Honorable mention:
Rob Wilson career day
vs. Indiana (2013)
Wisconsin comes back to
beat Oregon (2014)
Badgers win at No. 2
Maryland (2016)
Wisconsin upsets No. 6
Purdue (2018)
Badgers beat Michigan
State (2016)
Wisconsin knocks off
undefeated Michigan (2019)
10. Captain Clutch Does
it Again (2014)
Throughout his career,
Wisconsin point guard Traevon Jackson had shown the ability to hit big-time
shots when needed. In his two years, he hit game-winning jumpers against
Minnesota and Penn State, along with sealing the game earlier in the 2013-14
season against Florida. He also hit a big 3-pointer down the stretch to send a
game against Iowa into overtime. In the 2013-14 season, the Badgers started out
on fire, winning their first 16 games, a school-record to start a season and
were ranked No. 3. However, that gave way to a stretch in which they lost five
of six to fall out of the top 25. Their defense was awful in those losses, and
Bo Ryan was looking for answers.
With the Badgers at 17-5
and 4-5 in Big Ten play and looking outside the top 25, on the Wisconsin Scout
message board, there was a thread of predicting how many the team would win in
the next five: at Illinois, vs. Michigan State, vs. Minnesota, at Michigan, at
Iowa. Even the most optimistic fans said four, but most people said two or
three. Some even said one or none. Well, Wisconsin would at least win one with
a 75-63 win in Champaign. That would set the stage for a matchup against No. 9
Michigan State at the Kohl Center.
Michigan State was 20-3,
but had lost two of its last four, including a loss to a mediocre Georgetown
team at Madison Square Garden. It was a rock fight throughout the first half,
with the game within one possession the first 18 and a half minutes of the
contest. Following a layup by Alvin Ellis III to put MSU in front 22-19 with
6:51 remaining in the opening 20 minutes, the stifling Wisconsin defense held
the Spartans scoreless the remainder of the half and scored the final 11 points
to take a 30-22 advantage into the locker room.
But you knew the
Spartans wouldn’t lay down, and they came out firing to start the second half.
MSU made five of its first seven shots of the second half to cut it to 35-33.
Wisconsin answered the Spartans run with a run of its own, running off eight
straight to put Bucky up by 10. In a half of runs, MSU fought back to cut it to
two. In an entertaining game, the Badgers could not quite deliver the knockout
punch. They were on the verge of running away with it a number of times, but
the Spartans always came back. Kaminsky hit what many thought would finally be
the dagger, as he hit a triple to put Bucky up by five with 30 seconds to play.
But back-to-back buckets, including a 3-pointer by Adreian Payne, tied it up at
58, with a Ben Brust missed free throw in between. Wisconsin was on the verge
of a huge win, but now it needed a big shot to stop the bleeding. Bo Ryan
called on their point guard.
Jackson took the
inbounds pass and dribbled up the court, and found a spot on the left wing and
rose for a shot over MSU’s Gary Harris.....and he buried it! Michigan State had
one shot left, and passed it to Travis Trice, the brother of current Wisconsin
point guard D’Mitrik Trice. Travis launched it from halfcourt, but it hit the
rim and bounced out, and the Badgers had their season-changing win.
Going back to that
five-game stretch discussed on the message board, not one person said they win
all five....but that is exactly what Wisconsin did. The victory against the
Spartans catapulted them through the rest of the season, as they went through
that tough stretch 5-0 en route to an eight-game winning streak before falling
in the regular season finale at Nebraska.
9. The Arrival of Frank
the Tank (2013)
Going into the 2013-14
season, no one knew what to expect from the front court. Gone were Jared
Berggren, Ryan Evans and Mike Bruesewitz, and people knew Sam Dekker was going
to fill the shoes of one of them, and while people knew Frank Kaminsky was going
to start, he had not shown much promise in his first two years. He scored 19
points in a win at Illinois, but his only other double digit scoring outputs
were in blowouts against poor competition. Needless to say, Kaminsky needed to
step up in a big way. In the first three games of the 2013-14 season, he scored
a combined 26 points, but was coming off a 16-point effort against a Green Bay
team that would go 24-5 in the regular season and win the Horizon League. That
brings us to the fourth game of the season, against North Dakota. That game
would put No. 44 on the map.
