Badgers Fall Apart In Second Half To End Season With Loss

KANSAS CITY, Mo.- I feel like I have used this headline before, perhaps several times. Yes, once again Wisconsin (23-12) found itself unable to score down the stretch and watched as Mississippi (27-8) finished on a 27-10 run over the final 11:35 to pull off a 57-46 upset in the 2^nd round of the NCAA Tournament.

Despite once again struggling from the floor, the Badgers had this game in hand. After freshman forward Sam Dekker picked up a steal and a layup, Wisconsin had equaled its largest lead of the game at 36-30 with just 11:49 remaining. But on the ensuing Rebel possession, Dekker was charged with his 2^nd foul trying to chase Ole Miss junior guard Marshall Henderson off a screen. After the media timeout that followed, Dekker was removed from the game and Ole Miss responded with a quick 10-3 run before Dekker was put back into the game with 7:51 remaining. At that time, Wisconsin now trailed 40-39 and would never get back to even.

“They didn’t handle the physicality in the last 5-7 minutes,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “To me it seemed like the game changed and our guys didn’t react as well as they did.”

Henderson, a media sensation thanks to some on-court and off-court antics, finished with 19 points, just shy of his 20 point average. However, it took him 21 shots in order to get his point total. Henderson did, however, finish by making 5 of his final 8 shots after missing 12 in a row during the middle of the game. His consecutive threes after the Dekker foul got Mississippi rolling and from there, the Rebels would never look back.

“Because we let them hang around they were able to make a run,” junior guard Ben Brust said. “They are a team that is capable of doing that and they did it.”

But Friday was more about the dismal Badger effort than it was a breakout performance from the SEC Tournament champions. Wisconsin finished the game just 15-of-59 from the field (25.4%) and 7-of-30 (23.3%) from three-point range.

“Its not a team that really shot the ball well all year,” Ryan said. “And it happened again.”

Despite a shaky first half that saw UW turn the ball over 8 times and shoot just 30%, Wisconsin had several opportunities to blow the game open early in the second half. The Badgers had four different chances to score with a 6-point lead, coming up empty each time and leaving the door open for Henderson to lead the Rebels on the game-winning run.

“We had looks, we had the chances to pull away from this team…” Dekker said. “With a good team like that things will spiral away from you.”

Despite Wisconsin having reached the Sweet 16 in the two years prior to Friday’s defeat, many will point to the result as proof that Ryan’s system of so-called “Wisconsin basketball” simply isn’t good enough to succeed in the NCAA Tournament. But Friday was not Wisconsin basketball on display. The Badgers turned the ball over 11 times and allowed 11 second chance points, none bigger than the three Henderson was able to knock down to tie the game at 36 with 9:45 remaining.

Beyond the missed shots and turnovers, Wisconsin was getting out hustled down the stretch. The Badgers were unable to finish off defensive stops and allowed Mississippi to impose its will inside the paint, finishing with a 30-16 advantage inside.

“They just out-worked us there the last eight to nine minutes,” Dekker said. “We didn’t know how to handle it.”

This was an upset loss in the making for Wisconsin. Although the Badgers were the trendy pick to make a deep run through the West Region, UW had yet to find an answer for its all-too-common offensive woes. Beyond finding itself unable to score for long stretches throughout the season, Wisconsin had not taken care of the ball the way Badger teams usually do, finishing the Big Ten regular season minus-9 in turnovers just two years after nearly setting an NCAA record for assist-to-turnover ratio. Those turnovers ultimately led to an early exit from the NCAA Tournament and yet another disappointing end to what could have been a memorable season.

“At the end of the year you would think those things have been corrected…” Dekker said. “There are peaks and valleys to a basketball season. We hit one of those valleys today.”

Badgers Fade Down Stretch of Title Game Loss

CHICAGO- Storybook endings are nice but in the world of sports, they rarely come to fruition. After three games against top-10 competition this weekend in Chicago, the slipper finally fell off of Cinderella’s foot as No. 22 Wisconsin (23-11) went without a field goal over the final 7:03 that turned a 41-39 lead into a 50-43 loss at the hands of No. 10 Ohio State (26-7).

