Scratching and Clawing

After Wednesday's battle between Badgers and Wolverines, Bo Ryan struggled to find any other words to describe how Wisconsin emerged victorious, other than that his guys continued scratching and crawling.

The first half was incredibly hard to watch. Despite plenty of good looks, "Wisconsin couldn't buy a bucket" was the simple explanation. Six scoreless minutes to start the game ... second field goal nearly 10 minutes in ... 32% shooting from the floor in the first half. As we've seen lately, the team was still settling for lots of 3-pointers (1-10 in the half, 4-24 overall). The Badgers seemed to get more impatient with every missed shot and rushed the offense at times.

But UW got its cool back late in the first half and was fortunate to be down only 21-18 thanks to Michigan's own ineptitude (imagine how Tom Izzo would have described it). When Wisconsin held Michigan scoresless in the final five minutes of the half and pulled to within one possession on the bank shot by Trevon Hughes, I left the house feeling pretty good about the ultimate outcome.

Yet UW continued to trail until the final minutes. Michigan's senior big man DeShawn Sims continued to exploit Wisconsin's void inside to lead the Wolverines. While Tim Jarmusz effectively shut down and disengaged Manny Harris, the rest of Michigan's team was coming up empty, however, especially the bench (1 point). Sims finished with 23 pts and 13 rebs. [box score]

This year's Badgers know how to scratch and claw for these wins though. They did it by valuing possessions, so keeping the turnovers to a minimum and fighting for offensive boards were huge in the second half. As Michigan's shot selection fell apart, Wisconsin became more determined than ever to get easier looks and get to the foul line.

"You can’t always shoot well," said junior Keaton Nankivil. "We still do a lot of stuff well that puts us in position to win and that’s the way Coach (Ryan) coaches us."

NCAA Basketball

Despite winning the four factors, it still really came down to making shots. Hughes' 16 second-half points and a surprise contribution from Rob Wilson took care of that.

Wilson scored 13 of UW's 19 bench points. Hughes put it best in his post-game interview on the Big Ten Network: "It's about time he stepped up."

I wouldn't quite call it a coming-out party, but Wilson's performance was vital. Just as important as the stats (4-of-6 shooting in 18 mins, no turnovers) was the aggressive attitude, something that seems to elude many members of this UW team when in a hole. Wilson scored in every way on the court, which Hughes classically described as Rob "bringing his scout team game."

The win preserved Bo's flawless record against Michigan coach John Beilein and kept the next blemish on Bo's Kohl Center record (131-10) at bay. As Beilein admitted, Wisconsin is so good at home because, well, the Badgers under Bo have always been a really good team. That speaks to Bo's special ability to lead a steady program.

Wisconsin will try to get out of the gate much stronger on Sunday when UW hosts Penn State.

From Now On, Everything Is Icing

More than 24 hours have passed since Wisconsin's most gratifying win of the season. Beating 5-seed Florida State was not an improbable victory, but at halftime it sure seemed like it. And considering the team's hot and cold resolve in late-game situations, I don't think anyone really expected a repeat of the Virginia Tech finish.

But that's what Trevon Hughes gave us. He is an ACC killer. Pop showed the ultimate level of toughness by hanging in over the course of 45 minutes in a game where he made decisions (4 TOs, two critical missed FTs) even he termed "bonehead plays."

"He was really strong with the ball on that particular play," said Marcus Landry. I agree.



In the locker room after the game, footage shows a mix of youthful excitement and flat out relief from some of the players.

For me, Wisconsin missing the tournament would have been confirmation of a disappointing season. By winning one in Boise already, the season is officially a success in my eyes. A fine line isn't it? Not only did the team give Bo Ryan his first coaching victory over a better seed, but the Badgers may have gotten a bit of their end of the game mojo back.

Toney Douglas is a heck of a player. Wow. But Florida State turned out to be just a two-trick pony.