Wisconsin was 3-0
against three quality opponents, so most people thought this one against North
Dakota would be a pushover. Troy Huff and UND had other ideas. There were early
signs that this would be a legendary evening for the Wisconsin big man.
Kaminsky made all seven shots in the first half, leading to 21 first half
points and a 55-45 lead. Frank made his first eight of the night before missing
his first one. Amazingly, the Badgers junior wasn’t even the leading scorer in
the first half. Huff poured in 26 of UND’s 45 first half points.
Second half was more of
the same. He started off with a 3-pointer, one of his six on the night. He was
cruising the entire night, it just seemed like the school record of 42 points
was going to go down. The record was shared by Ken Burns (Indiana, 1965) and
Michael Finley (Eastern Michigan, 1994), who both scored 42 in losses. He had
41 with six minutes remaining, but Bo Ryan kept taking him out and putting him
back in. Finally, he told Kaminsky he had one more chance. Frank took full
advantage, as he drove into the lane and was able to lay it in to set the
record. It was one of those nights for Frank the Tank, and it started his path
to becoming a superstar. Kaminsky scored 43 on an incredible 16-of-19 shooting.
He out-dueled Huff of UND, who scored 37 of his own. He wouldn’t stop here,
though, as his strong played helped earn him first team All-Conference honors.
8. Down goes the
defending champs (2017)
Following the terrific
ending to the 2015-16 season and with Wisconsin returning every major
contributor, the expectations were high for the 2016-17 Badgers, as they were
ranked in the preseason top 10. Like the prior season, this road would be bumpy
as well. The Badgers started the season at 21-3, but had to win three
conference overtime games, including against lowly Rutgers and Nebraska. The
wheels seemingly fell off when No. 7 Wisconsin lost at home to Northwestern, as
it started a skid for the Badgers where they lost five of six, including the
home loss to Northwestern, as well as home defeat against Iowa. They did
rebound to defeat Minnesota in the regular season finale to secure a double bye
in the Big Ten Tournament. Wisconsin lost in the Big Ten Tournament title game
after defeating Indiana and Northwestern. But shockingly, the Badgers were just
given a No. 8 seed from the selection committee. Not only that, but
Minnesota......yes, Minnesota, received a No. 5 seed. In case you were unaware,
Wisconsin swept Minnesota during the regular season, finished with a better
record than, both in conference and overall, as well as went further than in
the Big Ten Tournament. Not only that, but the Gophers got to play in
Milwaukee. I guess Wisconsin had to take it out on Virginia Tech and Villanova.
After a thrilling 80-70
victory over Virginia Tech, the Badgers set their sights on defending champion
Villanova. This was a trendy upset pick due to Wisconsin being one of the best
No. 8 seeds in recent memory, even though the Wildcats were the No. 1 overall
seed. Wisconsin jumped out to a 9-3 lead and let throughout much of the first
half and took a 31-27 advantage into the locker room. The game would remain
close throughout the rest of the game.
The defending champs
would come back to take the lead on a layup by Kris Jenkins with less than 13
minutes remaining in the game and would remain in front the next 10 minutes.
The lead would grow to 57-50 on a 3-pointer by Donte DiVincenzo, but Wisconsin
would clamp down defensively the final five minutes, only allowing six points.
The Badgers went on a 7-0 run and tied it up when Hayes drove and kicked it to
Koenig for the corner triple. Wisconsin would take a 62-59 lead when Koenig hit
an off balance 3-pointer off an inbounds with the shot clock winding down.
However, the defending champs would not go away, as the Cats scored the next
three points to tie it up. The Badgers had a chance for the win with 20 seconds
left.
