On the Stove Top: 7/18/10

Summer League Wrap-Up
The Vegas Summer League concluded Sunday and the biggest surprise has to be Marcus Landry reappearing with the New York Knicks after his stint with Indiana in the Orlando session. Landry fared much better with his old crew, even getting loose for 14 points and a baseline stuff against Toronto.

Meanwhile, Joe Krabbenhoft and Greg Stiemsma finished up Sunday as the sixth men for their respective teams, but there wasn't much tangible production to show for it. To his credit, Krabby finished with a solid +/- and six boards in his finale.

But the highlight of the week has to be Stiemsma sparring with DeMarcus Cousins last Wednesday. See for yourself how Stiemsma responded to Cousins' elbow to the throat in the Wolves-Kings game ... let's just say nothing's changed with ol' Stiemboat. But good for him.



Milwaukee's top pick, Larry Sanders, also put himself on the map with the league, especially point man Brandon Jennings.

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Recruiting Countdown
July has taken on greater significance on the recruiting battlegrounds now that there is no live April evaluation period allowed. The second July evaluation window opens July 22nd and some major Wisconsin targets will be making their school decisions in the next two weeks.

Unfortunately, the Badgers are not widely considered the favorite for Cedar Rapids (IA) Jefferson senior Jarrod Uthoff or Medina (OH) junior Kenny Kaminski. The versatile Uthoff wants to make his decision on Monday before heading out to his next tournament. He's sensitive to the fact his family wants him to stay close to home, which may compel him to choose one of the three Iowa schools in his final six.

Kaminski is considered a Michigan State lean and his recent comments do nothing but reinforce that sentiment. The 6'7" sharpshooter counts Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio State among his finalists and will announce his destination on July 31st (or soon after). It's pleasantly surprising that UW jumped into the final mix lately even though Kaminski admits he "really [hasn't] talked to them that much."

[2010-11 NCAA Recruiting Calendar]

J.P. Tokoto Is Smoother Than Ever

Sophomore J.P. Tokoto doubles as the top prep player in Wisconsin and one of the hottest national recruits. I didn't get to see Tokoto play live this season, but watched him last summer in a few AAU games and saw a skilled, natural talent worthy of the hype.

Though he sat out last weekend's state AAU tournament in Stoughton (he's currently a little dinged up physically), Tokoto displayed his full array of skills with the Wisconsin Playground Warriors at the Bill Hensley Memorial Run N' Slam tourney in Fort Wayne, Ind., to start the month of May. Judging by his highlights from that event, the 6'6" swingman has been working hard on his game in the past year.



In particular, note the ease with which Tokoto crosses his dribble over between the legs (see :34 and 1:28). He is a natural help-side shotblocker and his explosive ability to rise and finish is already well-documented.

Tokoto averaged 18.6 ppg and 10 rpg for Menomonee Falls last season.

Vote for Postseason Awards

Tuesday night was the Wisconsin men's basketball postseason reception. In particular, the season highlight video put together by Matt Ryan was very well done and is worth a look.

Along the same lines, online voting ends today for the 2009-10 men's basketball awards. When I watched the nominees for Play of the Year or Individual Performance of the Year, I got a renewed sense of appreciation for the great year this group of Badgers really had. Now that a few weeks have passed since the end of the season, it doesn't seem so bad that the team peaked earlier than you'd like -- the enjoyable part is that Wisconsin reached a significant peak, highlighted by three home wins over teams ranked in the Coaches' Top 5.

Voting is closed -- see the winners now!

Allow me to make a case in each category:

1. Best Game of the Season: 73-69 win over Duke
A no-brainer really. Duke is a combination college hoops royalty and the evil empire all in one, so this was a big hill to climb. A wire-to-wire win eradicated a bad memory from 2007 and this contest was close enough throughout that the outcome was truly up for grabs. A not-so-close second place goes to punishing Michigan State, 67-49, at the Kohl Center in February.

2. Greatest Individual Performance: Trevon Hughes vs. Duke
Several good options here, but Hughes played perhaps the finest game of his career against the Blue Devils. Not a stat-stuffer event (he added just 2 rebs, 2 assts, 1 blk & 1 stl), but Hughes was the one Badger who the team was counting on to athletically get his own shot that night. He delivered with 26 pts. And had zero turnovers to boot. The sheer variety of way in which he scored was dazzling.

I would be remiss if I didn't reiterate how much I enjoyed watching Keaton Nankivil hit 7-of-8 treys in the losing effort at Purdue. Just amazing, which is more than I can say about Jason Bohannon's barrage against Indiana I'm afraid. The Hoosiers are just terrible. But both Hughes' night on the road in Evanston and Jordan Taylor's performance against Penn State both received heavy consideration for my vote. I remember feeling resigned to Wisconsin dropping a home game to the Nittany Lions of all teams while listening to that game on the radio. Then Taylor became possessed ... and a minor miracle ensued. Good times!

