Hoosiers lose to Badgers

IU got a taste of its own medicine. \nJust two games after Eric Gordon banked in a 3-pointer to stretch IU’s eventual win against Illinois to overtime, Brian Butch banked in a 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds left to give No. 15 Wisconsin a 68-66 win over the No. 13 Hoosiers Wednesday night. \n“I told Brian in the locker room that they discounted it because he banked it and didn’t call it,” Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said after the game. \nIU coach Kelvin Sampson said Wisconsin got the better of the breaks. \nWith time winding down in the game, Wisconsin forward Marcus Landry handed the ball off to Butch and the two almost botched the exchange. \n“Butch picked it up and when it left his hand I said ‘Well, that’s going to hit high off the glass,’” Sampson said. “Hit just right. Sometimes it’s better to be luckier than good.”\nThe Badgers used a barrage of 3-pointers, none more pivotal than Butch’s game-winner, to sink the Hoosiers just hours after IU made public an NCAA report alleging five major recruiting violations against the Hoosier coaching staff. Badger guard Jason Bohannon, shot 6-of-11 from behind the 3-point line in Wisconsin’s second win of the season against the Hoosiers. \nRyan described Bohannon in one word: “Guts.”\nBut he wasn’t the only one connecting from behind the arc. The Badgers hit 11 3-pointers (42.3 percent), compared to IU’s three (23.1 percent). \nThe Hoosiers had a chance to win the game with time winding down, but junior guard Jamarcus Ellis’ 3-pointer hit off the rim as time expired.\nAfter the game, Sampson defended his decision not to call time-out – IU had two remaining – because that would have let Wisconsin set up its defense. \nIU held on to a slim lead for most of the game but could never run away from the Badgers – a trend that started early in the game. \nThe Hoosiers came out firing in the first half, but the Badgers responded to whatever IU threw their way. \nIU senior forward D.J. White dominated the early minutes of the contest, blocking three shots and scoring IU’s first six points and eight of its first 12 to put the Hoosiers up 12-6. But two quick 3-pointers by Bohannon tied the game.\nIU went on another run a few minutes later and secured a nine-point lead. Again, Wisconsin’s 3-pointers, two from Michael Flowers and one from Bohannon, put the Badgers back within striking distance. \n“Other than one shot, I think those were wide-open 3s,” Ryan said of his team’s first-half 3-pointers.\nWhite didn’t miss a shot in the half, leading the Hoosiers with 14 points in the half to give them a 37-36 lead going into halftime.\nBut in the second half, IU centered its attack around freshman Eric Gordon and less on White. \n“One of the things we wanted to do in the second half was get (Gordon) to the free-throw line,” Sampson said.\nGordon finished the game with 23 points, nine of them from the free-throw line.\nWhite scored only three points in the second half, shooting 1-of-4. \n“My shots were there, basically the same shots I took in the first half,” said White, who finished with 17 points. “I just missed them.”