loud.
9:01 p.m. – Storr ties the game back up at 68-apiece with a stepback three. He's up to 14 points after a quiet start.
8:59 p.m. The Galloway-to-Ware lob is at peak efficiency tonight. Wisconsin has no answer. IU leads 67-65 with 3:13 left, and Ware will have a free throw after the timeout. Galloway has 11 assists, and Ware has 26 points on 11-for-12 shooting.
8:56 p.m. – Reneau picks up his fourth foul with 4:31 left. Walker checks in and scores a layup to put IU ahead, 65-63.
8:53 p.m. – Galloway turns it over on an entry pass to Reneau, and Woodson puts his hands over his face. Hepburn scored a layup over Wahl on the next trip, then Mgbako answered with a three. Tied 63-63 with 5:35 left.
8:51 p.m. – Galloway throws another lob to Ware, who couldn't quite get the dunk/layup to fall. He drew a foul on Crowl, his second, and hit both free throws. IU trails 61-60.
8:48 p.m. – IU trails Wisconsin 61-58 at the under-8 timeout, 7:03 remaining. Reneau has all of IU's four points since the break. Hepburn hit a three, and Wahl and Crowl both made layups.
8:45 p.m. – The crowd at Assembly Hall is significantly smaller than it was prior to the delay. Only about half the student section is here, and the non-student crowd may not fill the half of the rest of the seats.
8:41 p.m. – Play resumes at Assembly Hall after a brief delay due to fire alarms going off.
8:22 p.m. – They're stopping the game at Assembly Hall, and fans are starting to leave. An alarm of some sort is going off.
8:15 p.m. – Johnson got going a bit to fast there, and it leads to a turnover. He drove all the way to the left block, but officials say he took too many steps as he spun to pass the ball to Ware inside. IU leads 54-50 with 11:54 left.
8:12 p.m. – Wisconsin still showing no ability to stop Ware. Galloway threw him a high lob, and the 7-footer reached all the way up to throw it down. Hepburn knocks down a three a few possessions later, and IU's lead is down to 52-50.
8:08 p.m. – Nice move from Cupps inside. He drove all the way to the basket with Hepburn defending, then stopped on a dime, spun around and knocked down a fadeaway jumper. Storr answers with a three. IU leads 50-45 with 14:52 left.
Here's video of that move from Cupps.
8:07 p.m. – Reneau and Wahl traded dunks and layups, then Galloway and Reneau had a nice give-and-go fast break, ultimately drawing a foul on Wahl, his third. Reneau goes 1-for-2 at the line, extending IU's lead to 45-38.
8:03 p.m. – Mgbako spins and hits an off-balance shot near the basket on IU's first possession. Ware had a huge block on IU's first defensive possession, but Wisconsin got the loose ball and kicked it out to Klesmit for a 3-pointer. IU leads 40-36.
7:49 p.m. – Halftime: Indiana 38, Wisconsin. 33 IU's largest lead was 32-17, but Wisconsin closed the half on a 16-6 run in the last five minutes. Kel'el Ware dominated, scoring 20 points on 9-for-10 shooting with seven rebounds and three blocks. Balanced scoring for the Badgers, with Crowl and Klesmit each scoring eight.
7:44 p.m. – Ware takes it right at Crowl on a drive from the top of the key and finishes the layup. After Crowl sagged off a few possessions ago, he was noticeably closer that time and might have been on his heels at the start of the drive. IU leads 38-33 at halftime.
7:42 p.m. – Wisconsin goes on a quick 8-0 run to cut IU's lead to 36-31 with 1:44 left in the half. Klesmit hit a three, and Hepburn and Storr were able to get to the basket for easy layups.
7:35 p.m. – A shot fake from Crowl gets Payton Sparks in the air, then he drives to the basket for an easy layup. Crowl backed down Sparks on the next possession, too, but Johnson answered with a 3-pointer at the top of the key. IU leads 36-23.
7:29 p.m. – Crowl left way too much space for Ware at the top of the key, and Indiana's 7-footer makes him pay with a 3-pointer. Ware knocks down a mid-range face-up jumper on the next possession. He's got 18 points on a perfect 8-for-8 shooting.
7:25 p.m. – Johnson's first attempt from the field is a pull-up mid-range jumper, and he hits it. On the following possession, he gets bumped by Wahl, his second foul.
7:23 p.m. – Galloway again slices through the defense, this time finding Leal in the corner for a three. He hits it to give IU a 23-14 lead. This is IU's best start in some time.
7:21 p.m. – Galloway drives hard and finds Ware, who makes a layup through a foul from Markus Ilver, his first. Ware hits the free throw. IU leads 20-14.
7:19 p.m. – Indiana going smaller now with Johnson, Galloway, Leal, Walker and Ware out of the timeout.
