Indiana faced a tough test on Thursday as it went on the road to No. 8 Wisconsin. In a double overtime thriller, IU fell 80-73.
The Hoosiers had multiple chances to win, but unfortunately it was just another 'close call' type game.
Now, IU sits at 7-5 (2-3) and has a trip to Nebraska on Sunday before retuning home to face Purdue. Then, it's a matchup with six straight ranked opponents.
Here are the takeaways from Indiana's double overtime loss to the Badgers.
Role players step up: It was a much needed game for the role players of IU to step up and they did in a big way. Jerome Hunter had 12 points and Anthony Leal had nine. More importantly they played 25 and 34 minutes, respectively. IU needs those two to play at a consistent level moving forward.
IU backcourt with consistent showings: Al Durham and Rob Phinisee have struggled with playing at a high level consistently throughout their careers, but this may be the best stretch for that duo. Durham had 15 points and five assists, bringing his past three-game average to 15.3 points. Phinisee has scored in double figures in two of the last three games, including all 10 points on Thursday coming after the half. He also had six assists and just two turnovers.
Toughness is this team's identity: Once again IU fell back on their toughness on Thursday and it carried them a long way. IU isn't the most skilled team, but it is finally embracing the toughness that Archie Miller has tried to preach.
Late game blunders: IU had a chance to win the game in both the end of regulation and then again in the first overtime. Both times failing to do so. Trayce Jackson-Davis had a look at the rim at the end of regulation, but his shot rolled off of the rim. In overtime, after two consecutive timeouts, Al Durham took a handoff at the top of the key with 7.7 seconds left and was eventually tied up by Brad Davison, giving Wisconsin the ball. IU failed to even get a shot up. The Hoosiers need to get better at getting a bucket when they need one, especially late in games.
Trayce Jackson-Davis is still somewhat underrated?: TJD is one of the best players in the entire country and there is no doubt about that. Yet, somehow he doesn't seem to get that respect nationally as a top 3-5 player as regularly as others. He is averaging 20.5 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. He is also shooting 54 percent from the field. In Big Ten play he is averaging 19.8 points and 10.0 rebounds. He finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds against Wisconsin, his fourth double-double and eighth game of at least 20 points.
Turnovers weren't a deciding factor: IU had six of its 13 turnovers in the first seven minutes of the game. Think about that. After that, however, IU was relatively clean with the ball and that in turn resulted in eventually taking the lead and holding the lead for the majority of the final 10 minutes of regulation. The two turnovers the Hoosiers had in both overtime periods were tie up jump ball turnovers. It was a much cleaner game on the turnover front.
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