Whatever Saturday’s border battle lacked in beauty was
certainly made up for in drama as it was a missed free throw with 1.7 seconds
left that ultimately proved to be the difference in a 45-44 Wisconsin victory.
Both teams entered play struggling on the offensive end of
the floor, with both the Gophers (3-4 Big Ten, 15-5 Overall) and Badgers
failing to reach the 50-point mark in midweek losses. So when the scoreboard
read 43-43 as Wisconsin took possession with 39.1 seconds left, very few in the
Kohl Center crowd were surprised.
More surprising perhaps was the Wisconsin response. After
nailing a cold-blooded jumper with 1:03 left to tie the game, sophomore guard
Traevon Jackson got a friendly roll on another short jumper, barely beating the
shot clock to give UW a two-point lead with less than four seconds left.
“He shot-faked and we jumped out the way. Once again, a
mistake…” Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith said. “That’s a recipe for getting a
loss.”
A Minnesota timeout eventually gave the Gophers possession
at half-court with 1.8 seconds left on the clock and after a lob pass intended
for senior forward Trevor Mbakwe resulted in a foul call against UW forward
Mike Bruesewitz, the game came down to a pair of free throws.
With Mbakwe injured on the play, Wisconsin chose Williams to
shoot the free throws in his place. After making the first with ease, the
Minneapolis native was too strong on the final attempt and a Badger rebound
brought the slugfest to its conclusion.
Having already given up three points at the free throw line
in the final 1.2 seconds of the first half, Wisconsin had to be dealing with
flashbacks when the whistle blew. UW had regained a three-point lead on the
strength of a 15-2 run and took possession out of bounds, handing the ball back
to the Gophers on an errant inbound pass by freshman Sam Dekker and then
watching fellow freshman George Marshall foul a three-point shooter.
“A freshman throws that pass and then a freshman fouls a
three-point shooter…” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “How about that for a turn of
events at the end of the half.”
Both teams were clearly on the brink heading into Saturday’s
game. After a big win last week at Indiana, UW had dropped two straight to Iowa
and Michigan State while Minnesota’s slide hit three games after a 55-48 loss
at Northwestern on Wednesday.
“We’ve had three chances now to break it…” Smith said. “We
just haven’t stepped up to the plate.”
Fortunately for Wisconsin, Jackson did step up to the place.
Having come through a stretch of two-plus games shooting just 5-of-26 from the
field, fans had to, understandably, cringe when Jackson lifted to shoot on each
of his two jumpers down the stretch. Struggling or not, Jackson took each shot
without any doubts, showing a confidence Wisconsin seemed to be sorely
lacking.
“People that have the mindset of being a competitor, there
isn’t any other thought process…” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “When you are
presented with the moment, there can’t be any doubts.”
Another player who had little doubt on the floor was
Minnesota guard Andre Hollins. The Memphis, Tenn. native lit up the Badgers for
20 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Hollins went on a personal 7-0 second half run
to grab a two-point lead out of what had been a five point Wisconsin advantage.
“He got a lot of his points off screens…” Jackson said of
Hollins. “When a guy is doing that, you cant really do too much.”
Seniors Bruesewitz and Jared Berggren, Wisconsin’s two
Minnesota-born starters, struggled all afternoon. Bruesewitz fouled out without
a point for the first time since last year’s Big Ten Tournament while Berggren
managed just two points on 1-of-7 shooting..
Senior Ryan Evans led a chorus of Badgers who stepped up in
the absence of the two big men. Despite three turnovers and continuing to
struggle at the free throw, Evans did everything he could to do the “little
things” needed to come away with a victory, adding 3 assists, 8 rebounds, a
block, and a steal to his 10 points for the afternoon. The three assists each
came on the crucial inside-out looks UW had been struggling to find of late.
“I was pretty happy with my assists tonight…” Evans said.
“That opens up so much more for us on the inside.”
Though the Badgers still shot just 37% from the field
Saturday, they did enough off the ball to come away with a win, capped off with
a crucial charge taken by junior Ben Brust in the game’s penultimate
possession.
“That was very good footwork, very good awareness and he
deserves a lot of credit for making a play…” Ryan said. “He made a play that
helped us get that ballgame on the left hand side. That was a huge charge to
draw.”
With road games at Ohio State and Illinois awaiting them in
the next week, Wisconsin simply could not afford to lose a 2nd straight at the
Kohl Center to remain in contention for a Big Ten title.
“This was a must-win game, “ Jackson said. “You have to take
care of home court when you get a chance.”
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