“If someone had told me you’d get Michigan, Ohio State, and Indiana and we’ll give you two out of three, I think I’d take it,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “But you always want that last one.”

For most of the afternoon, it looked like UW might have enough in the tank to finish its surprising run in Chicago with a Big Ten Tournament title. The Badgers recovered from a sluggish start and went on an 18-2 run during the middle part of the 1^st half to turn a 13-6 deficit into a 24-15 lead with just 3:20 left before halftime. But as has been a trend of late with UW, the offensive sputtered into the locker room, allowing OSU to close within one on the strength of an 8-0 run.

“We didn’t need to let them get some confidence going into halftime,” junior guard Ben Brust said. “I think that’s what we did a better job of the past two games; of us having the momentum and not the other team.”

Though Ohio State would regain the lead on the opening possession of the 2^nd half, Wisconsin continued to hang tough. After 6 ties and 9 lead changes, the Badgers held a 41-39 lead when freshman forward Sam Dekker finished off a feed from fellow freshman George Marshall with just 7:03 left in the game.

But just 19 seconds later OSU junior forward DeShaun Thomas would tie the game at 41 with two free throws. After junior guard Aaron Craft went coast-to-coast off a turnover on the next possession, UW was in a two-point hole and Ohio State was on its way to an 8-0 run with Wisconsin’s hopes of a first Big Ten title since 2008 quickly fading away.

“They outworked us in the second half,” Dekker said. “They made looks difficult for us and we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities we had to make a comeback at the end.”

The shots that had been falling against Indiana and Michigan simply weren’t going down on Sunday. The Badgers finished the game just 3-of-18 from three-point range and managed to shoot just 38% from the field overall. More importantly, Wisconsin failed to establish a presence in the post. With the Buckeyes converting for 30 points in the paint, UW managed just 22, this lack of an inside presence ultimately proved to be the difference.

“They are a good defensive team but we should have done a better job of finding our bigs,” junior guard Ben Brust said. “We just couldn’t find a good enough flow offensively.”

Although UW was able to hold Thomas to just 17 points on 6-of-19 shooting (0-for-6 from three-point range), the Badgers couldn’t complete enough stops to get the win while the offense was sputtering. Ohio State scored 13 of its 50 points on 2^nd chance opportunities, with Wisconsin managing just four points on five offensive rebounds.

“We didn’t take care of some stuff on the defensive end, especially rebounding…” senior forward Mike Bruesewitz said. “They had 13 2^nd chance points and that was the difference in the game because we only had two.”

The Buckeyes have been searching for a second scorer all year and on Sunday they found one in sophomore forward LaQuinton Ross. The Jackson, Miss. native stepped up in the second half to rescue a struggling OSU offense with seven points, all in the second half, and four rebounds in just 19 minutes of play. Ross hit Ohio State’s only three-point shot and converted a pivotal shot inside off a miss by Thomas that put the Buckeyes up four and gave senior forward Ryan Evans his fourth foul with just 4:31 left.

“He was the major X factor, especially the last four or five minutes…” Bruesewitz said. “He definitely came to play and stepped up. He was the difference in the game.”

With the chance for a conference title now in the rear view mirror, Wisconsin must quickly shift focus to the NCAA Tournament and a second-round matchup Friday with 12^th seeded Ole Miss, the SEC Tournament champions.

“They beat a team that crushed us earlier in the year…” Ryan said. “Ole Miss has shown they can do quite a few things.”

After a grueling weekend featuring three games in three days against top-10 competition, the Badgers are fortunate to have a Friday matchup and a solid four days to rest and prepare for a difficult draw. Beyond the Rebels lies a potential third-round rematch with 4-seed and hometown favorite Kansas State, now coached by former Illinois head coach Bruce Weber.

“We know we will have our hands full…” senior forward Jared Berggren said. “It’s a whole new ballgame so we’ll see what happens.”

