The Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team came up short in an attempted 15-point comeback as they lost to the Indiana Hoosiers 70-74 on Tuesday in Bloomington.
February has not been Wisconsin’s month so far, given the Badgers had only won two of their seven games in February coming into Tuesday’s matchup.
The last time Wisconsin matched up against the Hoosiers was back on Jan. 19 at the Kohl Center, where the Badgers defeated Indiana 91-79 after Wisconsin guard Max Klesmit dropped 26 points.
However, this matchup did not shape up well for Wisconsin in the first half as the Badgers fell to a deficit of 15 points with six minutes left in the first half.
Indiana’s biggest factor was Kel’el Ware, who scored 20 points for the Hoosiers in the first half. Ware finished the game with 27 points and only missed one shot from the field throughout the game. In comparison, not a single Wisconsin starter scored double-digit points in the first half.
The Badgers trimmed the deficit down to five points by halftime thanks to Klesmit and Chucky Hepburn, who combined for 11 of the Badgers’ final 16 points in the first half.
Wisconsin tied the game up with 10:31 left in the second half. But 25 seconds later, a disruption occurred at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall as fans and players evacuated from the arena after its fire alarm sounded. The stoppage lasted approximately 15 minutes and turned out to be a false alarm.
After the stoppage, the Badgers found their footing and took the lead from the Hoosiers as both teams battled back and forth, trading the lead with each other.
Down to the last two minutes of the game with the game tied at 70 points apiece, Indiana’s Malik Reneau scored a layup assisted by Trey Galloway to give the Hoosiers a lead. Wisconsin remained scoreless in the last two minutes as their comeback story came up short.
On a brighter note, five Badgers players finished with double-digit points. Hepburn led Wisconsin’s scoring with 15 points.
With February in the rearview mirror, Wisconsin heads into March with an overall record of 19-10 and a Big Ten record of 10-7. Their next matchup comes against border rival No. 13 Illinois at the Kohl Center on Saturday.