Wisconsin went to Hayes,
one of its seniors, to send the team to New York City. Hayes received the ball
from Koenig with 17 seconds left, and went to work. He used a hesitation move
on Villanova sophomore Mikal Bridges, and scored on a reverse layup to give the
Badgers the two-point advantage. Wisconsin needed one stop. That stop came from
an unlikely source: Vitto Brown. The senior made one of the biggest plays of
the game, as he reached in on a drive by Josh Hart and knocked the ball away
and Brown came away with it. He made one free throw, and on the second one,
DiVincenzo rebounded the ball and was quickly doubled. He passed it to Jalen
Brunson, whose shot was nowhere close on his last-ditch heave, and Wisconsin
had its upset. It was the fourth consecutive season and sixth year out of seven
that the Badgers made it to the Sweet 16.'
7. Bronson Koenig
doesn’t care for ‘A Few Good Men’ (2016)
In the 2015-16 season,
to say Wisconsin got off to a rocky start would be an understatement. After
unveiling their National runner-up banner before the first game of the year,
the Badgers went out and lost to a Western Illinois team that would win just 10
games that season. Wisconsin would also lose at home to in-state opponents
Milwaukee and Marquette. After a random 64-49 win against Texas A&M-Corpus
Christi on Dec. 15, long-time head coach Bo Ryan abruptly retired, sending
shockwaves throughout the college basketball world. Greg Gard would be the
interim coach, but he would have his work cut out for him as Wisconsin was 7-5
and showing no signs of life.
The Badgers lost four of
their first six games under Gard, and those wins were at home against Green Bay
and Rutgers. But then came a matchup against Tom Izzo and No. 4 Michigan State.
A layup by freshman Ethan Happ beat the Spartans 77-76 and the victory turned
around their season. That win jump-started a seven game winning streak,
including another top five win, at No. 2 Maryland. Overall, the Badgers won 11
of their last 13 to earn a tie for fourth in the Big Ten and a No. 7 seed in
the NCAA Tournament. Wisconsin won in an ugly 48-43 contest in the first round
against Pittsburgh, which set the stage for a battle against No. 2 seeded
Xavier. Throughout the season, one of college basketball analyst Jon
Rothstein’s sayings was “2015-16 Xavier Muskateers: Deeper than the cast of A
Few Good Men.” That is what the Badgers were going up against.
Wisconsin jumped out to
an early nine-point advantage, but Xavier came back, outscoring Bucky 25-13 in
the final 10 minutes of the opening stanza to take a 33-30 lead into the break.
The first 10 minutes of the second half, the teams exchanged blows and the game
was tied with 9:50 remaining after a Nigel Hayes layup. However, the Muskateers
scored nine straight and were on the verge of breaking it open.
Just as the Badgers did
all year, they fought back. With the lead at six and Xavier with the ball,
Ethan Happ knocked the ball away from Jalen Reynolds into the arms of Zak
Showalter, who glided in for the layup to trim it to 59-55. Xavier was clinging
to a 61-60 lead with less than a minute to go, as Edmond Sumner drove and hit a
layup against Hayes with 31 seconds left to put the Muskateers ahead by three.
Back came Koenig, though, as he drilled a deep 3-pointer to tie it up with 11.7
seconds left.
Xavier had one last
chance, but Sumner committed a charge with Showalter drawing it. They had one
more chance. Enter Mr. Koenig once more.
He ran from left to
right to get the inbounds pass from Happ, and shot a fadeaway 3-pointer from
the right corner with Remy Abell’s hand in his face. Nothing. But. Net. It was
one of the best shots in Wisconsin history. The junior practices those shots
before games with a big’s hand in his face. That certainly helped him make this
one, as Wisconsin made its third consecutive Sweet 16 appearance.
