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Wednesday, Jan. 5 8:00pm ET
Badgers drop 21st straight at Indiana | |||||
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) -- Indiana barely extended its mastery of Wisconsin on Wednesday night and coach Bob Knight wasn't happy. A.J. Guyton scored 25 points, moving from eighth place to sixth on Indiana's career scoring list, to lead the Hoosiers (No. 11 ESPN/USA Today, No. 10 AP) over Wisconsin 71-69 in the Big Ten opener for both teams. "We're too soft. Our team right now is too soft to be a contender for the Big Ten championship," said Knight, who saw his team build a 17-point lead in the first half and then have to come from behind in the second half. Indiana (11-1) held Wisconsin (8-5) to just three field goals and 12 points over the final 8:47 as the Badgers lost in Assembly Hall for the 21st consecutive time. "You're going to have stretches where you're just not going to score," said Wisconsin coach Dick Bennett, who saw his team go scoreless for more than five minutes as the Hoosiers took the lead for good. "We had a few forces, a couple of guys tried to force it in the lane, just maybe wanting it a little too much." "It's good that we win, but that has never been the ultimate objective with me," said Knight, whose team appeared to have the game under control when it led 30-13 with 7:18 left in the first half. Guyton, who raised his career total to 1,764 points, had 19 in the first half when he passed Kent Benson and Damon Bailey on Indiana's scoring list. Wisconsin trailed 41-30 at halftime. It was the most points allowed by the Badgers in the first half all season. Wisconsin then moved ahead briefly in the second half when it consistently fouled Indiana inside and the Hoosiers were 1-of-10 from the field over the first 13 minutes. "Wisconsin came back, really played well. Their kids played hard, played together, did the things that had to be done to get themselves back in the ball game," Knight said. Guyton ended the cold spell with his fourth 3-pointer of the game, giving Indiana a 61-55 lead with 6:15 to play. His jumper with 5:09 remaining made it 63-55. Duany Duany, a former high school star playing in his hometown, led the Badgers with 17 points, six on 3-pointers in the final three minutes, including one at the buzzer. The senior tied his career highs of five 3-pointers and eight 3-point attempts. "He did himself proud. It's the kind of memory that you carry," Bennett said of Duany, who had scored only 33 points in 10 games this season. "When you come back home in a setting like this after you've had an off and on career and play as well as he did. ... I'm very happy for him." Michael Lewis matched his career high of 19 points for Indiana, which made the Badgers pay for their fouling technique on defense. The Hoosiers got into the double bonus with 10:10 to play and 21 of their 30 points in the second half came on free throws. Indiana, which last lost to Wisconsin here on Feb. 24, 1977, shot 62 percent from the field in the opening half (13-of-21). The second half was another story as the Hoosiers were just 4-of-17. Lewis had 13 points on free throws, including two with 10:10 remaining to tie the score for the last time at 53. Larry Richardson then made two free throws, the only points Indiana got from its reserves, to put Indiana ahead to stay 55-53. Indiana then put together a 10-2 run to lead 65-55 and the Badgers never got closer than the final margin. Wisconsin had trailed by 17 points twice in the first half, the last time at 30-13 when Guyton hit two free throws with 7:18 left. The Badgers shot 39 percent for the game as they lost to Indiana for the 35th time in 36 games. Kirk Haston contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Hoosiers while Lynn Washington scored 13 points. Andy Kowske and reserve Mark Vershaw each scored 14 points for Wisconsin. | ALSO SEE Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
AUDIO/VIDEO   A.J. Guyton elevates for a baseline jumper over the Badgers' defense.avi: 1075 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||