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The Daily Cardinal Est. 1892
Friday, March 29, 2024
Ethan Happ

With at least one Hoosier star sitting out Sunday, much of the offense will be funneled through Thomas Bryant, with Ethan Happ trying to slow him down.

Badgers return home, host Hoosiers in rematch

After a nearly two-week break from playing in front of a home crowd, the No. 10 Wisconsin Badgers (8-1 Big Ten, 19-3 overall) return to the Kohl Center to welcome an Indiana (5-5, 15-8) team that has fallen well short of expectations this season.

Though the Badgers enjoyed their trip to Madison Square Garden, there’s no hiding that they are ready to be back in front of the Madison faithful this weekend. Road trips can be fun, but the benefit of playing on the court you’re most comfortable with can’t be understated.

“The planes are cool, they're big, but it gets tiring,” senior forward Vitto Brown said. “It's nice to be able to relax and get some sleep again and be ready to play in front of our fans.”

The Hoosiers opened the season ranked No. 11 and ultimately climbed as high as No. 3 before falling from the rankings altogether. They knocked then-No. 3 Kansas and then-No. 3 North Carolina in a span of less than three weeks.

James Blackmon, IU’s leading scorer, averaged 20 points in those games to spark a dominant offensive attack. Blackmon’s status for Sunday afternoon is currently up in the air as he battles a leg injury, but UW is preparing for him to be on the floor come game time.

“We don’t really know about Blackmon for sure. We’re kind of assuming that he will be there—it’s better to prepare and be safe,” Brown said.

But while Blackmon might be able to contribute for the Hoosiers, projected NBA lottery pick OG Anunoby certainly won’t, as he sits out the remainder of the season with a knee injury that is likely a torn ACL.

Though Anunoby’s injury has sincerely hurt IU’s season outlook, the Badgers are trying not to think about what that might mean for this game. The Hoosiers still shoot the ball well and they still have players that can do some damage on the offensive end.

“Indiana is Indiana. They’re a good team. Obviously they’ve got guys that can match up with us even though OG is out,” assistant coach Howard Moore said. “[Juwan] Morgan is still a junkyard dog, [De’Ron] Davis is capable, obviously [Thomas] Bryant is capable … they’re doing it by committee.”

Bryant figures to play a major role with the absence of Anunoby and potentially Blackmon. He struggled in the first matchup with UW, recording just six points and three rebounds as redshirt sophomore forward Ethan Happ dominated the paint all game long.

Since Anunoby went down, though, Bryant has been on an absolute tear. He’s averaging 19 points per game on 62.7 percent shooting over the past five contests and shows no signs of slowing down.

With that in mind, the Badger big men will need help down low to keep Bryant in check. But too much help could leave open shooters on the perimeter, where Indiana shoots at a 38.9 percent clip.

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“We want our help to come from the other big rather than leaving off those shooters,” Brown said. “A guy like [Josh] Newkirk, he kind of has to prove if he’s going to be knocking down shots that day, then we might help off a little more. But guys like [Robert] Johnson, [Curtis] Jones off the bench, one of those guys, you don't really want to overcommit off of those guys.”

If Blackmon winds up sitting, it would take a massive effort from Bryant and the Hoosier role players to take down UW at home. And with No. 17 Maryland losing to No. 23 Purdue Saturday afternoon, sole possession of first place in the Big Ten is there for the taking.

The game tips off from the Kohl Center at 12 p.m. Sunday.

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