7:17 p.m. IU leads Wisconsin 17-11, 11:56. Xavier Johnson turned it over his first possession, but then got a steal and assist to Galloway on the fast break. Reneau just picked up his second foul, so he might have to sit for a while. Ware's been the best player on the floor so far, scoring eight points on 4-for-4 shooting with two blocks.
7:14 p.m. – Xavier Johnson checks in for the first time since Jan. 30 against Iowa. He turned it over on the first possession on an out of control drive, but came up with a steal on his first defensive possession. He found Galloway for a fast break layup. Blackwell answers with a three. IU leads 17-11.
7:13 p.m. – Good ball movement from IU leads to an open three from Reneau, and he hits it. Cupps shot faked then drove baseline before kicking it out to Galloway, who swung the ball to a wide open Reneau. Ware scores over Winter on the next possession then blocks a shot on the other end. IU leads 15-8.
7:10 p.m. – IU leads Wisconsin 10-6, 15:10. Ware didn't play in the first matchup, and Wisconsin hasn't had an answer for him so far. Ware has 6pts, 3-3 FG. Galloway and Mgbako missed open 3s. A few defensive breakdowns from IU early.
7:06 p.m. – Galloway throws it where only Ware can reach it, and Ware hits the layup over several Wisconsin defenders. Galloway missed an open three, then Hepburn beat the Indiana defense for an easy dunk. IU leads 8-4.
7:05 p.m. – Ware finishes a layup through traffic, but Crowl spins around him on the other end for an easy dunk. Haven't seen that kind of defensive lapse from Ware much this season. Storr picks up his first foul on an Mgbako drive. Mgbako goes 2-for-2 at the line. IU leads 6-2.
7:02 p.m. – Wisconsin wins the tip, and we're underway. Hepburn misses a three on Wisconsin's first possession, then Reneau assists Mgbako for a layup after a near turnover. IU up 2-0 early.
6:59 p.m. – Plenty of empty seats at Assembly Hall as starting lineups are announced. This is probably the smallest crowd of the season for the men's team.
6:42 p.m. – Indiana starters tonight are Gabe Cupps, Trey Galloway, Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau and Kel'el Ware. Xavier Johnson will be available off the bench. For Wisconsin, it's Chucky Hepburn, Max Klesmit, AJ Storr, Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl. Officials are James Breeding, Doug Sirmons and Kevin Brill.
6:31 p.m. – Wisconsin is a 4.5-point favorite, and the over/under is 140.5 points, according to the SI Sportsbook. Both teams enter the game struggling, with IU losing four in a row and Wisconsin losing five of its last seven.
5:55 p.m. – Johnson, Galloway and Gunn are all in uniform for warmups.
Indiana guards CJ Gunn (left) and Xavier Johnson (right) warming up for Tuesday's game against Wisconsin.
Trey Galloway is in uniform for warmups against Wisconsin.
5:00 p.m. – Indiana guards Xavier Johnson, Trey Galloway and CJ Gunn were all listed questionable on the Big Ten's pregame availability report. Johnson has not played since suffering an elbow injury on Jan. 30 since Iowa, but this was the first game he's been listed questionable. It was a bit surprising to see Galloway and Gunn on the report. Galloway left Saturday's game against Penn State briefly with an apparent left foot injury, but he still played 34 minutes. Gunn did not appear to sustain an injury in that game.
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- POINT SPREAD: Indiana and Wisconsin have had some serious struggles in the month of February, so Tuesday night's matchup in Assembly Hall is a desperation game for both sides. The Badgers are favored. Here's the latest on the point spread, plus a great history of what both teams have done vs. the numbers this season. CLICK HERE
- WOODSON RADIO SHOW: On Monday's "Inside Indiana Basketball" radio show, play-by-play announcer Don Fischer met with coach Mike Woodson to discuss the Hoosiers' recent losses to Nebraska and Penn State, then look forward to Tuesday's game against Wisconsin. Former Indiana basketball player Collin Hartman joined the show discuss the NIL landscape at Indiana. CLICK HERE
- HOW TO WATCH: Indiana continues the 2023-24 season on Tuesday against the Wisconsin Badgers at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Here's how to watch, game time and TV information, the point spread and over/under, the coaching matchup, series history, predicted score, stats, rankings and more. CLICK HERE
- MGBAKO FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: Mackenzie Mgbako won his second Big Ten Freshman of the Week Award on Monday after scoring a career-high 22 points against Nebraska. CLICK HERE
- MEET THE OPPONENT, NEBRASKA: Wisconsin has a 2-5 record in February and is unranked, a long slide from when it was No. 6 in the AP top-25 poll at the end of January. The Badgers are still contending for a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament and can sweep the season series against Indiana with a win on Tuesday. Here's a full breakdown of the Badgers. CLICK HERE
- XAVIER JOHNSON INJURY UPDATE: Ahead of the Hoosiers' home game against Wisconsin on Tuesday, Indiana coach Mike Woodson said sixth-year senior point guard Xavier Johnson has practiced on the court but has not had full-contact yet. CLICK HERE
