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For more on the Indiana Hoosiers, check out The Crimson Quarry.
The No. 17 Indiana Hoosiers haven't beaten No. 25 Wisconsin Badgers in eight tries, but are 20 minutes away from pulling off the "upset" and improving to 5-4 in Big Ten play. The Hoosiers lead 27-25 at the break.
Indiana jumped out to a 17-11 lead on the Badgers and led for most of the first half. Wisconsin made a late charge in the final minutes to take a quick lead, before Indiana regained it with just over a minute left.
Senior guard Verdell Jones III is the game's leading scorer with 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting. It's amazing Indiana is up two without their freshman star Cody Zeller, who has no points and took only one shot in the first half after getting into early foul trouble.
Wisconsin is being led by guard Jordan Taylor, who has eight points on 4-for-10 shooting.
For more on the Indiana Hoosiers, check out The Crimson Quarry. You can also head over to SB Nation's main NCAA Football hub at SBNation.com/NCAA-Football.
The No. 16 Indiana heads to No. 25 Wisconsin Thursday for a 9 p.m. ET tilt with the surging Badgers.
The Hoosiers, 16-4, snapped a three-game losing streak Sunday against Penn State, pounding the Nittany Lions by 19 in Bloomington. Before that Indiana had suffered two heartbreakers sandwiched around a shellacking at Ohio State.
Indiana center Cody Zeller has yet to hit any sort of freshman wall. The presumptive Big Ten Freshman of the Year has scored 18 points in consecutive games, and did so Sunday on just eight field goal attempts. He leads the Big Ten in field goal percentage, having hit 21 of 29 shots over the past three games.
Since dropping three in a row of its own, Wisconsin, 16-5, has rebounded with four straight wins, most recently a four-point victory at Illinois. The Badgers, as always, are stout on defense. They are allowing an NCAA-best 49.6 points per game, holding two of its last three opponents to fewer than 58 points. Wisconsin also held North Carolina, which leads the country in scoring, to just 60 points earlier this seasons.
Jordan Taylor leads the Badgers with 14.1 points per game. He is the only player on the team who averages better than 11.
Indiana Vs. Wisconsin Final Score: Hoosiers Lose Again To Badgers, 57-50
No. 17 Indiana had a chance to end their now eight-game skid to the No. 25 Wisconsin Badgers on Thursday night, but ultimately fell short. Indiana dropped to 4-5 in the Big Ten while Wisconsin improved to 6-3, just a half game out of first place behind Ohio State, Michigan State, and Michigan.
Indiana led by two at the half and for more than ten minutes in the second half, but could never pull away from the Badgers. A Ben Brust three-pointer at the 9:21 mark gave Wisconsin a three-point lead and, after some back-and-forth, regained the lead for good at 5:21 on a pair of free throws.
Indiana had a chance late in the game, down three, but Cody Zeller, who had been in foul trouble for most of the game, missed a hook with under a minute left. Zeller finished with just seven points on 2-for-7 shooting.
After scoring 12 points in the first half, senior guard Verdell Jones III did not score a point in the second half.
Indiana plays next vs. Iowa at Assembly Hall.
For more on the Indiana Hoosiers, check out The Crimson Quarry. You can also head over to SB Nation's main NCAA Football hub at SBNation.com/NCAA-Football.
Jan 26 11:15p by Brian Packey