My Two Cents: Indiana's Long Losing Streak at Wisconsin Ultimate in Role Reversal

Indiana used to win all the time at Wisconsin when Bob Knight was the coach, but he lost his last Big Ten game there in 2000 and the Hoosiers haven't won since. The streak is 19 now, tied for the worst in school history, and the two teams meet again in Madison on Friday night. Here are all the gory details on the streak.

MADISON, Wis. — Archie Miller, Tom Crean and Mike Davis get a lot of criticism for the downfall of Indiana basketball over the last quarter century. Kelvin Sampson, too, and Mike Woodson more recently.

But there is one current issue that we get to blame on Bob Knight. Indiana has lost 19 games in a row at Wisconsin, tied for the worst streak on the road in school history, and it started with Knight, the three-time national champion. He lost a game in Madison in 2000, and it started this 19-game skid that covers 23 years. 

It's the worst. Ever. The only thing comparable in Indiana basketball lore is that it also lost 19 straight to Purdue from 1901 through 1922, more than a century ago in a completely different college basketball landscape.

Road trips to Madison have been eerily predictable. After Knight, Davis lost five straight times. Sampson lost in his only trip, and then Crean lost eight straight games, a few with some bad rebuilding teams, but others with some solid rosters. (In fairness, his best team, the 2013 Hoosiers, did not play in Madison that year.)

Miller lost three times, including once in overtime when the Hoosiers should have won, and Woodson lost in his only trip, too, his first Big Ten road game as Indiana's coach on Dec. 8, 2021. The Hoosiers blew a 22-point lead that day.

Indiana returns to Madison on Friday night to take on the Badgers, looking to finally end this skid. It won't be easy.  The Badgers are 13-4 right now and lead the Big Ten with a 5-1 mark. They are 9-1 at home this season, with the only loss coming in early November to then No. 9-ranked Tennessee.

The Kohl Center has been a house of horrors for Indiana. The building opened on Jan. 17, 1998, and the Hoosiers won the second game ever in the building eight days later. They haven't won since.  

Here are all the details on the losing streak since 1998.

Bob Knight (0-1)

• March 5, 2000: Wisconsin 56, Indiana 53

Mike Davis (0-5)

• Jan. 4, 2001: Wisconsin 49, Indiana 46
• Feb. 15, 2003: Wisconsin 71, Indiana 59
• Jan. 6, 2004: Wisconsin 79, Indiana 45
• March 1, 2005: Wisconsin 62, Indiana 60
• Feb. 8, 2006: Wisconsin 65, Indiana 60

Kelvin Sampson (0-1)

• Jan. 31, 2008: Wisconsin 62, Indiana 49

Tom Crean (0-8)

• March 8, 2009: Wisconsin 85, Indiana 61
• Feb. 13, 2010: Wisconsin 83, Indiana 55
• Jan. 20, 2011: Wisconsin 69, Indiana 60
• Jan. 26, 2012: Wisconsin 65, Indiana 60
• Feb. 25, 2014: Wisconsin 69, Indiana 58
• Feb. 3, 2015: Wisconsin 92, Indiana 78
• Jan. 26, 2016: Wisconsin 82, Indiana 79 OT
• Feb. 5, 2017: Wisconsin 65, Indiana 60

Archie Miller (0-3)

• Jan. 2, 2018: Wisconsin 71, Indiana 61
• Dec. 7, 2019: Wisconsin 84, Indiana 64
• Jan. 7, 2021: Wisconsin 80, Indiana 73, 2 OT

Mike Woodson (0-1)

• Dec. 8, 2021: Wisconsin 74, Indiana 69

There's been a few heartbreakers, too. Woodson's first team had a 22-point lead in the first half and led by 12 with eight minutes to go before stumbling down the stretch.

 Indiana had a lead late in Archie Miller's final season in 2021 before letting it slip away, and then losing in double overtime. Tyler Wahl, who's still at Wisconsin, hit three three-points in the extra final period. Crean lost an overtime game in 2016, too.

What's odd about this Wisconsin run is that it used to be the other way around. The Hoosiers dominated this series for years. I was just teasing about blaming Knight for this streak, of course. From 1972 to 1998, Knight was an amazing 45-4 against Wisconsin — and that included a 23-3 mark in Madison.

