College Basketball Week 17: 5 biggest takeaways

Big Ten: Can Wisconsin get out of its funk?

Wisconsin’s rough run continued this week with a 59-57 loss to Iowa on Thursday night. The Badgers led by nine points with under five minutes to play, but a collapse down the stretch capped off by a game-winning 3-pointer from Jordan Bohannon sealed the deal for the Hawkeyes. Now, ahead of Sunday night’s meeting with Minnesota, Wisconsin has lost five of its last six games as it reaches the climax of the college basketball season.

During the six-game stretch, the Badgers have been outscored by seven points per 100 possessions, per Hoop Lens, and the problem seems to be as simple as getting the ball in the basket. Since beating Nebraska in overtime, Wisconsin has a 46.5 effective field goal percentage, which is well under its season average of 51.5 percent. The Badgers have struggled from both behind the 3-point arc (30.5 percent) and inside it (46.9 percent) during the skid.

Those problems extend to the defensive end as well where Wisconsin’s opponents have been on a ridiculous hot streak from 3-point land. Over this stretch, teams have made 45.5 percent of their 3s against the Badgers. Given that 3-point percentage is largely controlled by the offense, this is possibly just a run of terrible luck for Wisconsin.

Now, though, the Badgers have to turn things around and quickly. The Big Ten conference tournament starts on Wednesday and while Wisconsin has already solidified its place in the NCAA Tournament field, an early exit wouldn’t inspire much confidence heading into the Big Dance.