6. A Big Ten
Championship for the ages (2015)
Many thought with a win,
the Badgers would be a No. 1 seed for the first time in program history. But
standing in their way would be their long-time nemesis, Tom Izzo and the
Michigan State Spartans. It was the eighth meeting in the conference
tournament, with the Spartans holding a 4-3 advantage. Wisconsin rolled through
the Big Ten season, with 14 of its 18 wins coming by double digits. One of
those single digit wins came in Madison two weeks earlier when the Badgers won
68-61 against Michigan State. However, the Badgers were in front by double
digits throughout much of the game. In the first two games of the Big Ten
Tournament, the Badgers were trailing at the half, only to come out and
dominate in the second. Wisconsin had lost two games in league play, falling at
lowly Rutgers without Frank Kaminsky, and then at a very good Maryland team.
But Izzo will always
have his boys ready to play come tournament time. This game was no different.
He proved it once again later on in the month as well, leading Michigan State
to the Final Four once again, even at a No. 7 seed. The Spartans and Badgers
would fight in a back-and-forth first half, and MSU would lead 32-31 after 20
minutes after Kaminsky nailed a 3-pointer to end the half.
Wisconsin would start
out the second half well, beginning on a 7-2 run to open up a four-point lead.
That would not last, though, and Michigan State went on a tear, as it made
eight of its next nine and nine of its next 13 to take a 57-46 lead, and were
ready to run away with the game.
But back came the
Badgers, as Bronson Koenig engineered a 14-2 run to take the lead on a Koenig
triple. It would go back-and-forth the rest of regulation. The Spartans had the
lead by two in the final half minute when Koenig missed a 3-pointer that went
over to the sideline. Josh Gasser “saved” the ball to Michigan State’s Denzel
Valentine, who threw an ill-advised pass that was picked off by Sam Dekker. He
proceeded to pass it to Koenig, who was fouled driving into the lane. Koenig
made two foul shots, and Wisconsin survived a really close Branden Dawson shot
at the buzzer, and the classic was head to an extra session.
Wisconsin would own the
overtime period, as Nigel Hayes and Koenig would both hit triples and the
Badgers went in front 75-69 with two minutes to play. Wisconsin would seal the
game from the free throw line and shut out MSU in the extra session to win the
Big Ten Tournament 80-69. A little while later, the Badgers would find they
would be heading to Omaha and had earned their first ever No. 1 seed.
5. Star Dekker (2015)
After making the Final
Four in 2014 and returning virtually every major contributor, Wisconsin was one
of the best teams in the nation and many thought they’d make a trip to Indianapolis
in April. However, after blowing the regular season, the Badgers fought to win
the Big Ten Tournament with an overtime win against Michigan State (No. 6 on
this list). Wisconsin earned its first No. 1 seed in program history, and
defeated Coastal Carolina in the first round. But the Badgers had to scratch
and claw to defeat No. 8 Oregon and No. 4 North Carolina to return to the Elite
8 where they would take on.......the Arizona Wildcats, who they defeated to
reach the Final Four the previous season. Arizona had revenge on its mind,
while Wisconsin also did, because Kentucky would likely be its opponent if it
would defeat Arizona. The Cats had one of the best defenses in the country, but
Wisconsin’s offense was one of the most efficient offenses of all-time. Many
people thought this matchup should have taken place in Indianapolis, but the
teams with a combined six losses were meeting in a classic heavyweight fight.
Bucky could not have
asked for a better start, as Wisconsin stormed out to a 10-2 lead four minutes
into the game. The Wildcats would answer, though, and take a 33-30 lead into
halftime. In the 2014 game, Wisconsin also trailed by three at the break before
coming back to win. But the second half would be legendary for the Badgers.
Unlike in 2014, which
was a defensive struggle, this one turned into a shootout. It took one
possession into the second half for Wisconsin to tie it up, as Kaminsky drilled
a 3. Following last year’s coming out party against the Wildcats, Kaminsky
scored a game-high 29 in this meeting. The Badgers came out of the locker room
on fire. Arizona, one of the best defenses in the country, was no match for the
Wisconsin juggernaut. A Sam Dekker 3-pointer less than a minute into the second
half gave the Badgers the lead for good.
