Indiana snapped a four-game shedding streak with a 74-70 win towards Wisconsin on Tuesday night time at Meeting Corridor. The victory improved the Hoosiers to 15-13 total and 7-10 in Huge Ten play with three common season video games remaining.
Listed here are 5 takeaways from the win towards the Badgers:
Kel’el Ware was dominant
Kel’el Ware missed Indiana’s first matchup towards Wisconsin, a 91-79 loss on Jan. 19 on the Kohl Middle.
Ware made his presence felt within the rematch with the Badgers in Meeting Corridor.
The 7-footer made his first eight pictures, completed 11-for-12 from the sphere and scored a game-high 27 factors in 38 minutes. Ware scored 20 of his 27 factors within the first half.
The offensive arsenal Ware displayed confirmed why he’s prone to be a first-round NBA draft choose in June. Ware scored off the dribble going to the rim, he scored off of lobs and he stepped out and hit a 3-pointer.
However it wasn’t simply the scoring that made Ware’s efficiency particular. He additionally grabbed 11 rebounds – all on the defensive finish – and blocked 5 pictures. And he altered loads of appears on the rim, too.
Ware has had loads of standout performances this season, however Tuesday’s was amongst his greatest.
“He was implausible tonight,” Mike Woodson mentioned. “We wanted each little bit of it to be able to win this sport.”
Hoosiers dig down late for defensive stops
There’s no disputing Indiana’s protection has taken a step again this season.
The Hoosiers, nonetheless, had been capable of get stops when it mattered most towards Wisconsin. The Badgers missed their final six pictures and went scoreless within the last 2:06.
It was a complete crew effort in that stretch, as Indiana averted any breakdowns and made issues difficult for Wisconsin on each possession.
Whereas the general defensive effort wasn’t as much as the usual Indiana set the earlier two seasons, it improved considerably from the primary assembly between the 2 groups on the Kohl Middle. Wisconsin completed with 1.115 factors per possession on Tuesday in comparison with the 1.403 factors per possession it put up in Madison towards Indiana.
Indiana held Wisconsin to simply 43.5 p.c capturing in Tuesday’s win and allowed the Badgers to get to the free throw line simply thrice.
This was one in all IU’s greatest capturing performances of the season
Woodson has been steadfast in his feedback that his crew is getting beauty however isn’t knocking them down.
On Tuesday, the Hoosiers made pictures.
Indiana completed 29-for-47 (61.7 p.c) from the sphere and 6-for-14 (42.9 p.c). 5 completely different Hoosiers made a 3-pointer within the win.
One major key was how nicely the Hoosiers shared the ball.
Indiana completed with 17 assists on 29 made baskets. Whereas there was some sloppiness with the ball at instances – the Hoosiers dedicated 12 turnovers – the ball motion was stable total and lots of the pictures had been in rhythm.
Taking part in out of place, Trey Galloway dishes out 12 assists
Xavier Johnson’s harm, coupled with the freshman struggles of Gabe Cupps, have pressured Trey Galloway into changing into Indiana’s major distributor for a lot of the season.
Galloway matched his career-high with 12 assists on Tuesday whereas solely committing two turnovers.
In Huge Ten video games, Galloway now ranks sixth within the league in help price at 28.4 p.c.
“We bought a whole lot of belief in Galloway. Little doubt about that,” Woodson mentioned. “He’s performed in all probability among the most minutes of anyone on our crew this 12 months.
“So we belief when the ball is in his arms he could make basketball performs. I assumed tonight he delivered for us; made a whole lot of nice performs.”
Galloway continues to battle from the perimeter – he was 0-for-4 on 3s and simply 3-for-10 from the sphere – however his playmaking and stellar protection made him one of many MVPs in Tuesday’s win.
The four-game shedding streak is over
Whereas one win doesn’t take away the general disappointment of how Indiana’s season has transpired by means of 28 video games, the Hoosiers haven’t stopped competing.
After blowing a 15-point first half lead, Indiana stayed on its toes even when the Badgers took the lead a number of instances within the second half.
Whether or not the Hoosiers can parlay this win into extra within the coming weeks stays to be seen. However for Woodson, it was good to see his crew get some validation for its stable efficiency after shedding 4 straight and eight of its final 10.
“That locker room may be very completely happy proper now. Whenever you undergo a stretch like that, I don’t want that on anybody,” Woodson mentioned. “No one likes to lose. Me being who I’m, I hate shedding.
“However there’s a lot that comes with that, man. You bought to remain affected person. You possibly can’t simply bury the fellows. You possibly can’t do this. You bought to pat them. All of us overlook these are 18- and 19-year-old younger males, man. Typically their emotions are crushed too. However that locker room is completely happy. It’s like we bought that monkey off our again, so I’m completely happy for them.”
Filed to: Kel’el Ware, Mike Woodson, Trey Galloway, Wisconsin Badgers
