Four days after being criticized for not taking a timeout in the waning seconds of a narrow road loss to archrival Purdue, Indiana men’s basketball head coach Mike Woodson wasted little time stopping the action Tuesday night against Wisconsin.
Woodson called his first timeout just over three and a half minutes into the first half, the Badgers already leading 13-2. Even with a media stoppage thrown in between, Woodson called another timeout less than three minutes later. Indiana’s deficit had grown to 24-4, and the margin ultimately reached as large as 22 points within the game’s first eight minutes.
The Hoosiers (14-9, 5-7 Big Ten) fought, but never dug themselves out of their grave en route to a 76-64 loss to the Badgers (18-5, 8-4 Big Ten) at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
The Badgers started 7-for-8 shooting from 3-point range and buried nine triples in the first half, which Woodson said was the “major difference” in the Hoosiers’ defeat.
“I thought we came out with good intentions, and we were just awful defensively,” Woodson said in his postgame radio interview with Don Fischer. “I mean, just terrible. We knew coming in this was a great 3-point shooting team and we still didn't guard the 3-point line early on.”
Wisconsin entered Tuesday averaging 10 3-pointers per game, which ranks 24th in Division I, while making 36% of its attempts from beyond the arc.
Woodson said postgame he has no explanation for why the Hoosiers lacked energy early. And while Indiana’s defensive struggles in the opening several minutes were illuminated by perimeter shots, its issues stemmed from the interior with junior forward Malik Reneau and sixth-year senior center Oumar Ballo.
The Badgers’ 7-foot forwards, graduate student Steven Crowl and sophomore Nolan Winter, went 3 of 5 from distance.
“Their bigs got away — that was the difference,” Woodson said. “I thought Malik and Ballo did an awful job in terms of guarding the bigs. We were terrible in transition early — they got a few there.”
Indiana’s perimeter defense improved in the second half. Wisconsin went only 3-for-13 shooting from beyond the arc over the final 20 minutes, a defensive effort Woodson appreciated, but the Badgers’ 12 triples tied for the second-most the Hoosiers have allowed this season.
"You figure if you can take some of those away, you’ve got a game,” Woodson said. “The first half put us out of the game basically, because it was tough getting back after that.”
Indiana’s loss marked its sixth in the past seven games, and the Hoosiers have lost 21 straight games at the Kohl Center.
Losing has become more commonplace than expected for Indiana, one of college basketball’s most historic programs — but Tuesday night’s defeat in Madison is perhaps more frustrating for what it uncovered.
The Hoosiers appeared to have turned a corner. Even amid a three-game losing streak, Indiana absorbed punches and gave itself a chance to win in the closing seconds.
While a low bar, the Hoosiers showed vital improvement in their ability to fight after losing each of their first five games by at least 16 points. None of Indiana’s previous three defeats came by double digits.
In their 81-76 loss to then-No. 10 Purdue on Jan. 31, the Hoosiers went punch-for-punch with one of the Big Ten’s best. Even in a losing effort, it was a strong rebound after a crushing 79-78 loss to Maryland on Jan. 26.
No such signs of encouragement accompanied the Hoosiers on their flight back to Bloomington on Tuesday night.
“We’re just not a tough team right now,” Woodson said. “Mentally, we’re not tough. You figure we have a game like we did at Purdue where we really competed for 40 minutes, and then we come in here and we lay an egg based on how we started the ball game. You spot teams on the road 20 (points), it’s going to be tough to get back in them. And again, that’s on me.”
Woodson said he thought Indiana played “great” against Purdue and Maryland before an “awful” showing in Madison.
Perhaps more concerning from a bigger-picture outlook, the Hoosiers’ string of losses is starting to weigh on their players.
“None of these guys like to lose, I don’t like to lose,” Woodson said. “I don’t like the way we’re playing. I did, prior to coming into tonight’s game.”
Indiana did not make any players available to speak postgame. Sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako scored a team-high 15 points, while senior forward Luke Goode added 11 points and redshirt sophomore guard Myles Rice notched 10 points.
The Hoosiers shot only 40.4% from the field and were 7-for-27 shooting from deep. Their best 3-point shooter was freshman forward Bryson Tucker, who made 2 of 3 tries after starting the day just 1 of 17 from distance this season.
Ballo played his worst game of the season Tuesday, Woodson said. The 7-foot center tallied only 4 points and six rebounds in 26 minutes. Fifth-year senior guard Anthony Leal started but didn’t score, playing only 11 minutes. Reneau registered 6 points and six rebounds in 17 minutes.
Indiana never led Tuesday night. It returns to Bloomington perhaps worse off than it left, and not only because of the 12-point loss.
The Hoosiers have eight games remaining, five of which come at home. Woodson feels a heightened sense of urgency — and from toughness and shot making to slow starts and consistency, he has lots to fix and little time to do it before Indiana hosts No. 24 Michigan at 1 p.m. Saturday inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
“Right now, our backs are against the wall,” Woodson said. “I got to figure out a game where we can get these guys back feeling good about themselves and see where it goes from there.”
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa) and columnist Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer (@mateo_frohwer) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
