Wisconsin handed Indiana its most lopsided loss in the 39-season history of Assembly Hall. As bad as the final score is, the game was competitive for most of the first half. While Wisconsin led nearly the entire way, the lead generally alternated between two and four points before Keaton Nankivil hit three pointers on consecutive possessions to expand the lead to 10 with just over five minutes remaining. With that, the rout was on. Wisconsin led by 17 at halftime and the lead gradually crept up until the final, ugly result. Tom Crean, who had only one technical in his first 57 games as IU coach, received two in a short span about halfway through the second half and spent the rest of the game in the locker room. As has become the trend, this performance was a complete failure: IU shot poorly, allowed Wisconsin to hit 55 percent of its shots and 8-11 from behind the arc, turned the ball over too much, the usual.
The only individual performance of note was that of Derek Elston, who scored 12 points on 5-6 from the field and grabbed 7 rebounds in only 18 minutes of play. The Hoosiers other than Elston combined for 28 percent shooting.
I have no profound analysis after this debacle. IU has shown nothing in the last month that would suggest that this team is capable of beating anyone anywhere. IU travels to Iowa for what theoretically is a winnable game, but the Hawkeyes' blowout win in Bloomington a few weeks ago was the first red flag of the Big Ten season, and despite strong performances against Illinois and Purdue that came after, the Iowa game seems to have been some sort of negative turning point. I don't envy the players and coaches. Fans can walk away from it, and they have to live it.