Since then, it's 0-19. Can you imagine?

Wisconsin basketball just wasn't very good during the 29-year Knight era. They won the third-ever NCAA basketball tournament in 1941 — the year after Indiana got its first title in 1940 — but then it took them another 59 years to reach a Final Four. They've been three times since, in 2000, 2014 and 2015. Dick Bennett did the rebuild, and Bo Ryan took it to another level. He was the first Badgers coach to retire with a winning record in the Big Ten since 1934.  

Greg Gard has done a lot of good things since 2015, too. Indiana? Not so much.

When Indiana started to flounder after Knight's departure, it's fair to say that Wisconsin had filled that void as one of the league's best teams. They've been in every NCAA Tournament but one (2018) since 2000 and has been to the Sweet 16 a whopping 10 times since then. They've been Big Ten champions six times since 2000 and also have won the Big Ten Tournament three times.

In that same window since 2000, Indiana has been to just one Final Four (2002), has only four Sweet Sixteen appears, only three Big Ten titles and no Big Ten Tournament titles. 

Advantage Wisconsin, by a long shot.

The Badgers have a decided edge this year, too. They've got a lot of veterans in senior Tyler Wahl and juniors Chucky Hepburn and Steven Crowl, who've only played 85 games together.

They also have a standout transfer in sophomore AJ Storr, who played his freshman year at St. John's. The 6-foot-7 guard from Rockford, Ill. is leading Wisconsin in scoring, averaging 15.2 points per game. He's scored in double figures in every game but two, and has scored 22 or more four times, including in Tuesday's 87-83 loss at Penn State, when he had 23. His season high is 29 against Chicago State.

The road has already been tough for the Hoosiers this year. After winning their first Big Ten road game at Michigan, they played horrible in losses at Nebraska and Rutgers. They had 19 turnovers at Nebraska and 18 at Rutgers.

They can't do that against Wisconsin, because it's just a fact that Wisconsin plays clean ball. They're in the top-25 or so nationally every year in turnovers.

The Hoosiers can't be sloppy Friday night, or it'll be 20 in a row. 

With plenty more blame to go around.     

Related stories on Indiana-Wisconsin

• HOOSIERS' LAST LOSS IN MADISON: Indiana had a big lead and looked primed to end a 23-year losing streak at Wisconsin, but everything that could go wrong did in the second half, and Wisconsin stole a 64-59 victory on Dec. 9, 2021 at the Kohl Center. This was Tom Brew's game story from that night. CLICK HERE 
• MEET THE OPPONENT: Wisconsin returns most of its team from last season that missed the NCAA Tournament, but coach Greg Gard made one of the most impactful transfer portal additions, landing St. John's guard AJ Storr. With a veteran team, plus the addition of Storr, Wisconsin is first in the Big Ten standings. Here's a full breakdown of Indiana's Friday opponent, the Wisconsin Badgers. CLICK HERE
• TOM BREW COLUMN: Indiana got blown out at home by No. 2-ranked Purdue on Tuesday night, and a lot of the struggles happened when Mike Woodson kept standout players Mackenzie Mgbako and Kel'el Ware on the bench for too long in the first half. It's a bad trend that has to stop if Indiana wants to hang with the premier teams on their schedule. CLICK HERE
• INDIANA-PURDUE GAME STORY: No. 2 Purdue was able to do as it pleased early against Indiana on Tuesday night, building a big lead and then holding off a few Hoosiers rallies to win 87-66. It was their first win in Bloomington since 2021. CLICK HERE
• PHOTO GALLERY: The No. 2-ranked Purdue Boilermakers proved way too much for the Indiana Hoosiers on Tuesday night, beating them 87-66. Here are the best pictures from the game. CLICK HERE
• WHAT MIKE WOODSON SAID: Indiana dug itself a deep hole trying to defend Purdue center Zach Edey on Tuesday night, and all that foul trouble helped Purdue cruise to an easy 87-66 win. Here's what Indiana coach Mike Woodson said to the media after the game, with complete video and a full transcript. CLICK HERE
• WHAT MATT PAINTER SAID: Here's the full transcript and video of Purdue coach Matt Painter's postgame press conference after the Boilermakers' 87-66 win at Indiana. CLICK HERE