IU Basks In Upset's Thrill

Did you see the celebration? Did you live vicariously with the students rushing the Assembly Hall floor in the aftermath of IU’s tough-as-nails 71-66 victory over No. 2 Wisconsin?

Of course you did. Just don’t expect Badgers coach Bo Ryan to join you.

“We’d rather not have that happen,” he said about the thousands of students that rushed the court in the aftermath, “but since we took it on the chin, we have to take what comes with it.”

What Wisconsin took was the end of its 17-game winning streak and Big Ten lead. Now it shares first with Ohio State, with IU just a game behind.

The Hoosiers won the way you’d expect them to win -- with offense-wrecking defense, with rebounding, with tough-minded play and some big-time shot making from A.J. Ratliff and D.J. White. They beat the Big Ten’s toughest team at their own game and now we’ll see if they are disciplined enough and focused enough to follow this up by winning at Iowa on Saturday.

“We’ll move on from here,” Sampson said, “but that just wasn’t a No. 2 team. Wisconsin is hard to beat. They’re just a monster to play against.”

IU slayed that monster. For the moment, that’s enough.