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Big Ten Tournament, round 2: Indiana v. Wisconsin (preview).

By John M. IU

Wisconsin Badgers

Current record: 23-8 (12-6)
Current RPI: 21 (IU is #11)
Current Sagarin: 8 (IU is #9)
Current Pomeroy: 7 (IU is #10)
2010-11 record: 25-9 (13-5), lost to Butler in NCAA Tournament Sweet 16
2010-11 RPI: 16
2010-11 Sagarin: 12
2010-11 Pomeroy: 7
Series: IU leads 94-63
Last IU win: 1/31/2007 (71-66 in Bloomington)
Last Wisconsin win: 3/3/2011 (77-67 in Bloomington)
Last IU win in Madison: 1/25/1998 (69-59)
Pomeroy scouting report
TV: 2 pm Thursday, ESPN2

Blog: Bucky's Fifth Quarter

Prior Big Ten Tournament meetings: 2001 (IU 64, Wisconsin 52 in Chicago; 2006 (IU 61, Wisconsin 56 in Indy)

After its first Big Ten Tournament win in 6 years, IU faces its current nemesis, Wisconsin. IU has lost 9 in a row to the Badgers, the longest losing streak IU has had against any opponent since losing 9 in a row to Purdue from 1929 to 1935. The only meeting between the two programs this season was in Madison, a game in which IU played pretty well, despite Cody Zeller spending much of the game in foul trouble and struggling to score in the face of Jared Berggren's defense, but couldn't hold on in the end.

Over the years, one of the gripes of tempo-free dorks like me is about sportswriters who characterize Wisconsin as a team that plays great defense and bad offense, based on their points per game total. when in reality Wisconsin has one of the most efficient offenses in the nation every year. Well, this year is the exception. For once, the Badger defense truly is carrying the team. In Big Ten play, UW ranks #8 in offensive efficiency and #3 in defensive efficiency. As usual, the Badgers take good care of the ball, and their defense relies on straight up field goal defense rather than forcing a bunch of turnovers or being strong on the boards. It's a pretty typical Wisconsin team but for the moderate decline in offensive efficiency.

FG 3PT FT Rebounds Misc
G M M A Pct M A Pct M A Pct Off Def Tot Ast TO Stl Blk PF PPG
Jordan Taylor 31 35.8 4.5 11.2 40.3 1.6 4.6 35.2 4.0 5.1 77.4 0.8 3.0 3.8 4.1 1.5 1.0 0.0 2.0 14.6
Ryan Evans 31 30.4 4.1 9.4 43.2 0.2 0.8 20.0 2.4 3.2 74.7 1.8 5.2 6.9 1.6 1.5 0.8 1.0 2.1 10.7
Jared Berggren 31 27.6 3.9 8.6 45.5 1.3 3.4 37.1 1.3 1.8 71.4 1.4 3.6 5.0 0.6 1.4 0.9 1.6 2.5 10.4
Josh Gasser 31 34.2 2.5 5.2 46.9 1.2 2.6 44.4 1.8 2.4 78.1 0.9 3.5 4.4 1.9 1.3 0.7 0.1 1.8 7.9
Ben Brust 31 22.6 2.7 6.8 39.6 1.6 4.4 37.5 0.6 0.8 83.3 0.5 1.8 2.3 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.0 0.9 7.7
Mike Bruesewitz 31 26.3 2.0 5.2 38.9 0.7 2.4 28.0 1.2 1.6 70.6 2.0 3.3 5.3 1.6 1.1 0.5 0.3 2.4 5.9
Rob Wilson 31 10.7 1.1 2.7 38.8 0.5 1.4 34.9 0.5 0.7 66.7 0.4 0.9 1.3 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.8 3.1
Frank Kaminsky 30 8.0 0.7 1.7 42.3 0.3 1.0 29.0 0.2 0.4 58.3 0.7 0.8 1.5 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.4 1.0 2.0
Traevon Jackson 15 6.0 0.5 1.2 38.9 0.2 0.5 37.5 0.1 0.2 66.7 0.4 0.7 1.1 0.2 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.5 1.3
J.D. Wise 6 1.7 0.5 0.5 100.0 0.2 0.2 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.2
Jordan Smith 6 1.8 0.3 0.5 66.7 0.2 0.2 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.8
Duje Dukan 12 3.2 0.3 0.6 57.1 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.3 25.0 0.1 0.5 0.6 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.2 0.8
Evan Anderson 13 2.6 0.2 0.4 60.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.3 0.2 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.8 0.5
Dan Fahey 8 1.6 0.1 0.3 50.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.8 0.8 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3

I want this one badly. It's been too long since IU made a respectable showing in the Big Ten Tournament, and way too long since we've beaten Wisconsin. The crowd should be friendly, and the Badgers are as ripe for the picking as they have been in years. Also, the recent bracket projections seem to show IU as typically a 4, optimistically a three seed. A win over the Badgers might give the Hoosiers a bump up to the 3 seed, which is much more advantageous than the four seed. Let's go.

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