Offense: F
Wisconsin to start the game was able to get the basketball down low and Nate Reuvers was able to have success against Purdue’s Trevion Williams as he was responsible for five of Wisconsin’s first seven points.
Although Wisconsin started off on offense well it all went downhill for the Badgers offensively.
Simply put Wisconsin couldn’t buy a basket at times as the Badgers put together one of its worst halves of basketball this season over the first 20 minutes of the game as the Badgers shot 6-for-20 (30 percent) from the field. Overall, Wisconsin finished the game shooting 20-for-46 (43.5 percent) from the field.
Wisconsin put three players in double figures as D’Mitrik Trice and Micah Potter each had 11 points as the two-shot a combined 9-for-13 from the field. Reuvers finished the game with 10 points but after starting 3-for-4 from the field he went 1-for-7 the rest of the game.
Wisconsin’s inability to shoot the basketball effectively hurt the Badgers but one other aspect that hurt the Badgers was their inability to grab an offensive rebound. Wisconsin finished the game with only two offensive rebounds as they only registered one in each half.
In fact their first offensive rebound of the game didn’t come until the 1:39 mark of the first half but the Badgers couldn’t even get a chance of putting up another shot as Reuvers turned the basketball over.
The Badgers finished the game with 11 turnovers, which Purdue turned into 15 points.
Defense: F
Wisconsin was able to shoot the basketball better in the second half finishing the game shooting 53.8 percent (14-for-26) from the field. The problem was the Badger defense allowed Purdue to shoot 55.2 percent (16-for-29) from the field in the second half.
Purdue was able to get balanced scoring across their entire team as nine different players scored for the Boilermakers and four of the nine players reached double figures.
In particular, the Badgers had no answer for Evan Boudreaux as he registered his first career double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Seven of his 13 rebounds came on the offensive glass as his ability to keep offensive possessions alive was critical as Purdue finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds, ironically, the same number of total rebounds the Badgers had in the game.
With Purdue generating so many second chances they were able to turn them into 19 points.
Isaiah Thompson led Purdue with 14 points off the bench on 6-for-8 shooting from the field. Sasha Stefanovic had 12 points as he hit three critical three’s for Purdue in the second half and Matt Haarms scored 11 points.
With so many different contributors for Purdue meant that the Boilermakers were able to have success around the rim and from three. Purdue finished the game with 28 points in the paint but entering the game against Wisconsin the Boilermakers were shooting 27.3 percent (45-for-165) from three over conference play, which ranked 13th.
However, the Badgers couldn’t hold them to their conference average as the Boilermakers finished the game 9-for-19 (47.4 percent) from three. Purdue’s ability to consistently hit the three against Wisconsin allowed for them to quickly extend their lead and maintain it.
Overall: F
Basketball is a game of runs. If Wisconsin wanted any chance of getting themselves back in the game the Badgers needed to have the first run in the second half.
They didn’t.
Purdue, started the second half scoring 12 of the first 14 points as they scored on five of its first seven possessions to extend their lead to 28 points.
In that sequence to begin the second half Stefanovic was responsible for six of Purdue’s 12 points as he knocked down two three’s while Easter had four points and Haarms knocked down a jumper.
The Badgers did go on a 7-0 run themselves but after a Purdue timeout at the 14:28 mark, the Boilermakers were able to retake control of the game and push their lead to as many as 27 points.
Wisconsin could never establish a consistent offensive rhythm and they didn’t help themselves by struggling so mightily on the boards as Purdue outrebounded the Badgers 42-16. That simply can’t happen in Big Ten play.
Wisconsin has another tough game on the road against Iowa on Monday and if they don’t shore up where they struggled against the Boilermakers the Badgers could see a similar result on Monday.