Dekker, who was the West
Regional’s Most Outstanding Player, had the game of his life. He finished with
27 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 5-of-6 from deep. The Badgers kept
their distance throughout most of the second half, and whenever they needed a
big shot to maintain breathing room, Wisconsin got just that. It more often
than not came from the junior from Sheboygan, Dekker. Arizona cuts it to 44-42.
Dekker makes a 3. Arizona trims it to 47-46. Dekker comes back with a trifecta.
It was mostly hovering
between a 7-10 point lead for the Badgers throughout the second half. Arizona
had some momentum after a 5-1 run to cut it to 71-64. But there was that man
again. Dekker had a layup, while being fouled. It was the Sam Dekker Wisconsin
fans had been waiting for for three years. With the Badgers clinging to a
five-point lead with less than a minute remaining, Arizona coach Sean Miller
elected to play defense as opposed to playing the foul game. It backfired. It
was the biggest shot of Dekker’s career to that point. He received a pass from
Bronson Koenig, and he launched a fadeaway 3 with the hand of Hollis-Jefferson
in his face. There was never a doubt, as Sammy drilled it, to essentially end
any hope of an Arizona comeback.
The second half shooting
performance by Wisconsin was nothing short of incredible. Considering the
opponent, it was one of the greatest halves of shooting I have ever seen. As a
whole, Wisconsin shot 79 percent (15 of 19) after halftime, including an absurd
10-of-12 from deep. Some of the shots were open, but many of them were just
really good shots. Because of that, Bucky would have a chance for revenge in
Indianapolis against Kentucky.
4. Deja vu, OSU (2011)
Four months prior,
Wisconsin defeated No. 1 Ohio State in football. In February 2011, the Badgers
basketball team also played the top-ranked Buckeyes. In any other decade, this
likely would be higher, but this decade was loaded. Ohio State was stacked, led
by freshman Jared Sullinger, junior William Buford and senior Jon Diebler. The
Buckeyes were undefeated, beating four top 25 teams along the way to a 24-0
start. Wisconsin was coming in at No. 13 in the nation and 18-5 overall, coming
off a three-point win over lowly Iowa.
It was a nip-and-tuck
first half with Ohio State holding a slight 28-26 lead, as the Buckeyes ended
the half on a 5-0 run. Then the Buckeyes stormed out in the second half, making
nine of their first 10 shots and catapulting OSU to a 47-32 lead at the Kohl
Center. The Badgers were on the verge of being blown out in their own building,
but a junior guard named Jordan Taylor changed that.
Taylor six points in the
first 27 minutes of the game, but he would come alive in the final 13 minutes.
He scored 10 points during a 15-0 run that tied the game at 47, ending with a
Taylor assist to Josh Gasser for a 3-pointer. The game would remain close the
rest of the contest, but a Keaton Nankivil jumper gave Wisconsin a 57-55 lead
it would never relinquish. On the next possession, following a defensive stop,
Wisconsin radio announcer Matt Lepay gave one of my favorite calls of his.
Taylor was en fuego, and he would step up and drill another 3-pointer to put
Bucky in front by five. Lepay belts out “Oh my goodness, don’t wake him up,
Taylor’s on fire!” The junior scored 21 points in the final 13 minutes to will
the Badgers to victory.
But victory would not be
secured until the closing minute. With Wisconsin clinging to a two-point lead,
Taylor came through again, as he found an open Mike Bruesewitz at the top of the
key and he drilled a 3 to give Bucky a 68-63 advantage. Wisconsin made its free
throws down the stretch, as it came away with a 71-67 win over the top-ranked
Buckeyes. Following the game, there was an outcry because Taylor was not listed
as a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation’s top point guard.
After willing the Badgers to victory over the No. 1 team in the land, Taylor
was added as the 11th finalist.