After leading the team with an impassioned halftime talk, Joe Krabbenhoft got a steal and a big 3-pointer to start an incredible 13-0 run. Following Krabby's lead, Wisconsin came out to start the second half as a team. Keaton Nankivil rose from anonymity again. His eight straight points capped the run to give the Badgers a 32-31 lead with 14:40 remaining. At that point, it was a brand new ballgame and a breath of fresh air. [box score]

Nankivil finished with 14 points off the bench and thankfully Bo stuck with him despite some foul trouble. Besides the ankle injury, defensive consistency and overall intensity is what has kept the sophomore off the floor even as fans have been clamoring for him to get more playing time.

"He was tough. Knocked down some shots. Got some confidence going," Ryan said of Nankivil after the game. "I think he was even talking to himself when he went down the court a couple times. Did you see the lips moving? He wasn't trash talking, that's Keaton getting himself going. We knew we had him ready then."

Even so, Wisconsin needed clutch outside shooting from Jason Bohannon to make up the seven-point deficit it faced with five minutes to play in regulation. Again, an impressive display of mental toughness and persistence by the team. Then, when J-Bo hit the first shot of overtime form behind the arc, we started to believe.

Thanks to UW and Michigan, the Big Ten more than held it's own in round one despite Illinois and Ohio State losing. The conference posted a 4-3 record despite having four teams seeded 8th, 10th, 10th and 12th. Since then, Purdue won a second-round game as the Big Ten creeps closer to topping postseason expectations. A sweep by Michigan State and Wisconsin today would guarantee it.

As I expressed earlier, any more wins at this point are gravy. Xavier is a tough, well-coached major conference program stuck in the "mid-major" Atlantic 10 conference. The Musketeers will not be as long along the frontline as the Seminoles were however, which is why I have a feeling Old Man Landry will be a key factor in any success the Badgers have. He needs to rediscover that baseline spin move that served him well through his first three seasons at Wisconsin.

Speaking of Landry's senior season, he needs four more blocked shots to tie Kurt Portmann for fourth place all-time in Badger history. He needs three more offensive rebounds to pass Patrick Tompkins on the career offensive rebounding list.

As we update the seniors' progress on Record Watch, congratulations are in order for Hughes also, who sneaked onto Wisconsin's top ten in career steals in the past few games, passing Wes Matthews. Pop should be able to climb several more places next season.

Player - Career Rebounds (Season Total)
5. Kim Hughes - 806
6. Alando Tucker - 769
7. Joe Krabbenhoft - 753 (217)

Player - Career Off Rebs (Season Total)
2. Mike Wilkinson - 311
3. Andy Kowske - 240
4. Joe Krabbenhoft - 231 (60)
5. Sean Daugherty - 227
6. Brian Butch - 222
7. Michael Finley: 205
8. Patrick Tompkins: 181
9. Marcus Landry: 179 (51)

Player - Career Blocks (Season Total)
3. Mike Wilkinson - 117
4. Kurt Portmann - 102
5. Marcus Landry - 98 (34)

Links:
- Madison Memorial makes good on Jeronne Maymon's vow to win a state title.
- Talk about bad timing. Officials wait until the state tournament to let a Chicago high school powerhouse know about their "illegal" uniforms, which may have cost them a championship.

The Missing Ingredients

What a choke job from the Badgers. Wisconsin made Minnesota look like high schoolers for 33 straight minutes in the middle of Thursday's game. With about three minutes left, Tubby Smith FINALLY reapplied full court pressure and the wheels came off.

Then the Badgers looked like the high school team. The trademark defense that Wisconsin rediscovered in the first half melted away like strawberry jello. In the waning moments of the second half, Minnesota drove to the rim at will to dump in uncontested layup after uncontested layup.

