The Minute After: Wisconsin

Photos from IU basketball's win against Wisconsin.

Thoughts on a 78-77 win against the Badgers:

Another overtime game, Indiana’s second in its last three outings, and oh boy did it feel like it wasn’t going to happen.

The Hoosiers didn’t score a field goal for the last 5:31 of regulation. In overtime, they managed just one bucket.

That’s right: Over the last 10:31 of game action, Indiana mustered just one make, a Lamar Wilkerson second-chance lay-in with 30 seconds to go in overtime after he was blocked on his first attempt.

But it ultimately didn’t matter. Because Indiana was still able to get it done, eeking out the victory against the Badgers this afternoon.

Did the Hoosiers get some help from the whistles late? Probably.

Conor Enright’s ability to draw an offensive foul on Nick Boyd with 15 seconds left in overtime was enormous. Was it the right call? That’s in the eye of the beholder, though, on the replay, it certainly wasn’t just a pure flop from Enright. And it looked like a better call than John Blackwell’s foul on Wilkerson with just under three seconds to go. Wilkerson seemed just to be stumbling, but the call came regardless, and he stepped to the line and made both free throws to turn a one-point deficit into a one-point lead to win the game for the Hoosiers.

After Wilkerson had a strong first half (11 points, 5-of-8), Wisconsin was able to stay in front of him and bottle him up more as the second half and overtime wore on. But beyond the game-winning free throws in overtime, he also hit game-tying free throws with 16 seconds to go in regulation to force overtime. He scored Indiana’s last 10 points, which included a perfect 8-of-8 performance from the line.

Overall, the Hoosiers made 10-of-11 from the line during the aforementioned end-of-the-game field-goal drought to give themselves a puncher’s chance.

Indiana also won despite shooting just 5-of-22 (23 percent) from 3-point range. Nick Dorn missed all three of his attempts and didn’t score all afternoon. Wilkerson went 1-of-8. Tucker DeVries (3-of-7) and Enight (1-of-3) were the only other Hoosiers to connect from deep and Enright’s make was a prayer heave in an end-of-the-shot-clock situation.

“A night like tonight when you’re 5-of-22 from 3, typically for the way our roster’s built and how we’re playing, that’s a hard night for us,” Darian DeVries said after the game. “And we were able to win that game because we held them to 38 percent from the field, so our defense did just enough.”

Enright hounded Nick Boyd and he needed 19 shots to get to 20 points. He made just 2-of-13 from 2-point range, but did manage to go 5-of-6 from deep to contribute offensively. John Blackwell entered halftime only 1-of-8 from the field for two points. But he came alive in the second half to help Wisconsin erase what was once a 13-point second-half lead for the Hoosiers. Blackwell scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the second half. It was Nolan Winter that the Hoosiers had the hardest time solving. He scored both inside (6-of-8) and outside (3-of-5) to lead all scorers with 26 points.

And while Indiana didn’t shoot well from 3-point range, it did great work around the basket. Sam Alexis scored a season-high 19 points (9-of-10 from the field, 1-of-1 from the line), scoring on finds from his teammates in ball-screen action as well as bullying his way to points 1-on-1 down low. Enright (11 points), Wilkerson (25 points) and DeVries (16 points) also were able to get points going downhill and scoring near the basket.

The Hoosiers outscored Wisconsin 44-28 in the paint. They also drew even with the Badgers in second-chance points (14-14), thanks to nearly keeping pace on the offensive boards. Wisconsin rebounded 35 percent of its misses to Indiana’s 32 percent. And IU also did a touch more at the free-throw line, making 13-of-15 vs. the Badgers’ 11-of-12.

“These dudes don’t quit, they keep competing, they keep fighting,” DeVries added after the contest. ” … They kept, in the huddles, encouraging one another. I think that’s a sign of a veteran team. They didn’t panic inside the huddle. They just knew you just gotta make that next play and they were able to do that.”

Indiana’s clinging to an NCAA tournament spot right now and a loss today would have been of the Quad 2 variety. It could ill afford to drop one like this. Hats off to the Hoosiers for putting themselves in a position to steal this one late and for actually doing it.

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