Hoosiers battle slow-paced Badgers

No one has ever condemned Wisconsin for playing too fast.

The most methodical of any team in the conference, the Badgers make the extra pass, avoid mistakes and rebound the ball well.

As a result, they eat up the clock quickly. Unlike the last contest against Wisconsin, IU will attempt to use tight defense and box-outs on the offensive glass to limit Badger tries at the basket today at 9 p.m. at Assembly Hall.

“They want the time of possession to be in their favor as much as possible on that offensive end,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “And if this was a football game, the difference would be astronomical.”

Against IU on Feb. 13 in Madison, Wis., the Badgers took 20 more shots than the Hoosiers. The team also accumulated 15 offensive rebounds and turned 21 IU turnovers into 29 points.

The numbers might sound exceptional, but they’re no deviation from what Bo Ryan’s club does every game.

Wisconsin has a plus-10 scoring margin on opponents, averages only nine turnovers and grabs 32 rebounds per game.

The Badgers use the dribble drive as their most-used tool to open the floor, press opponents for time and hit 3-point shots.

With two true point guards and big men capable of playing on the outside, the Badgers employ that ability to force help defense.

When teams have to shift on the defensive end, the Badgers get easy shots.  
Crean pointed out this fact when analyzing how guard Jason Bohannon hit seven 3-pointers against IU.

“They want you to help,” Crean said. “Bohannon gets a lot of 3s off his man’s help, which means you’ve gotta be able to guard the dribble.”

The drive-and-kick method Wisconsin uses helped develop its average of seven 3-pointers per game, three more than the opposition.

Because of their calculated approach, sophomore guard Verdell Jones said IU will need to play tough defense against the Badgers.

“Just try to speed them up,” Jones said. “Blitz ball screens, whatever you have to do just try to make them shoot the ball quicker, make them force bad decisions.”
And they make very few bad decisions.

Wisconsin guard Trevon Hughes averages two turnovers per game, and no other player has more than 1.1 blunders per game.

A well-structured offense with sure-handed players allows the team to keep defenders suspended, trying to guess the next move.

A by-product of sitting in a defensive stance is tired legs. Wisconsin uses this to bolster its offensive rebounding.

After a long offensive set, players tend to relax when they finally see the ball go up.
Using the entire 35-second shot clock is not uncommon for the Badgers, and it often uses that tactic to get scores from offensive rebounds.

IU gave up 18 second-chance points as Wisconsin managed to score 32 points within the key.

Freshman guard Jordan Hulls will be one of the players charged with putting pressure on Hughes and guarding Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin’s two primary ball handlers.
He said more of a concerted effort to limit the Badger offensive strategy will benefit IU in today’s showing.

“We just got to play defense,” Hulls said. “They had way too many open shots last game, driving the ball to basket, and too many offensive rebounds.”
IU had two players with the flu and only one day of preparation when it last faced Wisconsin.

Regardless of those circumstances, Crean said the things IU didn’t do on the court mattered most.

“They got offensive boards, and they scored off our turnovers,” Crean said. “I think that’s what it was more than anything.”