MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin junior guard Max Klesmit never found a rhythm as he battled foul trouble in a tough-to-swallow loss at Penn State. That was not the problem three days later.
Klesmit delivered another one of his offensive explosions for No.11 Wisconsin, scoring a team-high 26 points as the Badgers responded to their first conference loss by dismantling Indiana, 91-79, at the Kohl Center Friday night.
Hitting his only shot attempt in the first half, Klesmit proceeded to score 20 points in four minutes, 39 seconds that blew the game open for Wisconsin (14-4, 6-1 Big Ten), which increased his lead in the Big Ten to a full game over idle Purdue.
Sophomore A.J. Storr scored 15, junior Steven Crowl flirted with a triple-double (12 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists), while freshman John Blackwell (12) was responsible for seven of Wisconsin’s 15 bench points in the first half, scoring them in just over 2 1/2 minutes that helped the Badgers rebound from a slow start.
Five other players scored between four and eight points, as the Badgers shot 59.6 percent (28 of 47) from the floor.
The Hoosiers (12-7, 4-4) got 28 points from sophomore Malik Reneau, as the program lost their 20th consecutive road game to the Badgers. The streak of futility is a program worst for the Hoosiers, surpassing a 19-game losing streak at Purdue from 1901 to 1922.
Any hopes of an Indiana upset were dealt a blow before the game with sophomore center Kel’el Ware going out with a right leg injury. Ware was second on the team in scoring (14.2), led the team in rebounds (9.4), and added 1.8 assists per game.
The Hoosiers got the early jump with an 8-3 scoring edge and a 7-1 rebounding edge, but things went downhill after UW found its footing. The Badgers averaged 1.64 points per possession after resetting during the first media timeout, including owning a 13-5 edge on the glass during the final 15:35.
UW did it with a balanced effort, getting between eight points and two from nine different players in a half where it shot 52.2 percent.
The Hoosiers cut a 16-point lead down to seven with 14:58 remaining, a result of scoring nine points in 46 seconds, but Klesmit answered with 14 points on five consecutive possessions. When Klesmit faked a jump shot and found Carter Gilmore underneath the basket for an easy lay-in, the lead had swelled to 23 with just over 12 minutes to go.
What it means: After seeing Penn State’s guards score at will Tuesday, Indiana watched Klesmit take over the game during the first part of the second half. More importantly, Wisconsin rebounded from an ugly loss to knock off the injury-depleted Hoosiers.
Star of the game: Klesmit has scored in double figures in four straight games (a personal best for him in his two years at Wisconsin) but what’s more impressive is that his scoring has seemingly come rapid fire. Klesmit has raised his scoring average in the last four games from 7.2 points to 9.9 points per game.
Stat of the game: Wisconsin came out flat at Penn State, were outscored 12-2, and could never fully recover. The Badgers tried to do the same thing against the Hoosiers. In their eight possessions before the first media timeout, UW was 1-for-5 from the field with three turnovers, digging itself into an 8-3 deficit.
Reason to be Concerned: Indiana was 13th in the league in scoring in conference games (68.7) and ninth in field goal percentage (44.9), but the Hoosiers hit 14 of their first 19 shots (73.7 percent) in the second half to prevent the Badgers from truly running away from them.
Don’t overlook: Chucky Hepburn had another quiet scoring night (six points, 2-for-6), but the junior registered three steals, giving him at least three swipes eight times this season, including in three of the last four. He only had six games with three steals last season.
What’s next: Wisconsin makes the short flight up to Minneapolis to face the Golden Gophers at Williams Arena on Tuesday (6 p.m./BTN). While already surpassing their nine wins from last season, the Gophers (12-6, 3-4) have dropped three straight conference games and sit in eighth place in the league. Dawson Garcia (17.7 ppg) continues to be Minnesota’s best player, but the Gophers have seen soph. Joshua Ola-Joseph (10.6), Pepperdine transfer Mike Mitchell Jr. (10.4), and freshman Cam Christie (10.4) develop nicely around him.
UW and Minnesota have played each other 211 times with the Badgers having won 15 of the last 17 meetings.
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