Indiana Basketball Game Preview: Wisconsin – key storylines, injury report, how to watch

Indiana basketball returns to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall for the penultimate home game in its 124th season of competition against the Wisconsin Badgers. The Hoosiers have lost four-straight.

The Badgers are led by sophomore guard AJ Storr. The St. John’s transfer is averaging a team-best 16.3 points per game to go along with 3.9 rebounds and 32 made 3-pointers.

Fifth-year senior forward Tyler Wahl provides 11.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, while junior forward Steven Crowl adds 11.2 points and a team-best 7.7 rebounds per game. unior guard Chucky Hepburn is second in the Big Ten at 2.1 steals per game. He also leads the Badgers with 100 assists.

Tip is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET on Peacock.

Below is the full preview of Indiana basketball vs Wisconsin.

Key Storylines

Shooting has arguably been the most severe limitation for this Indiana basketball team

Shooting struggles, shooting struggles, and shooting struggles…..a constant trend for Indiana basketball this season. It has not gotten any better like many had hoped it would at this point, it actually may have gotten worse.

The Hoosiers are coming off another poor shooting performance in the latest loss to Penn State over the weekend. Indiana was outscored by 12 at the free throw line and 19 on 3s. Penn State was 26-of-30 from the foul line and 9-of-21 on 3s.

“We just didn’t make plays coming down the home stretch of the first half to keep us right there. But that wasn’t the difference in the game,” Indiana basketball head coach Mike Woodson said postgame. “I thought that we battled. I look at the stat sheet. I look at the free throws and missed opportunities to make threes. I thought that was the difference.”

Anything outside of the paint, the Hoosiers just simply can’t convert. It’s been ugly to watch and the lack of true shooting has arguably been the downfall for Indiana this season. If this team was just a halfway decent shooting team, this season would look a whole different.

After Saturday’s fourth-straight loss, Indiana basketball now ranks 291st in three point percentage, 349th in three point rate and 354th in percentage of points from 3s.

Malik Reneau bounced back

Indiana basketball’s best player this year has seen his fair share of struggles as of late. He fought foul trouble which has led to frustration and overall poor play. It was a lot of what you saw from freshman Malik Reneua.

In Saturday’s loss to Penn State, you saw the much better version of Malik Reneau. A Malik Reneau that can carry a team. He finished with 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting (64.3%) and added six rebounds, as well. Indiana road with Reneau and even though they didn’t get the end result they needed, Reneau’s play was a positive sign.

There has not been many positives for Indiana basketball this year, but the overall growth of Malik Reneau is one that you can point out. He is the team’s leading scorer at 16.1 points per game and has taken on a leadership role in the frontcourt.

As the season comes to an end, Reneau just needs to keep showing his growth and build momentum into the offseason.

Is Indiana going to win anymore games? It’s a scary thought

Man, it is a real possibility that Indiana basketball may not win a single game the rest of the season. With four games remaining, Indiana will host Wisconsin, travel to Maryland, travel to Minnesota, and host Michigan State before the Big Ten Tournament.

Years past, you would think that Indiana basketball would at least split the remaining four and win the games at home. For this year, homecourt advantage for Indiana is not a thing. The Hoosiers have looked terrible at home and have lost more home games this year than they did Mike Woodson’s first two seasons.

Indiana has got to find a way to win a few of these games by any means necessary, they really do. Things can’t much better as the season closes, but things can get much worse if they lose every game remaining.

“I mean, we got to win all four games to even have a shot,” Mike Woodson said to media on Monday. “Once we get into tournament play, we got to win some games in the tournament play, if not win the Big10, to probably make the tournament.”

“I’m not looking that far down the road. Only thing I’m looking at is Wisconsin. We got to take little steps right now based on where we are, and Wisconsin is staring us in the face. They’ve had their struggles, so that’s all I’m truly thinking about right now, one game at a time.”

Read: ‘I’m upset with the way we’ve played, the way I have coached this team.’: Mike Woodson is very aware of the issues with Indiana basketball

Series History

Indiana holds an advantage of 97-81 in the series with Wisconsin that spans over 110 years of competition. The Hoosier defeated the Badgers by a score of 63-45 on Jan. 14, 2023, when UW last visited Bloomington. Trayce Jackson-Davis totaled 18 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, and five blocks.

Wisconsin won a 91-79 tilt when the two sides met in Madison on Jan. 19, 2024. Sophomore forward Malik Reneau scored 28 points to go along with eight rebounds, while freshman forward Mackenzie Mgbako registered 17 points. The Badgers had four post double figures in the scoring column, including 26 from junior guard Max Klesmit.

Watch: Mike Woodson previews Wisconsin 

Injury Updates

Xavier Johnson: At the 2:12 mark late in the second half of the Iowa game, Xavier Johnson drove to the basket but was fouled hard going for the dunk. He landed awkwardly on his left arm and was screaming on the floor in excruciating pain. After missing five straight games, Mike Woodson said on Monday that he returned to practice over the weekend in a limited capacity.

Jakai Newton: Newton had a lower body surgical procedure done this past offseason to help fix a previous injury he sustained during high school. He is still recovering and is not expected to play for the rest of the season.

Quick Hitters

Who?: Indiana (14-13) (6-10 Big Ten) vs Wisconsin (18-9) (10-6 Big Ten)

When?: Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024 • 7 p.m. ET

Where?: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222) • Bloomington, Ind.

TV: Peacock (Noah Eagle, Robbie Hummel)

Radio: IU Radio Network (Don Fischer, Errek Suhr, John Herrick)

Betting Lines: Indiana basketball is listed as a 4-point underdog via DraftKings Sportsbook.

SEE ALSO: Larry Bird discusses Indiana basketball and one of the biggest ‘what-ifs’ in program history

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