In a battle for the top spot in the Big Ten this afternoon, Wisconsin basketball fell to the Purdue Boilermakers 75-69 at the Kohl Center. It is only the second home loss for the Badgers and first since November to Tennessee.
Tyler Wahl had a nice rebound performance today. He led the Badgers in scoring with 20 points and seven rebounds. Wisconsin basketball did not get much from Steven Crowl and Max Klesmit (18 combined points). AJ Storr had 14 points, but he was only 4-15 from the field and looked to force most of those shots. Here are three takeaways from today’s game.
Purdue’s Supporting Cast Won The Game
I mentioned in the game preview yesterday that I wanted to see Wisconsin basketball let Zach Edey get his points and take the supporting cast away. While the Badgers did a great job on Edey (18 points on 13 shots), they let the supporting cast beat them. I was surprised this was the route they went.
The trio of Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, and Lance Jones carried Purdue today. Smith was great in the first half making five of his first six shot attempts. He ended the game with 19 points.
The second half was all Lance Jones as he led the way with 20 points on 8-14 shooting. The senior transfer has been what I think is the missing link to Purdue being a championship team. He was great when they needed him to be.
Wisconsin Basketball Was Dominated at the Line and Glass
The Badgers were out-rebounded by 13 today and gave up 14 offensive rebounds that led to 21 points. Too many times someone did not box out or they would tip the ball instead of coming down with two hands.
The Badgers were 87% at the line today, but they attempted nine fewer free throws. For a team that leads the Big Ten in free throw percentage, I would have liked to see that number increase.
On the other hand, Purdue loses to both Wisconsin and Northwestern if they don’t attempt 71 free throws and draw 52 fouls in two games. I don’t disagree with many of those calls, but those numbers are a little ridiculous from an officiating standpoint. However, credit to the Boilermakers for getting to the line that many times.
Wisconsin Basketball Needs to Hit the Reset Button
Going 0-2 this week is not the end of the of the world, but you could argue the Badgers should have won both games this week. For the most part, it’s been three bad halves on the offensive side. I’m not sure if fatigue is setting in a little bit, but every team goes through a stretch like this in one way or another during the season.
The Badgers play the bottom two teams this week in Rutgers and Michigan. Both are on the road. As we unfortunately found out Thursday, no road game is a guarantee in the Big Ten.
My opinion does not change about this team. They are very good and still a top team in the Big Ten. I think this is more of a stretch rather in something potentially long term.
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