I am sure the Wisconsin Badgers fans were keeping track of what was happening in Minneapolis. A win against lowly Nebraska coupled with a Minnesota win over No. 1 and Big Ten leading Indiana would put the Badgers just a game back of the Hoosiers with three games to play. Minnesota held on and knocked off No. 1 77-73 to help the Badgers' chances.
Wisconsin then needed to go and dominate the Cornhuskers. And dominate it did. Nebraska kept the game close and actually led 12-11 with seven minutes gone in the game. But then the Badgers took command, going on a 24-2 run to run away with the game. Sam Dekker made three 3-pointers in that run and finished with 19 points, tying a career high. After a run by Nebraska, Wisconsin answered back with a 9-0 run to take a 44-23 lead into halftime.
The second half started as well as the first half ended, as Wisconsin rolled on with a 20-3 run to start the half, starting and ending with dunks. The first one was off a steal and 6-1 guard Ben Brust threw it down with the right hand on the fast break.
Wisconsin was never challenged and moved to within a game of first place with an impressive 77-46 beat down of Nebraska.
Even before that, the Green Bay Phoenix was in need of a win to try to win a first round bye as a No. 3 seed. With the help of 7-1 center Alec Brown, Green Bay put away Milwaukee. Brown scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the Phoenix rolled on with a 78-61 victory. That win by Green Bay coupled with a UIC 60-55 victory over Wright State sets up a big showdown Saturday afternoon at the Resch Center against league-leading Valparaiso. If the Phoenix wins or Youngstown State beats Wright State, Green Bay earns the No. 3 seed, but if Green Bay loses and Wright State wins, Green Bay will get No. 4.
After a double digit first half lead for Green Bay was cut to just six at halftime, the Panthers carried the momentum into the second half, cutting it down to just three. But Sultan Muhammad scored the next five points to put the Phoenix back up eight and it never looked back. Green Bay's lead eventually ballooned to 20 before winning by 17. In addition to Brown's 28, Greg Mays added 15 on 7-of-10 shooting. His 15 were the second most in his career, only to his 18 he put up in Detroit in January.
On to hockey, as the Wild desperately needed a victory over Calgary to keep pace in the Western Conference. It looked as though Calgary would escape with a win as it led 1-0 late in the contest. But Jason Zucker scored an equalizing goal with just more than four minutes remaining to tie the game up and send it into overtime. That set the stage for Zach Parise to score the game-winner in overtime. Parise scored his eighth career overtime goal just 27 seconds into the extra session to lift the Wild to a 2-1 much-needed overtime victory. The win put the Wild to a 10th place tie in the Western Conference standings.
The only loss from the night happened in Phoenix where the Wolves dropped another heartbreaker and for the second consecutive game, Minnesota fell by one point. It was also the second straight game Minnesota had a chance to win it at the end of regulation, but like Luke Ridnour against Golden State, Ricky Rubio was unable to knock down the buzzer beater at the end of regulation. The Wolves still had a chance to win this one in overtime, but Alexey Shved had a clean layup attempt roll off the rim with only a few seconds left and Minnesota dropped its third consecutive game. It does not get any easier tomorrow when Minnesota travels to Los Angeles to take on the Lakers, and the Timberwolves have lost 20 consecutive games to them.
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