Hoosiers pull out all the stops including a fire alarm to beat the Badgers. 

Hoosiers pull out all the stops to beat the Badgers.

By Nick Jenkinson\Excel H Sports

The Indiana Hoosiers beat the Wisconsin Badgers 74-70 Tuesday Night in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers snap a four-game losing streak to improve to 7-10 in the Big Ten and 15-13 overall. Wisconsin is 18-10 overall and 10-7 in the Big Ten. Indiana will travel to Maryland on Sunday Afternoon to take on the Terrapins at 2 PM on CBS. The game was tied 54-54 with 10:06 left in the game when the game was stopped due to a fire alarm and Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall was evacuated. The alarm went off for several minutes and the game continued until finally the staff and security told people to leave the building. Once outside it wasn’t long before they let the crowd back in and the game continued. The Hoosiers struggled after the delay but outscored the Badgers 20-16 in the final stretch to win the game including a 6-0 run in the final 1:47 and Badgers did not score for the final 2:06

Kel’el Ware who scored 20 first half points finished the game with 27 points and 11 rebounds along with 5 blocks. Ware started the game 8-8 from the field. He was 9-10 in the first half 1-1 from three-point range and 1-1 from the free throw line. Ware finished the game 11-12 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line. Malik Reneau and Mackenize Mgbako finished with 14 points each and Trey Galloway had 12 assists along with 6 points. Xavier Johnson returned from injury and played 15 minutes scoring 5 points, a rebound, an assist but committed 5 turnovers. The Hoosiers finished the game 29-47 from the field for 61%, 6-14 from three-point range for 42% and 10-15 from the free throw line for 66%. The Hoosiers pulled down 31 rebounds, dished out 17 assists, 7 blocks, 1 steal and committed 12 turnovers. Indiana had 38 points in the paint and 11 bench points.

Wisconsin put five in double figures with Chucky Hepburn leading the way with 15 points, AJ Storr added 14, Max Klesmit and John Blackwell chipped 11 points each, Wisconsin big man Steven Crowl added 10 points and 6 rebounds with 9 points from Tyler Wahl. The Badgers finished 30-69 from the field for 43%, 8-26 from three-point range for 30% and 2-3 from the free throw line for 66%. Wisconsin finished with 27 rebounds, dished out 10 assists, 10 steals, 0 blocks and committed 3 turnovers. Wisconsin had 42 points in the paint, 11 Bench points and 9 points off turnovers.

The Hoosiers got off to a good start leading 4-0 and 8-2 as the Hoosiers pushed the lead to 32-17 with 6:09 left in the first half. Indiana led 36-26 with 2:51 left in half when the Badgers went on a 7-2 run as Indiana went into the locker room 38-33. In the second half Wisconsin chipped away and tied the game with when the game was stopped due to the fire alarm. Once the game restarted Tyler Wahl gave Wisconsin its first lead at 56-54 with 9:29 left. Malik Reneau tied the game at 56-56 with 9:01 left. Wisconsin retook the lead when Chucky Hepburn hit a three pointer with 8:36 left. Reneau got the Hoosiers to within one at 59-58 with 7:52 left. Steven Crowl put the Badgers back up by three with 7:52 left up 61-58. Kel’el Ware hit two free throws as the Hoosiers were down 1 point at 61-60 with 6:51 left. Chucky Hepburn drilled a three to make it 63-60 with 5:54 left as the Hoosiers tied the game on a three by Mackenize Mgbako with 5:35 left to tie game at 63-63.

The teams kept going back and forth as Anthony Walker scored to put the Hoosiers up two with 3:57 left 65-63. AJ Storr tied the game at 65-65 with 3:29. Kel’el Ware scored and was fouled and hit the free throw to make it 68-65 Hoosiers with 3:13 left. Storr answered a second time with a step back three with 2:56 left to tie it 68-68. Tyler Wahl gave Wisconsin its last lead at 72-70 with 2:06 left. Trey Galloway tied the game with 1:47 left. Reneau gave the Hoosiers the lead with 55 seconds and two Mackenize Mgbako free throws sealed the win for the Hoosiers. What was becoming a bleak outlook down the stretch turned into a positive outlook with three regular season games left. Hoosier Nation can be please that they got the win, and the fire alarm wasn’t going to stand in the way of closing out this win.