NCAA News Wire
Wisconsin 69, Indiana 58
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
MADISON, Wis. — Forward Sam Dekker scored 16 points as No. 14 Wisconsin beat Indiana, 69-58, Tuesday night at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin won its sixth in a row by shooting the lights out in the second half, especially from distance.
The Badgers made one of 10 3-point attempts in the first half, but hit their first four out of the break and were 6-for-11 in the second. They shot 61 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes.
Guard Ben Brust was responsible for three from long range during the half, connecting on back-to-back possessions during a 9-2 run early in the half and sinking a third with 13:04 left to break a 38-38 tie.
From there, the Badgers cruised, outscoring Indiana 17-8 over the next 11 minutes and making 11 of 12 free throws over the final two minutes.
Brust finished with 12.
Guard Traevon Jackson scored 14 for the Badgers, who also got 11 from forward Josh Gasser and 10 from forward Frank Kaminsky.
Kaminsky also pulled down nine rebounds and blocked a pair of shots.
The victory avenged an earlier loss to the Hoosiers, who snapped the Badgers’ 16-0 start to the season and started a slide of three straight losses — and five in six games — that dropped Wisconsin from No. 3 to out of the national rankings.
Forward Will Sheehey got the Hoosiers off to a good start, scoring their first seven points as Indiana went up 7-2.
Wisconsin took a 15-14 lead on Jackson’s 3-pointer with 8:20 left in the half but the Badgers wouldn’t get another field goal until Kaminsky’s tip-in with 48 seconds left.
During the Wisconsin drought, the Hoosiers rode a 15-4 run and took a 29-19 lead into halftime after guard Yogi Ferrell sank a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left.
Ferrell and forward Noah Vonleh each scored 10 for the Hoosiers, who held Wisconsin to 26 percent shooting in the half.
Ferrell led Indiana with 24 while Vonleh finished with 18.
The Hoosiers have lost 12 in a row at Wisconsin.
NOTES: The Hoosiers snapped a 12-game losing streak to Wisconsin earlier this season but haven’t won a game in Madison since Jan. 25, 1998. … The Badgers have beaten three Top-15 opponents during their current six-game winning streak. … Indiana is kicking off a stretch of three games — all against ranked opponents — in six days. … Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan is 15-4 against Indiana coach Tom Crean, who also faced Ryan-coached teams seven times while Crean was head coach at Marquette.
