Wisconsin cranks up the defense, splashes home 10 triples in eliminating Indiana from Big Ten Tournament

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WASHINGTON — Indiana's made it look so easy so often when it comes to piling up points. But Wisconsin is good as Big Ten defenses get.

The Badgers clamped down on a group of Hoosiers that had scored a combined 191 points in its last two games, playing one of those typically Wisconsin games en route to a 70-60 win in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament.

The win advanced the Badgers to Saturday's semifinal round, where they will square off with the winner of Friday night's bout between Maryland and Northwestern.

But while limiting the high-flying Indiana offense was critical for Wisconsin, its offense came to play, too, the team splashing home 10 3-pointers and shooting 47.4 percent from the field in the victory. Five different Badgers scored in double figures, led by the 16 points of Bronson Koenig, who made four 3s. Ethan Happ finished with a double-double, 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Wisconsin shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, going 5-for-9 from 3-point range. The defense shut down Indiana over the period's final eight minutes, with the Hoosiers mustering just five points after grabbing a modest three-point lead shortly after the eight-minute mark. The Badgers countered with 14 points of their own during that stretch — while Nigel Hayes was relegated to the bench with two fouls — and held a six-point edge at halftime.

After halftime, Wisconsin extended its lead to 14 points with a 12-2 run early in the second half, getting 3s from Koenig and D'Mitrik Trice during that burst. Rarely did that advantage dip outside double digits, and it hit a game-high 15 around the eight-minute mark on a nother Trice triple. Indiana did make a late charge, taking an 11-point gap down to four with seven straight points inside of three minutes, but Koenig came up with one of his customary clutch buckets to keep the Hoosiers at bay.

The Badgers have strung together back-to-back wins after an ugly stretch that featured four straight losses and losses in five of six games, with those victories coming by double-digit margins. If Wisconsin still has designs on the kind of March run believed possible earlier this season, these victories are a good sign. And after Purdue's loss earlier Friday, Wisconsin is the highest remaining seed in the Big Ten Tournament.

Meanwhile, Indiana's season is likely over despite continued rumblings of a potential miracle NCAA tournament berth. That seems highly unlikely, however, and the focus around the Hoosiers will now turn once again to Tom Crean's job status.

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