Written by: TJ Inman
The Indiana Hoosiers led the vast majority of Saturday afternoon’s critical clash against the Wisconsin Badgers but surrendered the lead for the first time late in the second half and needed a stop on the final possession of regulation to force overtime. After falling behind again in the extra period, Conor Enright drew an offensive foul and Lamar Wilkerson sank two free throws with 2.8 ticks left on the clock as IU escaped with a very important 78-77 victory at Assembly Hall.
In a refreshing change of pace, the Indiana Hoosiers came out of the gates hot and jumped out to a 7-0 lead as Lamar Wilkerson had five quick points and Sam Alexis had a dunk. The Wisconsin Badgers are a mature team and did not fold under the roar of the Assembly Hall crowd, making back-to-back three pointers to cut the lead to one point and the teams then settled into a rhythm. Jasai Miles entered as Darian DeVries tried to keep his guards fresh with the absence of Tayton Conerway due to illness and the North Florida transfer scored on a dunk to start an extended IU run that pushed the home team’s advantage to 26-12 and forcing a timeout from Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard.
The Badgers responded and trimmed the lead to ten points as Conor Enright picked up his second foul and headed to the bench. Indiana’s offense stalled without its point guard, failing to score in more than three minutes and falling out of rhythm. Wisconsin chipped further into the lead and made the score 32-28 before the Hoosiers were able to answer with dunks by Sam Alexis and Trent Sisley to go into the locker room at 36-30. Neither team shot a free throw in the first 20 minutes and there were only a combined six turnovers as Lamar Wilkerson led the way with 11 points.
Sam Alexis began the second half aggressively, getting another dunk and then taking advantage of a smaller defender to score in the post and extend IU’s lead back to double-digits. Wisconsin star John Blackwell only had two points in the first half but he woke up to try and keep the Badgers in the contest, scoring on a backdoor layup and then hitting a triple.
Tucker DeVries briefly broke out of his offensive slump with an eight-point flurry that featured a basket inside, a driving three-point play and a made triple and the Hoosiers were ahead 52-39. Reed Bailey gave the Badgers some life as he fouled Nolan Winter while the big man was missing a three-point attempt. Wisconsin got three free throws and eventually trimmed the lead to just five points with eight minutes to play.
Sam Alexis hit a turnaround in the paint but Lamar Wilkerson picked up his third foul and sent John Blackwell to the line and the lead was back to five points but Alexis again went to work in the paint for a layup. The Hoosiers appeared to have a fast break for a layup but Nick Dorn was called for a dubious foul and Wisconsin scored to cut it back to five before Sam Alexis answered the challenge again with a driving basket while being fouled. He made the free throw and put IU ahead 64-56 with six minutes left.
John Blackwell scored again and was fouled by Nick Dorn and the IU advantage was back to just five so IU again went to Alexis for two more points in the paint. A turnover by Alexis after a defensive rebound led to a Wisconsin three-pointer as the lead was trimmed to four points but John Blackwell fouled Tucker DeVries as he was shooting a three with 4:28 left.
The senior made two of his three attempts and restored the lead to 68-62 and then made a huge defensive play as he blocked an open layup for Nolan Winter as the game went to the final media timeout. Nick Boyd hit a three and made it a one-possession game and the Badgers got to the foul line after a missed three by Nick Dorn. Braeden Carrington hit both attempts and made the score 68-67. John Blackwell gave Wisconsin their first lead of the game with just 1:45 to play and Nolan Winter hit a three-pointer to cap a 10-0 Badgers run and give the away team a four-point lead.
Lamar Wilkerson hit a pair of free throws with 50 seconds left to break the drought, IU got a defensive stop and Wilkerson was fouled on a drive with 16.6 remaining. IU’s senior star made both and tied the game and Wisconsin took a timeout with 11.2 seconds on the clock. John Blackwell got a look that he wanted on a fadeaway attempt but it clanked off the rim and the contest went to overtime.
Nolan Winter put Wisconsin ahead 74-72 with an interior basket but Sam Alexis made a great pair of plays, blocking a shot by Nick Boyd and then getting a tough offensive rebound to set up free throws for Lamar Wilkerson that tied the game back up with 2:21 left. Nolan Winter knocked down a pair of free throws to restore Wisconsin’s two-point advantage and Lamar Wilkerson missed a driving layup. Nick Boyd was fouled with 56.1 remaining and made one of two free throws to give Wisconsin a 77-74 lead and Lamar Wilkerson hit a layup with 30 seconds left.
Wisconsin attempted to drain the clock while IU defended without fouling and then Nick Boyd bulled over Conor Enright and was called for an offensive foul with 15.1 remaining. The Hoosiers had possession and took a timeout, setting up a Wilkerson drive that resulted in a foul on John Blackwell with 2.8 seconds on the clock. Lamar Wilkerson knocked down both pressure-packed free throws and a Wisconsin heave from half court was nowhere close as the Hoosiers escaped with a massive 78-77 victory.
Wilkerson ended with 25 points but was only 1-8 from three and Indiana managed to win while shooting just 5-22 from beyond the arc. Sam Alexis was fantastic, finishing with 19 points and seven rebounds and five blocks as he helped Indiana score 44 points in the paint to Wisconsin’s 28. Nolan Winter had 26 points for the Badgers and was joined by Nick Boyd with 20 and John Blackwell with 18.
The victory helps Indiana stay on path for an NCAA Tournament bid and they will look to get another home win on Monday night against the Oregon Ducks.