Wisconsin Badgers vs. Indiana Hoosiers Pick & Prediction JANUARY 19th 2024

Wisconsin will look to bounce back from its first conference loss of the season when the 11th-ranked Badgers host Indiana in a Big Ten matchup Friday night in Madison, Wis.

Wisconsin (13-4, 5-1) lost 87-83 at Penn State on Tuesday, snapping the Badgers’ six-game winning streak.

Indiana (12-6, 4-3) fell at home to second-ranked Purdue 87-66 on Tuesday.

Against Penn State, the Badgers went five minutes late without a field goal until a consolation 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Wisconsin entered the Penn State matchup giving up an average of 65.4 points per game but allowed the Nittany Lions to shoot 53.3 percent from the field, including 60.7 percent (17 of 28) in the second half. The Badgers also turned the ball over 13 times, leading to 16 Penn State points.

“We’re not where we need to be,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. “… We hadn’t been exposed in a while, and we got exposed tonight. Part of it was due to our doing, and part of it, give credit to Penn State.”

AJ Storr scored 23 points and Steven Crowl had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds for Wisconsin, which leads second-place Purdue by a half-game in the Big Ten standings.

Wisconsin lost on Tuesday despite winning in key statistical areas. The Badgers outrebounded Penn State 36-25, had a 40-36 advantage in the paint, and were 20 of 23 from the foul line, compared with 15 of 20 for the Nittany Lions.

Storr, a sophomore transfer from St. John’s, averages a team-high 15.3 points a game and has scored in double figures in 12 straight contests. Crowl adds averages of 12.0 points and a team-best 7.8 rebounds, and Tyler Wahl averages 11.7 points and 5.8 rebounds.

The Hoosiers, meanwhile, trailed by 22 points at the half in their loss to Purdue and had no answer for 7-foot-4 Zach Edey, who finished with 33 points and 14 rebounds. For Indiana, Trey Galloway had 17 points and freshman Mackenzie Mgbako added 15.

The Hoosiers shot just 35.1 percent (13 of 37) from the field in the first half as Purdue built a 51-29 lead at the break.

“I thought in the first half we got some good looks. I charted, there were eight or nine open shots that we just didn’t make,” Indiana coach Mike Woodson said.

“Those empty possessions that you leave on the table, and you come down and either we fouled or they scored, I mean, it wasn’t a good combination for us the way we were playing. You know, so we’ve got to move forward and get ready for Wisconsin now and see where we go from here.”

Indiana averages 73.9 points a game while allowing 73.3. Malik Reneau leads the team with 15.8 points per game, followed by Kel’el Ware at 14.2, Galloway at 10.7 and Mgbako at 10.4. Ware averages a team-high 9.4 rebounds per game.

Indiana won the lone meeting vs. Wisconsin last season, 63-45, after the Badgers had won the previous five games in the series.

In the most recent meeting in Madison, in December 2021, the Badgers matched their largest comeback in school history, overcoming a 22-point first-half deficit to win 64-59.

–Field Level Media