Once again, the Wisconsin Badgers mounted a big comeback in an attempt to win a conference game. Only this time, they were unable to get the job done against the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday, losing a key road game as they looked to boost their resume.
The Badgers fell short to the Hoosiers 78-77 in overtime after a controversial last few minutes, marking their seventh loss of the season and fourth in conference play. The defeat dropped them to 1-6 in Quad 1 games, leaving Wisconsin still on the bubble
with one month to go in the regular season.
It was a similar story that we’ve seen play out a bit too many times for Wisconsin this year: a slow start matched with a strong comeback effort. But, unlike in past games, the Badgers couldn’t get the job done on Saturday.
Just last weekend, the Badgers put together a double-digit comeback to beat the Ohio State Buckeyes after a slow start where they trailed 15-4 after the opening minutes. It marked their fourth time in the last seven games that Wisconsin had a double-digit comeback and won the game. Dating back to early January, the Badgers trailed by as many as 14 points before coming back to win by three.
Wisconsin had double-digit comebacks in both Minnesota games, trailing by 11 in the second half before winning 78-75 during the first contest before trailing by 20 and winning 67-63 in the second contest.
Experience helps with these second-half comebacks, and it’s a testament to Wisconsin’s resilience, but it’s also been the team’s kryptonite this year. Whether it’s a strong first half followed by an inconsistent second half or vice versa, the Badgers just haven’t been able to play consistent basketball for 40 minutes.
And more often than not, a slow start is involved when these types of games happen. Wisconsin fell behind 7-0 in the early stages on Saturday and never held a lead until the final minutes of regulation after mounting its comeback.
In the first half, it was a similar story to their previous first-half struggles: a heavy reliance on three-pointers and a lack of efficiency there. 19 of Wisconsin’s first 30 shots came from deep. The Badgers sank just five of those looks. That’s a problem in general, and an even bigger one when Wisconsin had the size advantage and didn’t control the paint well enough to create looks.
It was an ugly first half from lead guards Nick Boyd and John Blackwell on both ends of the court, which is never a good sign for a Badgers team that relies heavily on both players for production. Now, even with the sluggish start offensively and some issues defensively, Wisconsin remained in the game. After trailing by as many as 14 in the first half, the Badgers cut the lead to six by halftime.
Then, after falling behind by double-digits again in the second half, Wisconsin found ways to continue chipping at the lead before eventually taking it in the final minutes. Yes, there were a lot of questionable calls down the stretch that clearly irritated Wisconsin’s players, but the Badgers had opportunities to win this game and are starting to create a pattern with the comeback efforts.
The Badgers are going to have to figure things out with a tough stretch coming up. They play Illinois on the road on Tuesday before hosting Michigan State at home on Friday. Then come tough matchups against Iowa (home) and Ohio State (road), which could all be Quad 1 opportunities. Let’s see if they can bounce back well.
