Claremore Daily Progress

Sports

January 16, 2013

BIG 10 MEN'S BB: Wisconsin upsets No. 2 Indiana

ASSOCIATED PRESS Associated Press

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Wisconsin played Tuesday night like it always does - defended everything, made big shots and limited the turnovers.

Indiana looked like anything but its usual self.

It was just another chapter in a series filled with strange twists.

Ryan Evans scored 13 points, Traevon Jackson added 11 and the unranked Badgers moved into sole possession of the Big Ten lead with a 64-59 upset at No. 2 Indiana.

"We're feeling good about ourselves right now,'' Badgers forward Jared Berggren said. "It shows we can beat anyone, anywhere, anytime; so I think it shows what we're capable of.''

Especially if the Badgers (13-4, 4-0) keep playing this way.

Wisconsin has won seven straight and has beaten two top-15 teams in four days. It is the last unbeaten team in Big Ten play.

All the Badgers needed to do against Indiana was hold the nation's highest-scoring team to its fewest points of the season, its worst shooting performance of the season and end its 18-game home winning streak.

Mission accomplished.

Wisconsin became the first team to win 11 straight in a series with Indiana since the Badgers last did it in 1919, and the first team to win five straight in Bloomington since Purdue last did that in 1923. No team has ever won six straight on Indiana's home court and only Purdue, from 1908-14, has won 12 in a row against the Hoosiers.

The Badgers just stuck to the game plan.

"We knew that if they got it going in transition they can score in bunches. All you have to do is look at their game films,'' Bo Ryan said, acknowledging he coached with flu-like symptoms. "Our goal was not to let that happen, but saying it and doing it, having it as a plan, are two different things. It just so happened to work tonight.''

Indiana (15-2, 3-1) felt ill for another reason.

The Hoosiers scored only three fast-break points and watched the Badgers toss in shot-clock beating 3-pointers. Indiana came into the game averaging a Big Ten-leading 17 assists per game, yet managed only seven against the Badgers.

And instead of pressuring Wisconsin into miscues, the Badgers committed just eight turnovers.

Cody Zeller, who made all eight of his shots and had 18 points in the first half, finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds and made only one basket in the second half. Christian Watford had 11 points, and Victor Oladipo had 10.

"That's their style of play. We just didn't defend the dribble well enough, didn't make enough shots,'' Zeller said. "That's what it boils down to.''

The Badgers followed the script perfectly. They limited the mistakes, took advantage of seemingly every opportunity they got, especially in the second half as Hoosiers fans moaned and groaned about everything from missed shots to errant passes.

Indiana rallied late in the first half to take a 32-31 halftime lead, then opened the second half with a three-point play to make it 35-31. The home crowd figured it was going to be the start of a big run.

Instead, Wisconsin gave up only six points over the next 6:34, a drought that allowed Wisconsin to retake a 38-37 lead with a 7-0 run. A few minutes later, the Badgers were off on a 9-0 spurt that ended when Mike Bruesewitz's 3 beat the shot-clock buzzer to make it 47-39. It was 51-41 before the Hoosiers finally cranked up the pressure.

"When you get momentum going, it's amazing what can happen,'' coach Tom Crean said. "They played really hard and they got the momentum.''

Indiana looked like it had swung the momentum back in its direction when it scored four straight and after Evans made 1 of 2 free throws, they answered with a 6-0 spurt - the final basket a 3-pointer from Yogi Ferrell that cut the lead to 52-51 with 4:40 to go.

But that was as close as Indiana got.

Ben Brust made a 17-foot jumper and the Badgers closed it out with a game-ending 12-8 run.

"If you just play the game and have the right attitude about it, you make good things happen,'' Ryan said. "Players have to play.''

 

Text Only
Sports
  • DSC_9471web.jpg Howe, Whatley shine at OU Showcase

    Claremore High School seniors Bryce Howe and Matt Whatley caught the eyes of several NCAA Division I and JUCO scouts Friday in Norman.
    Howe and Whatley, as well as Claremore’s Cole Weiesnbach and Cameron Smith, competed with the Bearcats — a competitive baseball team coached by Jenks’ Jeff Owens — at the University of Oklahoma Showcase.

    June 15, 2013 2 Photos

  • DSC_0119web.jpg ‘Staying close to home’

    Home is where the heart is.
    Claremore graduate Isaac Hollihan loves playing baseball and takes his academics pretty serious.
    For the next four years, Hollihan will continue his baseball career a short distance from his Claremore residence at Rogers State University.

    June 13, 2013 2 Photos

  • TRACK: Tyson Gay healthy heading into nationals

    For a little bit, Tyson Gay's first step tearing down the track made him wince and his next made him wonder: Would he ever be the same sprinter again?
    The runner who captured three gold medals at the 2007 world championships. The runner who broke the American 100-meter record in 2009.

    June 18, 2013

  • Texas Longhorns men's track coach retires

    Texas men's track coach Bubba Thornton is retiring after 18 years and 12 conference championships.
    According to a statement from the school on Monday, Thornton and athletic director DeLoss Dodds mutually agreed to terminate the coach's contract effective Aug. 31. The Longhorns won this year's Big 12 indoor and outdoor championships and finished sixth at the NCAA outdoor championships.

    June 18, 2013

  • Daytona frontstretch getting $400M facelift

    Daytona International Speedway is getting another facelift, this one considerably bigger than the last.
    Three years after a complete repaving project, the famed track is overhauling the frontstretch to enhance the "fan experience.''

    June 18, 2013

  • STANLEY CUP NOTEBOOK: Rough ice affects play in Game 3

    Teams try to avoid risky plays in the postseason that they might try in the regular season. And when the ice surface isn't smooth, even greater care is necessary.
    Boston took that approach with less-than-ideal ice conditions during its 2-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks that gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup finals on Monday night.

    June 18, 2013

  • STANLEY CUP: Rask shuts down Blackhawks, Bruins take 2-1 lead

    The puck bounced off the post and rolled across the crease, away from the goal line. The red light flashed briefly, but replays would confirm that Tuukka Rask's shutout streak was intact.
    For the last 122 minutes, 26 seconds of the Stanley Cup finals, the Bruins goalie has prevented Chicago from scoring.

    June 18, 2013

  • New $15M scoreboards planned for Jazz arena

    Owners of EnergySolutions Arena are upgrading the home turf of the Utah Jazz with a new $15 million scoreboard system.

    June 18, 2013

  • NBA FINALS: Heat have no room for error versus Spurs in Game 6

    They lost three times in three months in one of the most overpowering stretches the NBA has ever seen.
    Now the Miami Heat have lost three times in five games.
    So superb during the regular season, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Heat have to be something even more for the rest of the NBA Finals.

    June 18, 2013

  • NBA FINALS: Spurs' coach puts 'Pop' into news conferences

    During his team's Game 3 rout of the Heat, Gregg Popovich was shown on TV talking to his players while they were in the process of burying Miami with a stirring offensive display.

    June 18, 2013