BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Trayce Jackson-Davis sighed.
Questions were coming; perspective would follow and Indiana’s junior forward braced for it in a press conference setting that could have been a Tuesday night celebration.
It wasn’t. The Hoosiers had lost.
What might have been against No. 15/16 Wisconsin slipped away.
A losing streak reached four with the 74-69 loss at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. With a 16-9 record, 7-8 in the Big Ten, NCAA tourney prospects took another hit.
“It’s rough,” Jackson-Davis said. “We have five games left, four against teams we’ve beaten, and Rutgers. We control our own destiny. Take it one game at a time.”
Added coach Mike Woodson: “It was a tough game. We played our butts off. We played great in stretches. We couldn’t sustain it. We had too many fouls. That’s tough coming down the stretch.”
After a seven-game stretch that was, for him, average, Jackson-Davis once again played like one of the Big Ten’s best players. He made the Badgers (20-5, 11-4) pay for not double teaming him, punishing anyone who guarded him.
“He tried to put us on his back,” Woodson said.
Jackson-Davis’ 30 points (on 10-of-13 shooting) matched that of Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis, a Big Ten player of the year contender.
“It feels good to see the ball go back through the hoop,” he said.
A foot injury forced him to take a couple of days off, and it helped.
“I felt good,” he said.
But it was the shot he didn’t take in crunch time that hurt.
Trailing 71-69 in the closing seconds, IU got the ball to Jackson-Davis, who passed to an open Xavier Johnson, who missed.
“I was kicking it out well the whole game,” Jackson-Davis said. “Xavier was wide open. Sometimes you don’t hit them. I’ll always take that shot by him.”
Added Woodson: “I thought the big guy (Jackson-Davis) was in position to make a play.
“Trayce was great. We didn’t milk it enough. I knew they couldn’t stop him. Him being so unselfish, he was letting the ball come out.”
IU could have — should have — won the first Wisconsin meeting in December at the Kohl Center. It blew a 22-point lead, but showed what might have been with two more minutes of difference-making play.
The same was true on Tuesday night
The Hoosiers led as late as the 1:40 mark, then were outscored 8-0 the rest of the game.
“We haven’t been consistent in bringing it home,” Woodson said. “We’re fighting and battling. We’ve got to learn how to win. I have to help them in that area.”
This was a game that featured eight ties, six lead changes and way too many missed shots from Hoosier guards, who were a combined 9-for-36.
“Xavier had shots,” Woodson said. “He couldn’t make them. I put it on me. I have to get them in better position.
“I can’t shoot it for them. I’ve got to get them comfortable to the point they feel comfortable making shots. We’re still a work in progress.”
IU got 10 bench points, eight from Parker Stewart, two from Khristian Lander. That lack of production put more pressure on the starters.
“I have to rest them sometime,” Woodson said. “(The reserves) have to relieve our guys. They have to be more productive. I have to help them in that area.”
Jackson-Davis remains confident that production is coming.
“I see a bunch of guys who work hard on their shots. They put up extra shots. It’s mental. They have to have their confidence up. They’ll keep getting up shots and putting in the extra time. The shots will start falling.”
This was late-night theater that brought in Cream ‘n Crimson heavyweights from glory past.
Ex-Hoosier great Cody Zeller was back, taking a brief break from his NBA career. Ex-Hoosier great Tyra Buss was back, wearing a ‘W’ on her sweatshirt in support of fiancé Brad Davison, the Badgers senior guard and a player Big Ten fans love to boo.
But down the stretch, it was Davis who was the difference maker.
“Everybody struggles with Johnny,” Woodson said. “He had a hell of a game. He’s that type of player. It’s hard to double him.
“He kept beating our defense, going the other way. He was capable of doing it. It didn’t matter who we had on him.
“Miller Kopp played him well earlier, but down the stretch nobody could play him.”
IU started by pounding inside hard with Race Thompson and Jackson-Davis. They combined for the Hoosiers’ first 13 points. Stewart came in a drilled a three-pointer to push the Hoosiers to a 16-10 lead.
Wisconsin tied it at 16-16, then went ahead 19-18 on a Davison three-pointer.
Consecutive Trey Galloway dunks, including one off the steal, ignited the crowd. He followed with an off-balance pass to Jackson-Davis for another dunk to cap IU’s 8-0 run for a 26-19 lead.
Johnson soon followed with a three-pointer, but the Badgers rallied behind Davis, who tied the game with a jumper, then gave the Badgers a 32-31 halftime lead with a free throw.
Jackson-Davis led IU with 13 points. Davis led Wisconsin with 11.
Early second-half three-pointers from Thompson and Galloway forged a 43-43 tie.
The Hoosiers kept attacking the paint and getting the ball to Jackson-Davis. It completed a 10-0 run for a 50-43 lead.
Stewart and Davison got into it. After a review, Davison was called for a flagrant 1 foul. Stewart hit both free throws for a seven-point IU lead.
Wisconsin rallied for a tie, but not a lead. A Stewart three-pointer pushed the Hoosiers to a 65-61 advantage as the clock ticked under five minutes.
The Badgers twice inched back to within one behind Davis. The Hoosiers twice held them off.
Then Davis blew past Kopp for a layup, drew a foul and converted the three-point play. The Badgers led 71-69.
IU missed a shot. Wisconsin rebounded, but traveled. The Hoosiers had the ball with 34.8 seconds and a chance.
Johnson missed, Davis rebounded, was fouled and made one of two free throws for a 72-69 lead with 19.2 seconds.
Stewart missed a contested three-pointer, Davis rebounded and hit the clinching free throws.
“Our team is not just based on Trayce,” Woodson. “We’ve won collectively. We’re not getting that right now. I have to help them.
“They are looking over their shoulders again, like in past years, with things that have happened to them down the stretch.
“I have to help them.”
Courtesy IUHoosiers.com
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