Wisconsin basketball is looking to do what seemed impossible in mid-December: win a share of the regular-season Big Ten title. Standing in the way of an eighth-straight Badger victory are the Indiana Hoosiers at historic Assembly Hall. Indiana comes in with an overall record of 19-11 and 9-10 in the BIG. On Saturday morning, UW is looking for a season sweep of IU following their December 7th blowout win at the Kohl Center. Here is what Badger fans can expect offensively from Indiana head coach Archie Miller and his team this time around:
The Hoosiers are at their best when freshman stud Trayce Jackson-Davis leads them on both ends. The Greenwood, Indiana native has led this otherwise experienced team as a true freshman to the tune of a team-high 13.9 points per contest. His efficiency in the paint has lead to an overall 57.8% shooting clip, although the 6’9″ uber-athletic forward has had struggles on the road. At home, Jackson-Davis is averaging 15.7 points per game and shooting nearly 60% from the field. On the road, those numbers drop to 10.6 points per game and 53.6% from the floor. The Hoosier big man can step out and hit the mid-ranger, but does his best work on the interior using a combination of athleticism and impressive footwork. Expect Nate Reuvers to be tasked with handling Jackson-Davis. That matchup of rim protectors and scoring leaders should be the most intriguing battle on the floor. The Badgers did a solid job on the freshman star in their 84-64 win over IU back in December. Jackson-Davis only attempted six shots en route to 9 points.
Although recently turnovers have not been as major of an issue as earlier in the year, IU still generally struggles at taking care of the basketball. They average more turnovers than any Big Ten team at 13.0 per game. The Hoosiers are a middle-of-the-pack team in terms of scoring as they come into Saturday averaging 71.3 points per outing. The inconsistency and turnover issues are a reflection of inconsistent guard play that has derailed this team at times. Senior guard Devonte Green sums this up perfectly. The New York native began the year hurt, and eventually worked his way back into a starting role. He has been in and out of that starting role this year due to inconsistency offensively. A 27-point outburst in a win against Iowa on February 13th saw Green nail 7 treys, and he immediately followed that performance with 3 points and a horrendous shooting night against Michigan in a loss. The combo guard will look to finish strong on his senior day against the Badgers.
The Hoosiers offensive inconsistency plays itself out even in the small sample size of one game. There are stretches where this team can’t find a basket, especially on the road, and other stretches where their guards get hot from the perimeter and they become world-beaters. To beat Wisconsin, a top-25 team in terms of defensive efficiency according to KenPom, the Hoosiers likely have to shoot better than their 32% average from distance, and have the world-beating Devonte Green show up in Bloomington. With that being said, if the Badgers come up short on Saturday morning it will likely have more to do with their offense than their defense.