3. “Let’s play five more
minutes in Madison” (2013)
No. 3 Michigan strutted into
the Kohl Center at 21-2, led by eventual National Player of the Year Trey
Burke. The Wolverines were primed to take the top spot in the national rankings
after No. 1 Indiana and No. 2 Florida fell earlier in the week. Michigan was
coming off two consecutive dogfights against two top 10 teams. Wisconsin
started out 6-4, but had heated up and the Badgers were 16-7 heading into the
big game against the Wolverines.
Wisconsin jumped out to
an early lead, but Michigan came back to take a 29-28 lead at halftime. Neither
team could separate and it was a close game down the stretch. With the Badgers
down 57-54, Jared Berggren drove the lane and threw down a one-handed jam over
Burke, plus he was fouled. With the game tied and the game in the closing
seconds, Michigan’s Tim Hardaway Jr. stepped up and buried a 3-pointer from the
top of the key with 2.5 seconds left while being defended tightly by Mike
Bruesewitz. The Badgers needed a miracle to send it into overtime.
Enter Ben Brust.
On the inbounds pass,
Bruesewitz looked and looked before finding Brust streaking from left to right.
The junior guard took one dribble and heaved it from just beyond halfcourt. He
buries it as time expires! As Wisconsin radio announcer Matt Lepay said, “Let’s
play five more minutes in Madison!”
The teams struggled to
score on offense in overtime, as each team just had two points as the game
wound down to under a minute left in the extra session. But enter Brust, once
again. He drilled a deep 3-pointer over Caris LaVert, who he also hit the
halfcourt shot over, to give the Badgers a 65-62 lead with 39 seconds
remaining. Michigan had two more chances to tie it up, but were turned away
twice. With time winding down, Burke tried a 3-pointer from the top of the key
that went around and out and Traevon Jackson secured the rebound. And as Lepay
said, “It’s a madhouse in Madison!”
2. This one’s for Butch
(2014)
From when Bo Ryan took
over in 2001, his teams had consistently had regular season success, and even
an Elite 8 and a handful of Sweet 16 appearances. But Bo had not made the Final
Four, and plenty of people were questioning whether he’d ever get there. In
2013, the Badgers lost as a No. 5 seed against Marshall Henderson and Ole Miss.
They lost their entire starting frountcourt, Jared Berggren, Mike Bruesewitz
and Ryan Evans, and would have to rely on an unknown junior by the name of
Frank Kaminsky. To everyone’s surprise, he broke the school record for points
with 43 just four games into the season. He would announce his presence to the
Big Ten with a 25-point, 11-rebound game on the road against Big Ten leader
Michigan. He would announce himself to the country in the Elite 8 against
Arizona.
From 1976-2013, Bo Ryan
had gone to every Final Four with his father Butch, and the elder Ryan became a
crowd favorite at the event. On August 30, 2013, Butch died, just months before
the Badgers were set to begin the season. Playing for their grieving coach, the
Badgers jumped out to a 16-0 start, their best start in program history. But
that gave way to a losing streak, where Bucky lost five of six, including an
embarrassing home loss to Northwestern. However, the Badgers rebounded eight in
a row before losing at Nebraska to end the regular season. Off to Milwaukee
they went as the No. 2 seed in the West. They blew out No. 15, had to come back
from a halftime deficit to knock off No. 7 Oregon, and dominated No. 6 Baylor
to set up a matchup against top-seeded Arizona.
The date was March 29,
2014, in what would have been Butch’s 90th birthday. In a game that featured
two of the best defensive teams in the nation, Wisconsin trailed by as many as
eight in the first half, but cut it to three at the break. Kaminsky had just
eight points in the first half, but would put his name in Wisconsin basketball lore
in the final 25 minutes. A Kaminsky 3-pointer and Bronson Koenig jumper would
give the Badgers their first lead of the game at 36-34. Amazingly, in the final
17 minutes, spanning the final 12 minutes of regulation and the overtime, the
game was never beyond a one-possession affair. Back-and-forth they went, and
the Badgers led 54-52 with a minute to play on a layup by Traevon Jackson. But
a Rondae Hollis-Jefferson putback dunk and Jackson’s miss as time expired sent
the game into overtime.