3. Play of the Year: Hughes' steal and alley-oop to Nankivil vs. Iowa
Showtime at the Kohl Center showcased Pop's defense, ball handling and knack for the moment, as well as Nankivil's athleticism. Gave the crowd exactly what they wanted to punctuate a big win.

Note this wasn't called the "most important" play of the year or else I would have voted for Jon Leuer's winner against Wofford, which was incredibly clutch. And the prettiest has got to be Hughes' spin and rainbow J against Duke. That one is etched in my memory for good.

4. Greatest Team Accomplishment: Beating three Top 10 teams
This is one of those things that happens once in a generation really (at least for Wisconsin it had been 21 seasons). Kind of ties into the 16-1 home record also. Leading the nation in fewest turnovers looks nice on the résumé, but I'd trade it for a few more wins in a heartbeat.

5. Team MVP: Jon Leuer
This one was tough. I believe Leuer is the most talented player on the roster and he really came into this own this year. As the only legit post presence on the team, he was the single player most vital to UW's success. Wisconsin's success without Leuer was admirable, but the way Hughes reverted to his old ways at the season's end pretty much clinched this one in my mind. A close third to J-Bo, who really stepped up when Bo needed him most (during Leuer's injury).

6. Most Improved Player: Jordan Taylor
Just a sophomore, Taylor had basically become Wisconsin's true point guard even before he was inserted into the starting lineup. His mercurial assist-to-turnover ratio (3:1) stands out the most, along with his assists, but it was his confidence that took the biggest step. Perhaps that's why he improved his 3-point shooting from 19% to 32.5% and his overall FG% from 26% to nearly 40% (a 71% and 51% improvement, respectively!!).

This category was clearly a two-horse race between JT and Leuer. Leuer started the year as a bit player with potential to a potential NBA draft pick and one of the favorites for next year's Big Ten Player of the Year award.

7. Which non-starter are you most excited about: Ryan Evans
And of the four players, this was my order: Evans > Rob Wilson > Mike Bruesewitz > Jared Berggren. Wilson was my first thought, since I believe he will blossom with a bump up to more playing time as a junior. Love his aggressiveness. The more I thought about it though, aggressiveness is Evans' game too. And as a freshman, Evans played even more than Wilson did, despite still being such a raw prospect. His skill set is much different than anyone else on next year's team. Evans is a big x-factor -- I'd love to see that haircut in the starting five next year.

Leuer Has No Doubts About Wrist's Health

The big news on Monday was that Jon Leuer was back practicing with his teammates just like old times and there were no complications. Leuer also spoke with the local media for the first time since the injury. [video]

After reading hints that a Leuer return might be imminent, it appears that UW's leading scorer has a great chance to play on Thursday night against Minnesota. Leuer mentioned the range of motion and weight exercises he worked on with the training staff and said he is "really confident" in his wrist going forward, whether it be finishing strong at the rack or just getting hit inadvertantly.

"I feel like I'm game-ready right now," Leuer said. "I've been able to work out and run and condition so I feel like I'm in really good shape and hopefully I can just do whatever I can to help the team."

Props to the medical staff for getting Leuer prepared to return just five weeks after the injury occurred.

"Right now, I'm just taking it day-by-day and seeing if there's any pain or much I can tolerate," Leuer continued. "Today went well."

For now Leuer will continue to practice with the wrist heavily taped, no special cast needed. He sounds really anxious to help the team win once again and the timing could hardly have been better. Wisconsin will attempt to erase the memories of last year's breakdowns (plural) against the Gophers. At the same time, it is yet another must-win for a contender seeking another Big Ten title.

So It Begins

A new season is finally underway, as the 2009-10 Wisconsin Badgers step into "real" action for the first time against Bemidji State, a name which hockey fans are already familiar with. In fact, I am listening to the game right now. Wisconsin premiered out a full-court press early in the first half and Ryan Evans is having a personal block party from the sound of it.

The biggest storyline heading into the game was whether fans would pay the $2.99 to watch the game on BigTenNetwork.com or just listen to the radio like me. For what it's worth, when you cannot do either, you can always count on the in-game blog at UWBadgers.com.

Duje Dukan, the 6'8" sharpshooter who received Bo Ryan's latest scholarship offer, is supposed to be in attendance tonight. Who knows, maybe Wisconsin will have another verbal commitment by the morning. With future backcourt depth still in flux, the latest 2010 scholarship offer was a curious one. Dukan would be a great weapon to have, but definitely is not the combo guard that many are looking for.

Another option for guard depth next year could be dismissed freshman walk-on Jeremy Glover. According to the Wisconsin State Journal today, Glover could potentially return to the team as a "practice-only" player if he wins his recent appeal.

