On Saturday afternoon, Head Coach Bo Ryan kept on doing what he has done for the past 13 games in Madison: winning. Ryan's determined Badgers (8-3 Big Ten, 18-5-overall) rallied to defeat a talented and underachieving Indiana team (5-6, 15-9) 71-59, and in doing so, are making the Kohl Center one of the most feared places to play in the Big Ten.
\It was a great win for us. We had to protect our home court and we did that,"" said senior guard Kirk Penney.
Junior Guard Freddie Owens opened up the scoring with a jumper from the corner. For the next five minutes the Badgers and Hoosiers traded baskets with no team really having a clear advantage. At the end of the half, the Hoosiers made 50 percent of their field goals, using that scorching hot statistic to help them to a 29-21 lead.
The rim seemed to have shrunk for Wisconsin, as they only shot 31 percent from the field and 20 percent behind the arc in the first half. Lax defense and questionable calls by the officials led for a certainly less-than-spectacular first half performance by the Badgers. In the second half, Wisconsin came out swinging. With an especially boisterous ""Grateful Red"" making the walls of the Kohl Center rattle, Penney and sophomore guard Devin Harris drained back-to-back treys to ignite an 11-0 Wisconsin run.
""Knocking down shots cures a lot of things, but we also had to keep getting it done defensively,"" Ryan said.
Defense seemed about as popular to the Badgers in the first half as bombing Iraq did to the hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Kohl Center at game time. However, Wisconsin managed to batten down the hatches and stifle the previously hot Hoosier offense. Most notable of the Badgers defensive efforts was the virtual absence of Indiana's all-star senior point guard Tom Coverdale. Harris blanketed Coverdale and held him to a paltry five points.
""We gave up the lead in four straight possessions. Defensively we just relaxed,"" said Indiana's head coach Mike Davis, who gathered a technical amid the raucous crowd and suspect officiating.
Penney led the Badgers with 22 points and sophomore forward Mike Wilkinson chipped in 16. Jeff Newton led Indiana scorers with 20 points.
With the victory over the Hoosiers, Wisconsin remains in a three-way tie for first with Michigan and Purdue.
UW next faces the Nittany Lions of Penn State in State College, Penn. on Wednesday, Feb. 19.
