Known for their 3-point proficiency before UW came to Assembly Hall, the Hoosiers struggled early from behind the arc. That soon changed. After making only 2-of-12 3-pointers in the first half, Indiana made 5-of-6 in the second frame, taking control of the contest and leading IU to a 71-66 upset over the No. 2 Badgers.
""They got hot to close the game shooting the three. They've been doing it all season,"" senior forward Alando Tucker said. ""We even had a chance where we came back towards the end of the game. They made some key plays where they hit some threes and separated from us.""
The Hoosiers were led by the lights out second half play of junior guard A.J. Ratliff. After scoring only two points in nine minutes in the first half, the sixth man took off. Ratliff scored 18 of his season-high 20 in the second half, connecting on 4-of-6 from the arc and hitting countless big shots.
The Badgers were not surprised by what they saw out of the Indianapolis native.
""I've heard that his nickname is ‘Instant Offense,' so he lived up to that name tonight,"" junior guard Michael Flowers said. ""He came in there and hit a couple threes, drove to the basket and hit a couple midrange shots. He's a versatile player, and Indiana is lucky to have him.""
On the other hand, UW struggled from 3-point land. Senior guard Kammron Taylor caught fire at the end of the game, bringing the Badgers back, but he was the only force from the outside.
After Tucker hit a 3-pointer just two minutes into the game, no Wisconsin player other than Taylor connected from long range. The Badgers shot 20 percent for the game.
D.J. Whites out UW big men
While the Badgers might not have been prepared for the onslaught from Ratliff, they knew what they had to deal with coming in against senior center D.J. White. But White lived up to the billing. He had 16 powerful points, including a huge fast-break dunk over sophomore forward Marcus Landry in the second half, part of a key 17-5 Hoosier run.
Even worse was when senior forward Jason Chappell picked up his fourth foul with 18:38 remaining in the game. Chappell, who played excellent defense on freshman center Greg Oden in UW's win over Ohio State at home Jan. 9, sat down and Landry played predominantly on White for the remainder of the game.
After the game, UW head coach Bo Ryan said he liked what he saw out of that matchup and that's why he kept Landry on the floor.
J-Bo gets major P.T.
Maybe it was his response to the boos in his return to Iowa Sunday, but Ryan had freshman guard Jason Bohannon playing a lot of minutes against Indiana. Bohannon played 19 minutes in the game, and predominantly down the stretch. He had four points—a pull up jumper as time expired in the first half and a strong clutch drive late in the second.
Taylor said that Bohannon's play was somewhat of a silver lining.
""He gave us a big spark off the bench,"" Taylor said. ""To see your freshman come in and provide the game that he did, that shows signs that he's getting better.""
