Hoosiers look to end Badgers' long home winning streak Sunday
MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin will aim to gain back its rhythm on offense following cold-shooting efforts in back-to-back road wins.
The No. 10 Badgers (19-3, 8-1 Big Ten) host Indiana (15-8, 5-5) on Sunday afternoon at the friendly confines of the Kohl Center, where Wisconsin has collected 18 straight victories. The Hoosiers haven't won in Madison since 1998.
Wisconsin shot 40.7 and 33.3 percent, respectively, in wins at Illinois (57-43) and Rutgers (61-54 in overtime), but Badgers coach Greg Gard said considering the maturity of the senior-laden team, he doesn't get frustrated with its shooting.
"You can't yell people into shooting better," Gard said. "We get emotional about how we play in transition defensively; we get emotional about how physical we are, and some of those things.
"But the shooting component, you can't make that an emotional as the feel and the relaxed instinct that they need to draw upon."
The Badgers got the job done on defense at Illinois, holding the Illini to season lows in points (43) and field-goal percentage (27.6).
It's a younger player, sophomore forward Ethan Happ, who has stepped up his performance for the Badgers, who have won six consecutive games. Wisconsin holds first place in the Big Ten standings after No. 23 Purdue won 73-72 at No. 17 Maryland on Saturday, handing the Terrapins their second league loss.
Happ is the only NCAA Division I player to pace a team in five categories: points (16.8 points per game), rebounds (8.7), assists (2.9), blocks (1.3) and steals (2.7).
Senior guard Bronson Koenig played well in Wisconsin's 75-69 win at Indiana one month ago with a perfect performance from beyond the arc, scoring 17 points and delivering 5-of-5 shooting from three-point range.
Indiana, missing several key players due to injuries, also is relying on a sophomore big man to lead its team. Sophomore center Thomas Bryant has registered 67 points and 24 rebounds in the last three games, including a career-high 31 points in a 110-102 triple overtime win over Penn State on Wednesday.
Junior guards Josh Newkirk and Robert Johnson scored 27 points each against the Nittany Lions.
Indiana coach Tom Crean said sophomore forward OG Anunoby underwent successful surgery to repair his right knee on Tuesday. Anunoby, who was sidelined with the injury Jan. 19, won't play the remainder of the season but junior guard James Blackmon Jr. likely will return to the lineup.
Blackmon, the team's scoring leader at 17.6 points per game, has missed two games after sustaining a lower leg injury in a loss to Michigan on Jan. 26.
Anunoby and Blackmon combined for 19 points in the first meeting against Wisconsin.
Indiana senior F Collin Hartman, who has not played all season, is undergoing rehabilitation on his surgically-repaired left knee.
The Hoosiers started one freshman and two sophomores in the Penn State game, and Crean said they need to gain better communication skills "effectively, often, real time and consistently."
"When you've got a team that's got to continue to mature, they have to understand that even when the shots aren't going in, you have to be a real high level defensively," Crean said. "We're not a great communication team. I'd like to find one that is because I would take every off day now and walk to where that practice would be, so I can learn that."