Badgers Ride Second Half Turnaround to Victory over Michigan

CHICAGO- Normally when you make just four of your first 28 shots against the 6^th ranked team in the country you are going to finish on the losing end. But if there is one thing we have learned about the 2012-2013 edition of Wisconsin men’s basketball, it is that they are anything but normal. Despite scoring just 17 points in the first half, the Ke$ha-loving Badgers (22-10) found a second gear after halftime and put up 51 points over the final 20 minutes en route to a 68-59 victory over No. 6 Michigan.

Coming off arguably their worst three-game stretch of the season, the Badgers looked destined for yet another lopsided defeat when the Wolverines (26-7) jumped out to a 16-6 lead with 7:10 left in the first half. But after just three field goals over the first 13-plus minutes, UW finally showed signs of life during the closing stretch of the half. During a period the Badgers have struggled in as of late, they embarked on an 11-4 run to pull within 3 at the halftime break, capped off by a last-second three from sophomore Traevon Jackson.

“That was definitely big for us,” senior forward Jared Berggren said of Jackson’s shot. “I think he blew the lid off the thing then and we carried it into the second half.”

After struggling to get into anything resembling an offensive rhythm since a win over Nebraska back on February 26, the Badgers finally made a conscientious effort to work the ball inside as the second half got underway. Although Berggren was unable to find the basket on three short looks during UW’s first two possessions out of the break, Wisconsin continued to feed the ball inside until it finally began to pay off. While he finished just 4-of-12 from the field, senior forward Ryan Evans was a key component to the Badgers’ offensive explosion, taking advantage of a mismatch inside while being guarded by Michigan freshman forward Glenn Robinson III.

“Whenever you can get good looks its going to be easier to put the ball in the hoop,” freshman forward Sam Dekker said. “To start the second half we got it inside into Ryan and he made some good plays and good kick outs and that really got us going.”

As Wisconsin began to establish a post presence with Evans and Berggren, its perimeter shooting finally began to turn around. After shooting just 17.2% from the field in the first half, the Badgers exploded to the tune of 60.7% over the final 20 minutes, including a 6-for-9 effort from three-point range.

“Ryan Evans and Jared Berggren got on the block and made some plays for us,” senior forward Mike Bruesewitz said. “Not only finishing around the bucket but then kicking it out and hitting guys stepping into open threes.”

Bruesewitz was a key part of that turnaround in the second half. After hitting on just 5 of his last 34 attempts from three point range, Bruesewitz knocked down two huge threes in the second half that helped cushion the Wisconsin lead and keep momentum firmly on the Badgers’ side. The St Paul, Minn native finished with 8 points and 8 rebounds in 30 minutes of play, his best performance in a long stretch of time.

“I love when Mikey’s making shots because when he is making shots his energy is double what it already is…” junior guard Ben Brust said. “Whenever he gets going it helps us as a team.”

On the strength of that early barrage from three-point range, UW built a 56-45 lead as Michigan called a timeout with just 5:53 left. Out of the timeout, Berggren picked up his fourth foul and was forced to the bench in favor of sophomore forward Frank Kaminsky. With Berggren on the bench, Michigan embarked on a 9-10 run to pull within two as the Badgers called a timeout of their own with 3:35 on the game clock.

After Jackson missed a long jumper, Brust was able to keep possession in UW hands by establishing position underneath and forcing a foul on Michigan’s Spike Albrecht. Out of the media timeout, Wisconsin looked flustered, eventually leaving the ball in Kaminsky’s hands with the shot clock running down. After a near-turnover, Kaminsky was able to get into the lane and found an opening, the shot benefitting from a soft bounce on the rim before falling through the net for undoubtedly the biggest two points of the game.

“He showed up,” Brusewitz said. “In tournament games its always that one guy who comes to play that you don’t expect.”

Kaminsky’s shot marked the final time Michigan would threaten the lead as the Badgers finished the game on a 13-5 run following the last media timeout. The Lisle, Ill. native finished with 8 points and 2 rebounds in his homecoming, providing the Badgers with the boost they needed with Berggren on the bench.

With Michigan now in the rearview mirror, the Badgers have a quick turnaround before they face No. 3 Indiana at 12:40 Saturday afternoon. Though UW has beaten Indiana in 11 straight contests, the Hoosiers are a consensus number one seed in the NCAA Tournament and, as Big Ten regular season champions, will enter the game as heavy favorites.

