Published Feb 16, 2022
Quick Hitters: Takeaways from IU's loss to Wisconsin
Alec Lasley  •  Hoosier Huddle
Senior Writer
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Indiana fell to No. 15 Wisconsin on Tuesday night, losing its fourth straight game at a very inopportune time.

The Hoosiers led for 30 minutes of the game but were unable to close down the stretch.

Indiana falls to 16-9 (7-8) and still has games against ranked Ohio State and Purdue teams and then Rutgers - one of the hottest teams in the country.

Here are the takeaways from IU's loss to Wisconsin.

Jackson-Davis' dominant performance wasted: It was an absolutely dominant game from Trayce Jackson-Davis. He carried the team for the entire night and was the go-to player from the tip. He had 30 points on 10-of-13 from the field and 10-of-14 from the free throw line. It was his best all-around outing of his career, however. He added eight rebounds and a career-high six assists. He could have had a few more if his wings hit a few shots. The patience and calmness Jackson-Davis played with was critical and something he needs to do consistently moving forward.

Xavier Johnson struggles....: No secret here. The IU guards have struggled all season long with its consistency -- the same with the last four years. Xavier Johnson was 3-of-16 from the field with five turnovers in 34 minutes on Tuesday. Wisconsin sagged way off of him all night and gave him open looks from 15+ feet and he failed to convert. He went 7-of-32 from the field against the Badgers this season. Johnson needs to be better and needs to find ways to get to the free throw line or create more opportunities for his teammates attacking, because he won't get any more open than he was last night.

Utter collapse: Indiana did it again. This team can't get out of its own way and win games down the stretch in tight situations. It happens time and time again. In the last 1:40 of the game, Wisconsin ended on an 8-0 run in which it went 3-of-3 from the field. IU, however, made just one of its last 10 shots to end the game. Second halves have been terrible for Indiana all season and without good and consistent guard play, IU is going to continue to struggle in late game situations.

This team is way too emotional: Playing with emotion is great... to a certain extent. But Indiana plays with way too much emotion and it continues to turn negative for the team. Guys like Trayce Jackson-Davis, Xavier Johnson and Parker Stewart all play significant roles for this team but at times, get way too emotionally involved in the game and show it outwardly. Last night, Parker Stewart got into it with Brad Davison and while it was a Flagrant foul on Davison, the chippiness continued to rise after that moment and it got guys way too fired up. After Stewart hit his two free throw, IU took its largest lead of the night, 52-45. Then, the Badgers outscored Indiana 27-17 the rest of the game.

Struggling to guard go-to players continues: Johnny Davis is terrific, there's no question about it. But IU knew the Badgers' guard was going to get his and take over the game. He scored the last seven points in the first half and then scored the last 11 for the Badgers in the second half en route to 30 points on 10-of-15 from the field. IU doesn't have a defensive stopper and it continue to hurt them every single game. Champagnie had 32, Kris Murray had 28, Hunter Dickinson had 25, Trent Frazier had 23, and then Davis' 30 last night. At some point Mike Woodson needs to throw double teams at these guys and force their teammates to beat them.

Plays after timeouts: This has flown under-the-radar a bit this season but last night it reared its head. Mike Woodson came to IU with a strong offensive mind, but so far this year it hasn't shown... especially after timeouts with drawn up plays. Last night's 'final' shot for Parker Stewart was horrendous and didn't work. It looked like there was one option and once Wisconsin took that away, the players didn't have a plan B or plan C. Look earlier in the second half when Xavier Johnson and Miller Kopp were on different pages and Johnson threw the ball where he thought Kopp was going to be but Kopp went the other way. Then, under a minute left, a head scratching setup left Xavier Johnson wide open for three to take the lead after a double team on Jackson-Davis. Instead of playing into what the Badgers wanted, you would like to see some different action with more ball screen action and swing movement from the wings to take away some weak side help and potentially open up the clogged lane.

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