Just a few weeks ago, Wisconsin men’s basketball was not even considered a team worthy of NCAA Tournament consideration. After Tuesday night’s shocking upset on the road against No. 2 Indiana (3-1 Big Ten, 15-2 Overall), the Badgers (4-0, 13-4) are once again in the conversation for a Big Ten title. In front of 17,472 Hoosier fans in shock at Assembly Hall, Wisconsin pulled off the impossible with a 64-59 win.
After two lackluster efforts against Penn State and Nebraska, the Badgers seem like a completely different team since a six-day break prior to last Saturday’s defeat of then-No. 12 Illinois. After crushing the Illini with a 23-point victory, the ever-present Badgers never let IU out of their sights Tuesday night, keeping the game within two possessions before a second-half run gave them a 10-point lead they would not relinquish.
Whatever concerns UW had heading into its first truly hostile environment about the play of sophomore guard Traevon Jackson went away early as the Westerville, Ohio, native had easily his best performance of a young career. Jackson finished with 11 points, 3 rebounds and just 2 turnovers. Freshman forward Sam Dekker also made a major impact, validating last week’s Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor with 10 points off the UW bench. Wisconsin’s reserves outscored Indiana’s 16-2.
But regardless of what the numbers might say, senior forward Mike Bruesewitz was the clear leader of the Badger effort. In a game he said he had circled at the beginning of the year, Bruesewitz made the most of it with 10 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists. More important were Bruesewitz’s intangibles, picking up several loose balls and keeping the Badgers mentally composed throughout.
“I was just trying to preach and tell the guys ‘stay loose, stay loose’ throughout the game,” Bruesewitz said. “Otherwise environments like this will swallow you up.”
After Wisconsin surged out to a 51-41 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining, the Hoosiers responded with a 10-1 run capped off by a three-pointer from IU freshman Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell with just under 5 minutes remaining that got the Hoosiers within 1 at 52-51.
“That was a huge shot for them because that could have been the turning point,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “Fortunately our guys had enough will.”
That will ultimately allowed UW to bounce back from that run with a 10-1 run of their own, effectively sealing the game with two Jackson free throws at the 40-second mark.
Free throws have been an issue all season, with Wisconsin shooting just 61 percent as a team at the line entering play on Tuesday. Despite having yet to face a real test in the way of having to make pressure free throws to close out a game, UW looked as if it had been in the moment all year, making 6-of-8 at the line down the stretch to erase any hopes of an Indiana comeback.
“I think the misses were a fluke,” UW redshirt senior forward Jared Berggren said. “Now we are back to our old selves.”
Wisconsin has now beaten Indiana in 11 straight games dating all the way back to the tenure of former IU coach Kelvin Sampson. Just a few weeks after being squarely on the proverbial bubble, UW is now in the driver’s seat for a conference title. With that as the focus, Wisconsin will have to keep its celebrations short-lived.
“We’ve got Iowa on Saturday and they knocked us off twice last year,” Brusewitz said. “We owe them something.”
Given little chance to compete in the Big Ten, the Badgers might be the only ones not surprised to see their name at the top of the standings.
“We’ve got a bunch of guys with a lot of heart,” Bruesewitz added. “We’ve got a guy with a big red afro and a guy with a flat top. What else do you need?”