But this is a Wisconsin team that throughout the season has shown an ability to make possible the seemingly impossible. Having put a late season slide behind them, the Badgers are certainly ready for the challenge.

“I think we grew up a lot today…” Dekker said. “When you feel what its like to taste victory it makes you so much more confident.”

If Wisconsin is able to maintain that confidence throughout the 40 minutes of action tomorrow, we may just have a Big Ten Tournament final matchup that no one expected to see.

Badgers Will Need This Jackson To Make Postseason Run

Ill be the first to admit that I have been hard on Wisconsin sophomore guard Traevon Jackson. Perhaps unfairly putting him up against the standard of former Badger Jordan Taylor, I have come to expect a level of consistency that simply isn’t reasonable for a sophomore in his first year as a starter. Though it took me a while, I have finally come to realize that as Jackson goes, so go the Badgers.

When his game-winning three went down at the buzzer on Sunday to send Wisconsin into the postseason with a road win in State College, I found myself surprisingly unemotional. I had been a harsh critic of the young guard’s play not just in past games but throughout the Penn State game as well. Having seen Wisconsin play for the past two years under the direction of arguably the game’s most consistent guard in Taylor, I had a tough time accepting Jackson’s inconsistencies as simply part of the growing process. So while his third clutch shot in the waning minutes this season gave the Badgers a much needed win, I was worried that it would once again be followed by a dismal effort filled more with poor shot selection and turnovers than with good floor vision and clutch shot-making.

Such has been the trend this season. After hitting a last-second jumper to give UW a win over Minnesota back in January, Jackson struggled down the stretch three days later in Columbus, committing two big turnovers late with the Badgers trying to hang in and steal a road victory over OSU. Days after another clutch shot, this time in UW’s 2OT win over Iowa, Jackson committed five turnovers in Wisconsin’s upset win over Michigan and four in the overtime loss at Minnesota. Every time it seemed the sophomore had turned a corner, he took a major step back.

Such was the reason for my emotionally charged negativity in the wake of Sunday’s game-winner. Jackson has hit big shots before and with the postseason starting this week, Wisconsin cannot afford him to continue the trend of following big shots with disappointing efforts.

But my response was over the top and unwarranted. Jackson is still in his first year as a starter and while the growing pains have been obvious, he has been a big part of Wisconsin’s surprising 12-6 finish in Big Ten play. Though subject to the aforementioned inconsistency, Jackson has indeed provided the Badgers with far more than his alternative, redshirt freshman George Marshall. As much as I have called for Marshall to see more of the floor, it is now apparent that Jackson has the confidence necessary to play the point guard position, something Marshall has thus far seemed to lack.

As Jackson goes, so will Wisconsin. When the point guard is on his game, as he was for the most part down the stretch in State College, Wisconsin is one of the best teams in the country. When Jackson struggles, the Badgers have a tough time getting the ball into the basket no matter how they are shooting the ball.

Would I feel more confident with Josh Gasser or Jordan Taylor manning the point? Certainly. But the reality I have been thus far unable to overlook is that neither of those options is going to be available this season. Jordan Taylor doesn’t have any remaining eligibility and Josh Gasser’s torn ACL is not going to miraculously disappear in the all-important final weeks of March. Traevon Jackson is going to be Wisconsin’s point guard during the Big Ten Tournament and during the NCAA Tournament to follow.

He isn’t perfect and he certainly isn’t polished. But Traevon Jackson has something his teammates seem to lack: confidence in the clutch. Though prone to the careless turnover or missed step defensively, Jackson is more than willing to put the game on his shoulders when it matters most, a trait that will certainly come in handy in the “win or go home” environment of postseason play. As both a fan and a writer, I have failed to give this trait its due, instead hoping that somehow the sophomore guard would morph into the archetype of consistency that his predecessor was while at Wisconsin.

Traevon Jackson gives Wisconsin its best chance to make a March run and it is about time critics such as myself come to that realization and give Jackson his due.