At the Buzzer: Indiana 78, Wisconsin 77

Lamar Wilkerson attempts a shot against Wisconsin.

Quick thoughts on a 78-77 overtime win against Wisconsin:

How it happened

Coming off a road trip to the West Coast and with the flu moving through the roster, it was an up-and-down first half for Indiana on Saturday afternoon at Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers started strong, building a 26-12 lead on a Conor Enright layup by the 8:26 mark of the half. Lamar Wilkerson was big in IU’s first-half success, scoring 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting in 17 minutes. Tucker DeVries also made a couple of 3-pointers, Enright had seven points and four assists and Sam Alexis had six points, three rebounds and two blocked shots in 14 minutes. But despite those strong performances and the 14-point lead at one point, Wisconsin found its footing later in the half as Nolan Winter got things going for the Badgers. The junior big man had a game-high 14 points in 16 first-half minutes and a late surge pulled the Badgers within six points at 36-30 by intermission.

Indiana continued its strong play out of halftime, scoring the first four points to make it 40-30 at the 18:10 mark. After the Badgers pulled within seven at 46-39 on a John Blackwell layup, Indiana ripped off a 6-0 run to make it 52-39 with 13:01 to play. That run was capped off by a DeVries 3-pointer, his third of the game. By the under-12-minute media timeout, the Hoosiers led 56-46 with 10:51 remaining. And Indiana led 59-52 at the under-eight media timeout after a Sam Alexis bucket.

At the final media timeout, Indiana’s lead was 68-62. Out of the timeout, a Nick Boyd 3-pointer brought Wisconsin within three and two free throws from Braeden Carrington made it 68-67 Indiana. The Badgers took their first lead on a John Blackwell jumper with 1:48 left. A Nolan Winter 3-pointer with just under a minute left gave Wisconsin a 72-68 advantage. Winter fouled Wilkerson on IU’s next possession and Wilkerson made both free throws. After an Andrew Rohde missed 3-pointer on Wisconsin’s next possession, Rohde fouled Wilkerson on IU’s ensuing possession and Wilkerson made both free throws to make it 72-72. Wisconsin took a timeout with 11.2 seconds left. Blackwell’s midrange shot with just over a second left was short, sending the game to overtime.

In overtime, Wisconsin opened the scoring on a Winter layup with 3:48 left and the Hoosiers tied it at 74 on a pair of Wilkerson free throws with 2:21 left. Three free throws – two from Winter and one from Nick Boyd – gave Wisconsin a 77-74 lead with just under a minute to play. Indiana called a timeout with possession and trailing 77-74 with 38.1 seconds left. Out of the timeout, a Wilkerson layup made it 77-76. On Wisconsin’s next possession, Boyd committed an offensive foul, giving IU possession with 15.1 seconds remaining. Blackwell fouled Wilkerson with 2.8 seconds to go. Wilkerson made both free throws to make it 78-77, Indiana. Wisconsin took a timeout. Braeden Carrington’s desperation heave missed just before the buzzer, giving IU its seventh Big Ten win.

Standout performers

Four Hoosiers finished in double figures, led by Wilkerson with 25 points in 41 minutes. He was 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Alexis finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and eight blocked shots in 34 minutes. DeVries added 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots in 45 minutes. Enright had 11 points, six assists and four rebounds in 39 minutes.

Statistics that stand out

Indiana won the points in the paint battle 44-28 and prevailed despite shooting just 5-for-22 on 3s (22.7 percent). The Hoosiers limited the Badgers to just 38 percent shooting, including a 12-for-36 mark on 3-pointers.