Badgers nip Hoosiers

Jason Bohannon, shown here against Iowa, led the way with 18 points.

(Wednesday, February 13th)

Final Score: (15) Wisconsin 68, (13) Indiana 66

Bloomington, IN - Brian Butch hit a three-pointer with 4.5 seconds to play, as 15th-ranked Wisconsin nipped 13th-ranked Indiana, 68-66, in a Big Ten clash from Assembly Hall.

A Marcus Landry tip-in with 25.8 seconds to play gave Wisconsin a 65-64 lead, then Eric Gordon made two from the line with 17.1 ticks left which put Indiana ahead by one.

Following a timeout, Butch banked home a three from the top of the key. After a frenzied attempt to push the ball down court, Jamarcus Ellis’ potential game-winning trey from the right side hit the front of the rim and bounced onto the top of the backboard at the buzzer.

“Sometimes basketball is a game of breaks,” said Indiana head coach Kelvin Sampson. “Wisconsin had, I think it was Landry and (Brian) Butch on the perimeter; some kind of hand off, the ball was bobbled. Butch picked it up and when it left his hand I said ‘Well, that is going to hit high off the glass.’ It hit the glass just right. Sometimes it is better to be luckier than good. It is a great break for Wisconsin and a tough break for us. The good thing is that we have been really good on the road, having won five of six.”

Jason Bohannon led the way with 18 points including making 6-of-11 three- pointers for the Badgers (20-4, 10-2 Big Ten), who have won four of their last five games and moved ahead of Indiana into second place in the conference. Michael Flowers added 15 points and seven boards, while Butch scored 13 points.

“I told Brian in the locker room that they discounted it because he didn’t call it and that we lost and the game was over,” joked Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan. “There was silence for two seconds and then somebody yelled `Let’s get on the plane.’ And that was it.”

Gordon posted a game-high 23 points for the Hoosiers (20-4, 9-2), whose three-game win streak came to an end. D.J. White added 17 points and eight rebounds and Armon Bassett poured in 12 points in a losing cause.

The crushing loss comes on the heels of five new major alleged recruiting violations revealed by the NCAA on Wednesday against Indiana head coach Kelvin Sampson. They revolve around improper telephone calls, made while Sampson was under sanctions for actions taken while he was head coach at Oklahoma.

Indiana opened the game with six straight points and eight of the first 11. Thanks to excellent long-range shooting, the Badgers rallied to tie, 12-12, after consecutive threes by Bohannon.

A Lance Stemler trey put the Hoosiers back on top a little less than nine minutes in, the start of an 11-2 run helped by aggressive defense to take a 23-14 lead with 7:05 to go on a DeAndre Thomas layup.

The Badgers responded with a 9-2 run of their own to come within two on another three by Bohannon, and after a pair of Trevon Hughes free throws with 3:17 remaining, Wisconsin trailed 30-29.

Following a deuce by Greg Stiemsma and a three by Hughes, Indiana fell behind 34-32, but the Hoosiers regrouped before the break to take a one-point lead.

The Hoosiers asserted themselves at the start of the second half, opening with a 9-4 run to take a 46-40 lead on a Gordon jumper.

However, Bohannon struck again, and his three-pointer ignited a Badgers rally which saw them go up 49-48 eight minutes in after a jumper by Joe Krabbenhoft.

From there, each side traded turns with the lead until Butch’s layup with 2:20 to go knotted the game, 60-60 and presaged the hectic end to the contest.

Game Notes

Despite the loss, Indiana leads the all-time series 94-57…Wisconsin hit on 43 percent of its shots (27-of-63) from the floor, but nailed 11-of-26 from beyond the arc (42.3 percent), while Indiana made just 3-of-13 threes…The Badgers also edged the Hoosiers on the glass, 32-31.

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