Wisconsin basketball took down Indiana 76-64 in a wire-to-wire victory on Tuesday night.
The Kohl Center erupted early in the first half after Max Klesmit drilled back-to-back threes. Just four minutes and twenty seconds into the game, Wisconsin basketball had sprinted to a 19-2 lead. Leading by as many as 22 early in the game, Indiana ultimately did not have the firepower to mount a comeback.
Takeaway #1: Wisconsin plays its best when Carter Gilmore is making shots
Many Wisconsin fans do not like it when Carter Gilmore sees extended minutes, and it is easy to see why. Gilmore does not play a “pretty” style of basketball. He is gritty defensively, playing larger than his 6’7 frame, and consistently has one of the best plus minuses on Wisconsin’s roster.
Just one game after Gilmore scored a career-high 15 points against Northwestern, he followed it up with 10 points on 3-for-3 shooting from downtown. When Gilmore is making his threes, it is a game-changer on offense for Wisconsin, as he can help space the floor essentially as a small forward. Gilmore is now shooting 40 percent (12-for-30) from three this season, and 50 percent from the field. Last year, he was hesitant to even shoot, attempting just 12 threes the entire season.
Takeaway #2: Wisconsin locked in a tournament spot
According to ESPN, Wisconsin had a 91 percent chance of making the tournament entering this game. Now, as they have moved to 18-5 (8-4 in conference), they have cemented themselves as one of the many Big Ten teams that will make the tournament. With a current ranking of #21, and an ESPN BPI Index that is 23rd best in the country, Wisconsin would currently clock in at either a #4 or #5 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Taking a look at this season’s body of work, they beat Arizona (ranked #9 at the time, now #20) and their only loss came to Marquette (ranked #5 at the time, now #11). Only one of their losses has come against a team that is not currently ranked, and that was a loss on the road against UCLA.
Wisconsin basketball was a team predicted to slot in around 10th in most of the media’s Big Ten preseason predictions. However, starting the season 8-0 quickly dissipated any thoughts that Wisconsin would falter this season. Instead, the question now is how far their postseason run will go.
Takeaway #3: Indiana’s bench proved their importance
In Indiana’s game against Wisconsin, the players coming off of the bench scored a combined total of 29 points. Those players were Luke Goode, Trey Galloway, and Bryson Tucker.
Throughout their past few games, Goode and Galloway have proved to be a good duo. Goode has made some very important three-point shots and while Galloway is not always in the game for a bucket, he is a great facilitator and knows how to read the defense. Against Wisconsin, Goode had 11 points and Galloway provided 9. Tucker has seen fewer minutes in recent games as he is coming back from an injury, but in the game against Wisconsin, the freshman made a significant impact for Indiana, providing nine points and six rebounds.
It does come to a bit of a surprise that Goode and Galloway were not starting for Indiana. In the Hoosiers’ game against Purdue, they played their best when Goode, Galloway, Anthony Leal, Oumar Ballo, and Mackenzie Mgbako were on the court and the difference between that lineup and the starting five was drastic. These five seem to have the best chemistry out of any other group we have seen on this Indiana squad.
With how terrible Indiana’s start was against Wisconsin, it’s hard not to wonder how the game would have gone if these were the first five to step out on the floor. However, the players that came off of the bench made the most of their minutes and, despite the double-digit loss, undoubtedly made a significant impact for Indiana.
Takeaway #4: Indiana’s Ballo with a quiet game
Indiana’s center, Omar Ballo, who has had somewhat of a rocky season, had an extremely quiet game on Tuesday night. Ballo finished the game with four points and six rebounds. He is currently leading the team in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 14.5 points a game and 10 rebounds. With Ballo having such a quiet game and Indiana losing by a significant margin, it’s hard not to put some of the blame on Ballo’s performance. The game against Wisconsin may have proved the Oumar Ballo really is the “X factor” for this Indiana team.
It’s hard to pick out exactly what happened with Ballo against Wisconsin, but something that seemed to be an issue throughout the whole team was frustration. There is no doubt that Indiana’s recent losses have been extremely frustrating, and as the Hoosiers had a hard time scoring against Wisconsin, this frustration really started to come through on the court.
Up next for Wisconsin basketball (18-5, 8-4): at Iowa (13-9, 4-7) – Feb. 8 at 1 p.m. CST
Up next for Indiana basketball (14-9, 5-7): vs. Michigan (16-5, 8-2) – Feb. 8, 1 p.m. EST