Big Ten media day archive
In case you missed it, here's a collection of links from last Thursday's Big Ten Media Day in Chicago. There are no new coaches in the league this year. That stability can go a long way in determining how well the conference measures up to all the preseason hype.

Preseason Favorites and All-Big Ten First Team (BigTen.org)

Interviews
Coaches, via Big Ten Network:
Bo Ryan
Tom Izzo
Bruce Weber
Matt Painter
Thad Matta
John Beilein
Bill Carmody
Ed Dechellis
Todd Lickliter
Tom Crean (n/a)
Tubby Smith (not in attendance after recent death of his father)

Complete Coaches Transcript (BigTen.org)
Badger Interviews (Sports Bubbler)

UWBadgers.com
Here's the quote that got everone giddy from this News & Notes piece:

"One of things Coach Ryan mentioned to the Big Ten Network that might surprise people is that he's excited to see Hughes and Jordan Taylor get out in transition a little. While I wouldn't expect the Badgers to run-and-gun, the team might have the athleticism this year to push the tempo a bit. The team actually played with a 25-second shot clock when they were playing pick-up ball over the summer. The idea being to look for a shot quicker and remove the tendency to walk the ball up the floor."

Wisconsin State AAU Tournament

Unfortunately I was not able to scout any Badger prospects in person this past high school season, so when I heard the Wisconsin State AAU Tournament was going to be held in Stoughton, I knew I had to check it out.

So I traveled down to the Impact Sports Enhancement Academy on Saturday to take in a few games. Unfortunately a couple of teams did not show up for the event, leading to some of forfeits. Despite the cancellation of a few games, I was still able to see one each for the likes of Vander Blue, J.P. Tokoto, Wally Ellenson, Marquis Mason, Chip Rank, Kyle Kelm, Nimrod Hilliard and Jamar "Popcorn" Morris.

Outside of Blue and Mason, I had never seen any of these guys play live before. Needless to say, watching Tokoto was my main objective.

However, the first game I caught was in the 17U division, between Blue's Madison Spartans and the Wisconsin Force. Unlike the Spiece tourney last week or day 1 in Stoughton, Blue did not quite have his touch this time. He struggled from the field and subsequently, the Spartans lost by a few points to the Force, led by Josh Cameron and Sam Gage. But Blue continues to have his way getting to the basket at this level and had quite a few free throw attempts down the stretch. The Badger commit also tried a ridiculous dunk over his defender from outside the free throw lane on the baseline -- the gym would have erupted if it had stayed down. He still got the star treatment afterwards with a Channel 3 interview.

Playing on the court next to Blue around noon was the stacked Wisconsin Swing-Selk team, who completely ran away from the Wisconsin Blaze. I was pretty impressed by Chip Rank. He slammed the boards (knew how to box out well) and played with intensity all game long. His handle and shot were decent too. Mason's footwork inside stood out to me. Pretty nimble guy that should make a good receiver for the football team. He was the one guy I saw who able to actually put down his dunks, although he seemed a little lazy when it came to getting rebounding position.

Sadly, nothing Kelm did shouted "prime-time player" to me. He seemed more fatigued than others (didn't get the ball over the rim on a dunk) and just hung out by the 3-point line all game long.

Madison East's Hilliard found his rhythm behind the arc in the second half to fuel a big comeback for the 16U Madison Spartans against the Wisconsin Playmakers club. Miles Chamberlain's bucket at the buzzer gave the Spartans the win after being down as many as 16 points. Hilliard was fun to watch, very smooth.

After that I caught the first half of the 15U Wisconsin Force against one of the Wisconsin Swing teams. Junior Lomomba was not playing for some reason and was hanging out with the Madison Spartan kids. That left Popcorn Morris to handle business for the Force. He reminded me a bit of Flavien Davis -- 6'4" or 6'5", can lead a fast break, do work under the basket and get up for alley oops. I wanted to watch more, but the 15U Wisconsin Playground Warriors finally were ready to tip off.

Like Blue, Tokoto did not set the world on fire with his shooting touch, but he did get a few more buckets to drop in the second half as the Warriors kept the pesky Northwest WI All-Stars at bay. It must be hard to judge Tokoto when he plays down at this level because he is so much bigger and more athletic than any of the opposing players. He played up a lot in the full-court pressure the Warriors played and made several hustle plays that coaches love.

I tried to take a couple of videos with a weak Canon PowerShot, but they leave a lot to be desired. The first one shows Tokoto (#24) posting up and the second, blurry one shows him skying to retrieve what looked like an alley oop pass gone awry.





Ellenson was an interesting player to watch. He was quick enough to take any defender to the rack. Even though he was predictable in that way, his strength and aggressiveness earned him at least 10-12 points on those drives alone.

