Badgers Title Hopes Take a Hit in Minnesota

In over 100 years of basketball at Wisconsin, the Badgers had never played in three consecutive overtime games. Thursday night that streak came to a close, with UW losing a 58-53 overtime decision to rival Minnesota to snap a run of two consecutive overtime victories. Wisconsin (8-4 Big Ten, 17-8 overall) led 49-43 with free throws coming but failed to score over the final 5:08 of regulation, ultimately running their scoreless drought to 8:48 before Sam Dekker made two free throws in overtime with the game already slipping out of reach.

Once again, UW struggled to put the ball in the basket. In addition to an uncharacteristic 11 turnovers, the Badgers shot just 18-for-59 from the field (30.5%) including a 7-for-28 (25%) effort from three-point range. While Wisconsin was able to hold the Gophers to just 36.7% from the field, it was unable to overcome 7 misses at the free throw line, six coming after the six minute mark of the second half.

The inconsistent play of sophomore guard Traevon Jackson hit a low point in Minneapolis. Jackson finished with just 7 points on 3-of-14 from the field while being credited for three turnovers. The turnover figure was fairly generous, with Jackson losing possession on two other occasions before a jump ball kept the ball in UW hands.

Adding to the Badgers’ misery was the continued offensive struggles of senior forward Ryan Evans. Although he did finish with a game-high 11 rebounds, Evans once again struggled to put the ball in the basket, finishing just 2-for-8 from the field and 2-for-8 at the free throw line. During Wisconsin’s second half drought, Evans missed three consecutive free throws, any one of which would have been enough to seal a Badger victory.

Though they led for most of the game, Wisconsin did not deserve to leave Minneapolis with a victory. The Badgers allowed Minnesota (6-6, 18-7) to finish the first half on an 8-0 run over the final 2:50 and a 6-0 run over the final 5:08 of regulation. Senior forward Mike Bruesewitz opened the door by committing a baseline violation with 22.6 seconds left, erasing what appeared to be a game-winning charge taken by the Minnesota native on the previous play. Minnesota senior guard Joe Coleman was fouled by freshman Sam Dekker on the ensuing play and made both of his free throws to even the score at 49.

Wisconsin had the final look but once again came up with a terrible offensive possession, managing to get nothing more than an off-balance and contested jumper from Jackson that didn’t even catch a piece of the rim. After two more misses at the charity stripe by Evans, Minnesota sophomore guard Andre Hollins (21 points, 5 rebounds) capitalized with a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, giving the Gophers a 52-49 lead they would never relinquish.

If there was a bright spot for the Badgers, it was once again the play of freshman wing Sam Dekker. The Sheboygan native got off to a slow start but gave the Badgers a needed spark in the second half, finishing with a game-high 14 points on 3-of-7 shooting. Dekker’s back-to-back three-point shots midway through the second half turned a 39-37 deficit into a 43-41 lead that for a while looked to be enough for a 5^th-straight UW victory over the rival Gophers.

Now halfway through arguably the most important weekend of the Big Ten season, the Badgers need desperately to bounce back as they host No. 13 Ohio State on Sunday afternoon. The Buckeyes have been in the top 10 most of the season but have struggled of late, dropping two straight last week to Michigan and Indiana before nearly losing a third straight when they hosted Northwestern Thursday night.

Except for a shocking 63-60 win last February in Columbus, the Badgers have struggled since knocking off a then-undefeated Ohio State team back in 2011. After its 58-49 win in Columbus last month, OSU has now won three of four over Wisconsin. With both teams entering play at 8-4 in the Big Ten, it would be hard to overstate the importance of Sunday’s contest.

Wisconsin will have to start by keeping junior forward DeShaun Thomas at bay on the offensive end. The Fort Wayne, Ind. native torched the Badgers for 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting in the last meeting between these two teams and is leading the conference with 20.1 points per game. Outside of Thomas and junior guard Aaron Craft, Ohio State lacks much in the way of experience, giving Wisconsin a golden opportunity to get back to its winning ways in the friendly confines of the Kohl Center.

If there is one thing we know at this point in the year, Wisconsin will be playing a tight game. In addition to three consecutive overtime games, the Badgers have played four consecutive games at the Kohl Center within a single possession. Although behind the eight ball after Thursday’s loss, a fourth straight win in Madison on Sunday would keep the Badgers alive for that elusive conference title in a very competitive Big Ten race.

Badgers Overcome Deficit To Finish Tourney With A Win

After a poor defensive effort Friday night that ended with an 84-74 loss to No.14 Creighton, Wisconsin needed a bounce back effort Saturday against Arkansas to avoid heading into the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in a tailspin. Although the Badgers continued to struggle en route to a 40-29 halftime deficit, they recovered with their best half of basketball thus far this season and left Sin City with a 77-70 victory in the third-place game of the Las Vegas Invitational.

Having struggled mightily against the pressure shown by both Creighton and Florida, UW was in a tough spot facing a Razorback team that played the “fastest 40 minutes” style of their head coach, former Missouri head coach Mike Anderson. With just a day to prepare for the constant pressure Arkansas would show, the Badgers were clearly slow to adjust, committing 8 first-half turnovers that resulted in 13 Razorback points.

But as ugly as the first twenty minutes were for UW, the final twenty were a complete reversal. Sparked by two quick three-pointers that cut the Arkansas lead to just 5 less than two minutes into the half, Wisconsin erased the Razorback lead with a 16-5 run to finally tie the game with 12:18 left.

“We were frustrated at halftime,” Senior forward Mike Bruesewitz said of the locker room atmosphere at halftime. “We knew we could play better. In the second half we took care of the ball better, knocked down shots and played defense. That’s exactly what we needed to do and that’s exactly what we talked about in the locker room.”

One of the Badgers who led the charge was freshman Sam Dekker. Coming into the game averaging 10 points in just over 18 minutes, the Sheboygan native gave Wisconsin 12 big second-half points en route to a career and team-high 19 for the game.

Bruesewitz also played a key role in the turnaround. Despite spending most of the night in foul trouble, the St Paul, Minn native finished with 11 points and 9 rebounds in his best performance since an injury that left him out of practice for most of the preseason.

After UW made its initial run, the lead would change hands a total of 6 times (including ties) before the Badgers finally took control on a three-point play by Dekker off an explosive back cut and a perfect feed from senior center Jared Berggren. When the subsequent free throw was made by the freshman, Wisconsin had a 61-58 lead they would not relinquish over the final 5:56.

“We were hungry,” Bruesewitz added. “We were in the same position last night with six or seven minutes left and didn’t get it done. Tonight we did.”

One of the reasons the Badgers were finally able to close this game out was an improvement at the free throw line. After starting the game 8-for-19 from the charity stripe, UW finished strong by making 17 of their final 19 attempts in the second half.

More importantly, however, UW executed in the second half far better than they had in their previous five periods against major conference opponents.

“There was nothing said in that locker room at halftime that wasn’t said before the game,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “The guys just executed better and stuck to our plan.”

Having successfully avoided the possibility of a losing skid, UW now must turn its attention toward building the type of momentum that only winning can provide. With Virginia and California set to visit the Kohl Center this week and a trip to Marquette just a week later, the Badgers need to continue executing on that game plan in order to build that momentum in one of the toughest stretches of non-conference play Wisconsin has seen in some time. 

-uwbadgers.com contributed to this report