Short-handed Indiana loses ugly to No. 11 Wisconsin, 91-79
MADISON — A short-handed Indiana basketball team couldn't keep pace with No. 11 Wisconsin on Friday night in an ugly 91-79 loss.
The Hoosiers (12-7; 4-4 Big Ten) were playing without center Kel'el Ware, who sat out the game with a lower body injury. They made a 9-0 run in the second half to cut Wisconsin's lead to seven points, but they couldn't overcome a hot shooting night from Max Klesmit.
Klesmit scored 23 of his 26 points (one shy of his career-high) in the second half with 18 straight at one point while tying a career-high with five 3-pointers. Malik Reneau led the way for Indiana with 25 points (11 of 19) and four rebounds. Mackenzie Mgbako (14 points) was the only other IU player in double-digits.
It was the Hoosiers 20th straight loss at the Kohl Center, a losing streak that dates back to 1998.
Indiana basketball lost its composure in Madison
CJ Gunn thought the best way to slow Max Klesmit down in the second half after he hit four straight shots including a pair of 3-pointers in the second half was to throw an elbow at his head while players waited for an inbound pass. The play got him ejected while helping Wisconsin push its lead to 21 points. It was IU’s third flagrant foul in the last four games.
There were plenty of other errors in judgment along the way.
Xavier Johnson, who continues to come off the bench, gave Wisconsin free points at the end of the first half when he fouled Connor Essegian with less than 10 seconds to go. It gave a Badgers team that was in the bonus extra points as it was just trying to kill time for the last shot in the half.
Those errant possessions added up with IU trying to claw its way back into the game.
IU’s offense goes M.I.A. in first half
There was nothing pretty about Indiana’s half court offense on Friday night for the first 20 minutes..
The Hoosiers' shooting touch from the outside was non-existent — they missed a series of attempts from just inside the 3-point line and were 1 of 5 from behind it — as was their ball movement.
Indiana’s lone assist in the half came with 1:11 to go before halftime on a 3-point attempt from Gabe Cupps in the corner that got a lucky bounce on the front of the rim.
The Hoosiers had multiple scoring droughts of three-plus minutes as they fell behind by as many as 14 points.
They got to the free-throw line more in the second half and had a stretch where they made seven straight field goal attempts to score 53 points, but they still couldn’t match Wisconsin’s 3-point shooting prowess — the team was a combined 10 of 21 — or the production it got off the bench.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana men's basektball drops 91-79 decision to No. 11 Wisconsin
