Put Ball in Whole. Repeat

That's what neither the Hoosiers (except for DJ White and Gordon for about five minutes) and the Badgers could do last night, and still the Badgers came out on top, due to great rebounding and excellent custody of the ball. That was exemplified by none other than the Hoft, aka Krabby, formally known as Joseph Krabbenhoft the LXVIII. The Krabby one had 12 boards, five assists, played great help defense, made several clutch baskets, and turned the ball over zero times. Yee haw.

Anyhow, a funny game. Here are some neatly packaged thoughts--

- If either team had been able to hit a three pointer, the result could have been a total blowout for Wisconsin, or a win for Indiana. It seemed like Indiana's complimentary shooters, like
Stemler and Bassett missed a lot of open looks. That will likely not happen in Bloomington.

- Thank goodness the Kohl Center was actually loud. Wisco basketball fans are spoiled, spoiled. The Marquette game, against the friggin' papists-- the team's only classic intrastate rival, was nowhere near as loud. Purdue puts the Kohl Center to shame every week. Come on, people! You can't just show up. Get intense. I think the noise made a bit of a difference, and really helped the Badgers pick up their defensive intensity.

- If Gordon can do that without being able to dribble left, ummm, he's really good. Thank goodness he's one and done this season. Also, thank goodness he didn't go to Illinois. (Yes, I still dislike them more than anyone else.) He is explosive. He gets the ball, and things happen very quickly. Shots, drives, passes, turnovers, whatever. He is scary. That second half stretch was frightening.

- Where can you buy those sweet Indiana, barbershop pole warm-up pants?

- Either she got some enhancements or Erin Andrews has some great genes. I don't think she's all that cute, but she is distracting. Jeez. I think I prefer less obtrusive sideline reporters, like Holly Rowe. This is related to how I get uncomfortable when I'm helped by an overtly attractive saleswoman.

- Does anyone else enjoy calling Landry "the Babies' Daddy"? And was it at all disconcerting that
Butch couldn't make a shot against White down low, and generally looked classed against him? Or that Landry played better against White than Butch did? I know White is more athletic, but Butch is two inches taller and has a longer wingspan. Plus, it was clear early on that White was desperately afraid of getting in foul trouble. He'd play good position D, but then when Butch got the ball on him, he'd just put his arms straight up. Maybe it was just Butch being uncomfortable. He can get shots off against White.

- The team shot better from the line last night-- 73%. That's probably the best they can shoot for on average. So good. But if the Badgers want to be at the top of the league, they have to hit their three pointers. They can't miss fifteen a game.

- What's going on with the rotation? No Leuer this game, maybe because Indiana's a bit of a smaller team. No Gullickson still, since the drinking citation. That means the team is only 7 guys deep. Don't know if I like that. Hopefully both of those guys will get some time Sunday against Minnesota. Leuer will probably be booed, a la Bohannon in Iowa.

- Sal is right. Bo's press conference is hilarious. Follow the link in his post above if you haven't already.