Kaminsky scored six of
the 10 points in overtime for the Badgers, and would make a basket to put Bucky
in front by three with a little more than a minute to play. Wisconsin would be
in front by a single point when Arizona had the ball with a half-minute to play
in overtime. The first shot by T.J. McConnell was no good, but the Wildcats
grabbed the offensive board. Pac 12 Player of the Year Nick Johnson would drive
the lane with the clock winding down, but there was a whistle. Offensive foul!
But after the inbounds pass went out of bounds, Arizona had one last chance.
Johnson once again received the ball, took a few dribbles and pulled up. No
good! He didn’t get it off anyway! On what would have been Butch’s 90th
birthday, Bo won to make his first ever Final Four appearance. The following
season when the Badgers made the championship game, Bo’s friend Roy Williams
(who is also a coach who receives Final Four tickets) gave the two tickets to
Bo and told him he could invite anyone to the game as long as one seat was left
open in honor of Butch.
1. Perfection Rejection
(2015)
It was one of the most
anticipated Final Four games in years. The Kentucky Wildcats were 38-0 and were
aiming to become the first men’s basketball team since the 1976 Indiana
Hoosiers to go an entire season without losing. In 1991, the UNLV Runnin’
Rebels came into the Final Four undefeated, and fell to Duke 79-77 in the
National semifinals. Kentucky was loaded with talent, led by eventual No. 1
overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns. They also had the Harrison twins, Aaron and
Andrew, as well as Trey Lyles. Kentucky was so potent that current NBA star
Devin Booker did not even start.
This game had so many
storylines. In addition to the fact that one of the bluebloods in college
baseketball was going for a perfect season, the two schools met in the 2014
Final Four with Aaron Harrison hitting a deep 3-pointer from the left wing to
beat the Badgers by a point. Secondly, going into the game, the best offensive
team in the KenPom era (Wisconsin) was going up against the best defensive team
in the KenPom era (Kentucky). Then, one of the questions that was always asked
throughout the season was who, if anybody, could beat Kentucky. One of the
first teams mentioned was always Wisconsin because of its ability to score both
inside and outside, especially with National Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky.
Game on in Indianapolis.
Wisconsin started out on
fire, jumping out to a 23-14 lead after a Sam Dekker bucket while fouled. But
Kentucky counter-punched, like you knew it would. After Bronson Koenig jumper
at the end of the half, the score was tied at 36. The Badgers came out in the
second half much like it started the first. With Kentucky in front 44-43,
Wisconsin went on a 9-0 run on three-point plays by Kaminsky and Dekker and a
3-pointer at the top of the key by Koenig, and the Badgers vaulted in front
52-44. But the Wildcats proved how great they are on the defensive end of the
floor, as they held the Badgers to only one field goal in a 10+ minute span
during a 16-4 run to take a 60-56 lead. But Wisconsin proved it could play a
little defense as well, forcing three consecutive shot clock violations. The
Badgers would take advantage and Dekker scored, followed by a controversial
Nigel Hayes basket tied it up. That would set the stage for more Dekker
dramatics.
The Sheboygan native has
had a flare for the dramatic, dating back to his days at Sheboygan Lutheran.
With less than two minutes remaining, Dekker received a pass from Josh Gasser
and buried a stepback 3-pointer over Towns to put Bucky on top 63-60. He would
follow that up with drawing a charge. Free throws put the Badgers in front
68-64, and Kentucky had the ball with 10 seconds left. Following a timeout,
Aaron Harrison, who buried the game-winner last year, received the ball, and
launched a deep three. Air ball. Wisconsin made more free throws to close out
one of the best wins in program history.
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