WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Capital Times columnist Mike Lucas, the color analyst for radio broadcasts of Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball, delivers his thoughts on Sunday's 55-42 loss at Purdue.

In Wisconsin's last 25 Big Ten Conference games -- regular season and tournament -- dating to the start of the 2007-08 season, the Badgers have lost all three matchups with Purdue. They're 22-0 against everybody else. What gives?

Mike Lucas: I think what we saw was a continuation of some trends that started last year between these two teams as far as the matchups. (UW forward) Marcus Landry, in the three games now against Purdue (the past two seasons) is shooting 8-of-34. I don't know if he's pressing a little bit more because this was the team that his brother played for, or maybe it's just the interior defense, but he's missed a lot of close-in shots and it seems to take a toll, maybe emotionally, when you miss from close range early in a game. It may affect your confidence.

Another trend is (UW guard) Trevon Hughes. The last two games against Purdue, he was 1-of-9 from the field in Madison last year; today he's 3-of-11. He had five turnovers here today, the last two games he had seven ... so you can (see) that because he's the only player that can get dribble penetration, they want to make it tougher on him and he sometimes forces shots because the offense bogs down when you can't get post touches.

One last trend, (UW guard) Jason Bohannon. Last year, he played 28 minutes here and got two shots. Today, Jason played 28 minutes, got four shots. They put (Purdue guard) Keaton Grant on him, and it makes it very tough for Jason to get his shot, because they force him to put the ball on the floor and beat somebody, and that's something you can't do with this defense.

You look at how (UW forward) Joe Krabbenhoft did a great job guarding (Purdue guard) E'Twaun Moore -- Moore shot 1-of-12 with just four points -- but Purdue is so deep that you can't just shut down one guy. You would have thought that the way Moore destroyed Wisconsin last season, that if he was held to four points UW would be in good shape to win the game. But when Moore was limited, his teammates stepped up and filled their roles, while Wisconsin didn't do that with its top two scorers shut down. That was the difference.

Wisconsin really seemed frustrated with Purdue's defensive pressure. Is this the most UW has struggled offensively in any game this season?

Lucas: Yeah, no question. This is the best defense that they'll probably see all year. I read in the paper yesterday, (Purdue guard Chris) Kramer was saying this was a "must-win." It was reflected in their early intensity on the defensive side of the floor. They just took Wisconsin out of what it wanted to do early on.

But it's a formula that other teams have used. UConn did it to them, extend the pressure, try to take the ball out of Hughes' hands and force somebody else to make a play. Marquette did it, too.