They’re back.
Following the Illinois victory Wednesday night, IU’s Big Ten schedule has circled back around.
The Hoosiers (16-9, 8-5) started with a sweep of the Illini. Now they will try to avoid being swept by the Badgers (7-16, 3-10) on Sunday afternoon in Assembly Hall.
“We’re really excited about getting another opportunity to play them,” IU Coach Teri Moren said. “It was our first Big Ten game that we feel like we didn’t do a very good job on any side of the ball.”
On New Year’s Eve, IU kicked off its Big Ten schedule in Madison, Wisconsin, and allowed Wisconsin to convert on 48 percent of its field goal attempts. It would be an 18-9 second quarter that would doom the Hoosiers, as the Badgers would win a close one, 73-69.
“There were a lot of miscues: we came out flat,” sophomore guard Tyra Buss said. “It was our first Big Ten game of the year. We weren’t really ready to play.”
Senior Wisconsin guards Nicole Bauman and Dakota Whyte scored 24 and 17 points respectively, while sophomore forward Amanda Cahill recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. But still struggled from the field, shooting 3-of-12 and 0-of-5 from three.
In fact, the player experience is what Moren said could be the biggest threat against the Hoosiers on Sunday. The Badgers own five seniors, while the Hoosiers have none who play.
“They start about five seniors: there’s four seniors and a junior, who’s a fourth-year kid,” Moren said, “so they’re a veteran team that’s playing with a little bit of desperation.”
Wisconsin’s desperation comes from a second-to-last standing in the Big Ten and a recent 7-game losing streak. Teams that the Hoosiers have handled have presented issues for the Badgers, as schools like Michigan State, Iowa, Illinois and others have defeated Wisconsin on the road and at the Kohl Center.
But Feb. 8, Wisconsin defeated Purdue — a team that's tied for sixth in the conference and that defeated IU by 10 in West Lafayette, Indiana.
“They’re record is not an indicator of how good they think that they should be at this point.," Moren said. "Certainly, that’s always a concern with anybody that’s coming into Assembly Hall right now because I think so much has been talked about our players in Assembly Hall and how well they’ve played.”
IU continues to win at home, as it boasts an 11-0 record in Assembly Hall, while no other Big Ten team is undefeated at home. This is good news for the Hoosiers, as they play a two-game home stand before traveling on the road to play Iowa, who is 8-4 at home, and Nebraska, who is 13-1.
“It just seems like a lot of teams are coming in here to try to take that streak away,” Moren said. “There’s motivation from our part, without question, because we really felt like we could have — if we would have, should have you know, done some things differently — won that first game.”
