So, remember just the other day, when the Blob said you could surmise a lot from Indiana's rump-roastin' of Florida State in Assembly Hall, but don't surmise everything, because, well, stuff happens in college buckets -- and most of it happened to IU last year?
Well ... here you go.
And so, no, let's not slot the Hoosiers at the top of the Big Ten just yet. There is still work to be done, it seems. If restoring the historical record in Assembly Hall is part of that work, so is taking a hammer to the historical record at Wisconsin, where Indiana hasn't won since Bob Knight was stalking the sideline like a living, fire-breathing bust from coaching's Mt. Rushmore.
Indiana never wins in Madison, but lots of folks were talking themselves into thinking "never" might have an expiration date after Florida State. And then they left the historical record-smashing hammer at home, along with a few other things.
Defense, for one. Wisky, which hadn't been able to hit water from a boat coming in, got better in a hurry against the lax Hoosiers' D, riding a fistful of uncontested shots to shoot 54 percent and 40 percent from behind the arc.
The Badgers led 47-27 at halftime and it never got any better, mainly because Indiana shot as poorly as it defended. The Hoosiers shot 42 percent and 36 percent from the 3-point line, and its struggles were best illustrated by the ever-enigmatic Devonte Green: After dropping 30 points on Florida State on 10-of-15 shooting, he barely made a sound against the Badgers, missing five of his eight shots and finishing with 10 points.
It's absurd to say, of course, that as goes Green, so go the Hoosiers. But he makes a useful barometer for a team that, right now on December 8, has a few enigmas itself to work out.
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