UW’s streak ends
UW misfires, loses first league game
Purdue takes advantage of poor early shooting
— Wisconsin took the court at Mackey Arena with an opportunity to complete a difficult road sweep and stand alone atop the Big Ten Conference standings Sunday.
The 11th-ranked Badgers whiffed on the opportunity and at times looked nothing like a team capable of winning the league title.
UW shot poorly in the first half but stayed close because of Purdue mistakes, made a brief run and pulled within four points early in the second half but then struggled to get stops.
The result: No. 20 Purdue rolled to a relatively easy 66-55 victory in front of an announced crowd of 14,804.
“Matt’s got a heck of a team,” UW coach Greg Gard said, referring to Purdue coach Matt Painter. “I thought watching them on film they were maybe as complete a Purdue team as I’ve seen for a while.
“They can hurt you in so many different ways.”
UW (13-3, 2-1) saw its winning streak end at nine games and suffered its third consecutive loss to Purdue (14-3, 3-1).
The Badgers were the last Big Ten team to fall from the unbeaten ranks in league play. Earlier Sunday, Nebraska (9-7, 3-1) suffered a 74-66 home loss to Northwestern.
Offense was an issue from the start for UW, which came in shooting 36.2% from three-point range and 48.6% overall.
The Badgers missed their first 6 three-point attempts and finished 2 of 14 from beyond the arc (14.3%). They shot 34.5% overall in the first half (10 of 29) and finished at 39.0% (23 of 59). Gard noted UW missed 10 of 19 shots from within 2 feet in the first half.
Ethan Happ came in shooting 67.2%, the No. 1 mark in the Big Ten, but struggled early against the size of Isaac Haas (7foot-2 and 290 pounds) and Caleb Swanigan (6-9, 250). He made just 1 of his first 6 shots before coming alive in the second half.
Happ finished with 17 points, on 7-of-16 shooting, and added six steals, five rebounds and four assists.
“I played like last year Ethan,” Happ said, “where I was just flipping stuff up. I just didn’t do what I’ve been doing all year, which is making sure it is a good shot. Can’t let that happen again.”
Nigel Hayes made just 4 of 12 shots and finished with 10 points and five rebounds.
Bronson Koenig, UW’s leading scorer at 14.1 points per game, was limited to eight field-goal attempts and finished with nine points. He made just 1 of 4 three-pointers.
“We just try to stay with him,” Painter said when asked about the defensive plan against Koenig. “I don’t have some unbelievable strategy.”
The Boilermakers, leading the Big Ten in three-point shooting at 40.3%, shot 46.7% on Sunday (7 of 15). They shot 52.2% overall (24 of 46).
Swanigan led Purdue with 18 points and 13 rebounds, his eighth consecutive double-double. Haas added 13 points and five rebounds in just 18 minutes. Swanigan and Haas combined to make 11 of 16 shots and help Purdue win the rebound battle, 34-22.
“This year I think he has taken to a whole new level, to be able to hurt you in so many ways,” Gard said of Swanigan. “He is a handful.”
Guards Ryan Cline (nine points) and P.J. Thompson (nine points) each scored seven points in the second half. Cline’s seven points came after UW freshman D’Mitrik Trice missed an open layin, with UW within 40-36.
Thompson sparked a 12-0 run with a threepointer, off an offensive rebound by Haas. Cline hit a jumper, stole a pass and hit a three-pointer and added another jumper to help Purdue build the lead to 52-36.
“They were making shots and we’re not making ours,” Happ said.