Two nationally-ranked foes square off this afternoon in the
quarterfinals of the Big Ten Conference Tournament, as the fifth-seeded
Indiana Hoosiers battle the fourth-seeded Wisconsin Badgers. Indiana (25-7) continued its outstanding season with its convincing 75-58 win over Penn State
in Thursday's first round, extending its current winning streak to five
games in the process. Despite finishing in fifth place in a loaded Big
Ten, the Hoosiers have proven themselves to be an elite team, with
fantastic wins this season over No. 1 Kentucky, as well as league rivals
Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State. In fact, the only top-flight Big Ten team IU hasn't defeated yet this season is today's opponent, Wisconsin.
Wisconsin
currently sits with a 23-8 overall record, and it has been tabbed the
nation's 14th-ranked team. It finished an impressive 12-6 in the Big
Ten, coming in just a game behind the three first-place teams (Ohio
State, Michigan State, Michigan). The Badgers earned the No. 4 seed and a
bye in the tournament for the 12th straight season, the longest streak
in conference history. UW also comes in with some momentum, winning
three straight, including perhaps its most impressive victory of the
year on Feb. 28 at Ohio State, 63-60.
Although Indiana has a 94-64 advantage in the all-time series with
Wisconsin, the Badgers have collected nine straight wins over the
Hoosiers, including a 57-50 triumph in the only meeting this year on
Jan. 26 in Madison. Indiana ended a six-year winless drought in
the Big Ten tourney with a solid showing against Penn State in the first
round. Though it only connected on 36.5 percent of its field goal
attempts in the win, it shot an impressive 29- of-36 from the free-throw
line and held the Nittany Lions
to a 34.5 percent shooting overall. Jordan Hulls led the Hoosiers with
20 points, while Cody Zeller (19 points, 10 rebounds) and Christian
Watford (14 points, 10 rebounds) both recorded double-doubles. In a
conference dominated by strong defense, IU possesses the best offense,
putting up 77.5 ppg on 49.1 percent field goal efficiency. Zeller has
impressed in his freshman campaign, leading the team in scoring (15.4
ppg), field goal percentage (.635), rebounding (6.4 rpg) and blocks (1.3
bpg). Watford, Hulls and Victor Oladipo round out the balanced
offensive attack, as each averages between 11.1 and 11.8 ppg.
Indiana got some bad news after the Penn State game, as guard Verdell Jones III suffered a serious knee injury
and is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Jones, who started
103 of the 117 games he has played at IU, was averaging 7.5 points and
3.2 assists per game for the Hoosiers this year. Wisconsin's
calling card this season has once again been its incredible defense,
which allows opponents to shoot just 37.7 percent from the field and
27.6 percent from the three-point line, while putting up a mere 51.9
ppg, which is the lowest yield of any team at the Division I level.
The
Badgers' stout defense has been able to mask their less-than-stellar
offense, which ranks near the bottom of the league in both scoring (63.8
ppg) and field goal percentage (.424). Despite its offensive woes, UW
still has an All-Big Ten First Team honoree on its side in Jordan Taylor, who tallies 14.6 ppg, 4.1 apg, 3.8 rpg, 1.6 three-pointers and a steal per game. Ryan Evans
(10.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg) and Jared Berggren (10.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg) also do
their part. The Badgers have a cohesive first unit, as they have had the
same starting lineup for each of their 31 games this year.