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Hughes, Wisconsin give Indiana its first Big Ten loss

Feb 1, 2008 - 6:27 AM MADISON, Wisconsin (Ticker) -- Wisconsin bounced back from its first Big Ten loss of the season to give Indiana its first taste of conference defeat.

Trevon Hughes had 16 points and Marcus Landry added 14 and 11 rebounds as No. 13 Wisconsin posted a decisive 62-49 victory over Indiana in Big Ten Conference action on Thursday.

Michael Flowers chipped in with 10 points for the Badgers, who have won the last seven home meetings against the Hoosiers dating back to 1998.

"I thought our guys did a great job and Michael Flowers was battling the flu, and you could tell by his facial expressions out there that he wasn't quite 100 percent," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. "I really liked our defensive effort and trying to get them to take shots that they weren't quite comfortable with."

Wisconsin (17-3, 7-1 Big Ten), which had lost to Purdue on Saturday, held Indiana to just 33 percent (18-of-54) shooting from the floor, and moved into a first-place tie with Michigan State (7-1) and the Boilermakers (7-1) in the conference.

The Hoosiers (17-3, 6-1), who had their 29-game home winning streak snapped in a non-conference loss to Connecticut on Saturday, have dropped two straight and are now one-half game back in the league standings.

"We had a lot of looks," Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson said. "In the second half, I thought we had a lot of clean looks and a lot of good opportunities but just couldn't make the shots. We couldn't buy one tonight. I'm disappointed we lost but not disappointed in our effort."

The Badgers had dominated the first 27 minutes of the game, leading by as many as 20 points with under 13 minutes to play.

The Hoosiers fought back behind freshman Eric Gordon, who scored 10 straight points as part of a 17-2 run that pulled them within 48-43 with 7:23 remaining.

Jamarcus Ellis knocked down a jumper with just over four minutes to play, cutting Indiana's deficit to 51-45, but Hughes made 6-of-6 free throws down the stretch as the Badgers held on. Indiana also made only two of its final 10 shots over the last four minutes.

Senior D.J. White had 22 points and 17 rebounds and Gordon added 16 for Indiana, which made only 3-of-19 3-pointers and was held below 50 points for the first time all season.

Gordon had injured his left wrist earlier in the week but his coach was proud of the way he played through it.

"He had a tough time going to his left, obviously, and they kept sitting on his right hand," Sampson said. "But I thought Eric played hard. He had to work for just about everything he had."

Wisconsin gained control early as it used a 9-0 spurt to take a 16-6 lead with 11:25 left in the first half.

The Badgers later scored nine straight again - capped by a layup by Landry - in the half to build their advantage up to 25-12 and, after the Hoosiers had closed within single digits, Flowers tipped in a missed shot right before the halftime buzzer to give Wisconsin a 30-20 lead at intermission.

Indiana committed 11 turnovers in the first half and made just 8-of-26 shots (31 percent) in the opening 20 minutes.

Wisconsin then outscored Indiana, 16-6, over the first seven minutes of the second half to take its biggest lead at 46-26 before the Hoosiers rallied.

Joe Krabbenhoft contributed six points, a season-high 12 rebounds and five assists for Wisconsin, which held a 34-22 edge on points in the paint.

"He just comes every day and I don't know what else you can say," Ryan said. "There are just some people who come out and give a great effort every day. The results may vary, but it's that effort that can help us get a game like this."