Normally you would expect the team who rebounds well, takes care of the ball and scores more off of free throws to win, but the disparity in easy buckets by the end of the game was too much for UW to overcome. [box score]

Stats by StatSheet.com

On the other end, Bo Ryan's crew had no idea where to go for a key bucket. The referees stopped bailing them out. Were they gassed? Marcus Landry certainly did not have the legs to power in the available looks he got in the post. On numerous occasions, players like Landry, Trevon Hughes and Jason Bohannon failed to finish on the press break when open layups were presented to them (although I think J-Bo's was goaltended). The result was a heartbreaking 78-74 overtime loss.

Wisconsin was no better than Northwestern tonight, who also handed over a victory to a ranked opponent. So instead of continuing to blog in disbelief, I'll leave you with the story I would have written if the Badgers had held on ... you know, if Wisconsin was actually a quality team this year ...

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Poise. Movement.

Wisconsin's offense possessed both of those ingredients against #18 Minnesota for 33 straight minutes in the middle of Thursday night's game. As a result, the Badgers were able to turn a terrible start on its head, dominate the Golden Gophers and deny Minnesota its first win at the Kohl Center.

Oh, and one more thing: Defense

Most viewers were probably wondering what took Tubby Smith so long to go back to the full court pressure that made the first four minutes of the game pretty miserable for Wisconsin. Well, the Badgers were playing lock down defense for the remainder of the first half and continued doing a decent job on defense through much of the second half. Without being able to score, Minnesota could not speed up the game with a consistent press.

That brand of defense has been the element most absent from Wisconsin's game plan so far this year. If the Badgers can sustain that kind of defense (closing out on shooters, disrupting passing lanes and rebounding) for 40 minutes, UW will be a conference title contender once again. Defensive intensity, poise and good movement on offense are the three missing ingredients to a successful 2009 season.

Kevin Gullikson, of all people, opened up the offense for Bo's boys. Gullikson -- aka Captain America -- played a superb first half. He made spectacular entry passes to Landry and it was contagious. You had players cutting to the hole religiously and effortlessly, which led to easy buckets when the Badgers kept their eyes peeled.

I cannot believe Gullikson did not get more minutes actually. This is the first time I remember genuinely questioning how Keaton Nakivil's career will turn out with the Badgers. The sophomore forward is giving his team zero quality minutes right now.

Once again, Trevon Hughes shows how valueable he is to Wisconsin. Pop really toyed with the Gopher guards for the majority of the game. Except for some lapses when Minnesota reapplied a the late press, Hughes was virtually flawless in the second half. The transformation was remarkable.

But my fists were still clenched through the whole game -- with good reason. Minnesota was determined to make it a battle and frustrated many of the Badgers with pressure. Nothing new. With Jordan Taylor not yet trustworthy, the only reliable ballhandlers/decision-makers other than Hughes are Bohannon and Joe Krabbenhoft. Neither of them are quick enough to get separation from quicker players, which comes back to bite the Badgers in those situations.

Tim Jarmusz did not have a good game. To be honest, I question why he was in the game at the end against the full court pressure -- he's almost out there by default. His handle is not that good and he is not quick enough to get open either. One of those wide-open 3-pointers would have been nice Timmy.

On a brighter note, Wisconsin made 12-of-14 FTs over the last nine minutes of the second half to salt away the win. The Badgers finished 23-of-28 (83%) from the charity stripe -- a pleasant surprise.

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Finally, there were more than enough questionable calls in this game to warrant mentioning. And for the most part, I thought Wisconsin got the better end of the deal (non-Badger fans are toasting their brethren right now). And Ed Hightower wasn't even involved ... just his running mate Ted Hillary.

The calls/non-calls included:
- Paul Carter's goaltending on J-Bo's shot
- Hughes' fourth foul when he poked the ball out of Westbrook's dribble
- The whirling Westbrook drive that ended in a surprising and-1 ... I didn't see any contact there
- Damien Johnson got screwed when he cleanly blocked Pop's layup attempt in the closing minutes.
- Johnson was also called for a foul earlier when blocking Landry's jumper ... looked clean