Links:
- There will be a rule change in 2009-10 regarding taking charges while under the basket -- it is now a blocking foul every time. There are a couple other rule tweaks and points of emphasis too.
- The Daily Cardinal checks in with Rashard Griffith.
- Many of Wisconsin's recruits and/or recruiting targets played well in last weekend's big Spiece AAU tournament (ie: Bill Hensley Memorial Run 'N Slam) in Indiana, including Blue, Tokoto, Evan Anderson, Chasson Randle, Nnana Egwu, Jacob Williams and J.D. Weatherspoon.

Link of the Night

The Ohio State blog Eleven Warriors had an interesting post today about one guy's behind-the-scenes experience at the Big Ten Network headquarters. Unfortunately Hoops Marinara has no such access anywhere. Sigh.

Before I delve into the offseason in the coming weeks, I wanted to note how happy I am that Trevon Hughes' Game-winner against Florida State was named the tournament's Pontiac Game Changing Performance. The American voters got it right. The Siena and Villanova clips were equally deserving, maybe even Oklahoma State, but I would have rolled my eyes a bit if the Gonzaga or Pittsburgh clip had won (the Missouri entry was a joke).

I am always afraid that these contrived contests will end up like those episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos, where the clip of the dog in a life jacket wins the money over the only finalist video that actually made you laugh.

In the context of the whole tournament, I though Scottie Reynolds' game-winner (sent 'Nova to Final Four) and Kalin Lucas' three-point play (regional semis against defending champs) were the two most important shots on the list. But Pop's shot was the only one that combined four essential elements: 1) it was an upset, 2) his team was trailing, 3) it was overtime, and 4) it left little to no time for the opponent to get another good chance to score.

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Other old news:
- Gopher-to-be Royce White was named Minnesota Mr. Basketball over Badger signee Mike Bruesewitz. Tubby fans rejoice.

- I did not stick around for the montage after the butt-whippin' UNC served up to Michigan State. But after hearing Wisconsin got two clips into this year's One Shining Moment reel, I finally watched the thing. Nice memories ... - Kirk Penney was named the 2009 MVP of the Australian NBL. He led the league in scoring at over 24 ppg after finishing second in scoring last season.

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.

Diamond Taylor Video

The best part of starting this open threads project for Wisconsin's latest recruits is that it forced me to hunt down elusive material. Prior to this I had never seen video clips of Diamond Taylor ... at least any in which he was identifiable. Luckily, today I stumbled across video of a Coach Gene Pingatore's 800th win from back in December that includes footage a nifty baseline move by Taylor. I also found a collection of very short summer league clips, like the one embedded below. These are the kinds of thing you can find compiled on Taylor's Prospect Profile page.

SJ vs Simeon - Diamond Taylor Pull-Up Jumper

Prospect profiles are now online for the last five preps to commit to Bo Ryan, which includes one from the upcoming freshman class. In the future, the green folder icon () next to any player listed in the Wisconsin recruiting sidebar will link to the open thread player page.

So far ...
2008: Ryan Evans
2009: Mike Bruesewitz | Diamond Taylor
2010: Vander Blue | Evan Anderson

Links:
- Has Northwestern become a player in recruiting? Nah ...
- Wisconsin was a "Near Miss" on Van Coleman's list of Top 40 (41) Recruiting Classes
- Mark Miller analyzes the top state players from the NY2LA Invitational at Wishoops.net

As One Era Begins, Another Era Closes

Wednesday officially signalled Ryan Evans' acceptance into the Wisconsin basketball family with a signed Letter of Intent, completing a diverse freshman class for next season. The Badgers will bring in five new players next fall without a single native Wisconsinite among them. Evans' uncle Dave, a former All-American wrestler at UW, might actually make Ryan the closest thing to home-grown talent that the staff has signed for 2008.

For the third year in a row, none of the incoming scholarship players will be from Milwaukee. How long will that continue now that the legendary Tom Diener has resigned from his post at Milwaukee Vincent?

If there is a scarcity of college-ready talent in the city, it is not Diener's fault. In his 15 years as head coach at Vincent, Diener sent a multitude of very skilled players off to various Division I college basketball programs. In fact, Wisconsin's last two scholarship players out of Milwaukee--Marcus Landry and Boo Wade--both played under Diener for powerhouse Vincent squads. Ray Nixon also started his career at Vincent. The coach was a pretty solid player himself at UW-Green Bay.

As Mark Miller notes, Diener's Vikings dominated the Milwaukee City Conference in recent years, not to mention winning the five state championships. Diener won more gold balls than any other Division 1 coach in WIAA history via a three-peat (1996-98) and additional back-to-back titles (2000-01), plus won two silver runner-up trophies (2005 & 2007).

Diener was impressive in molding the talent around him into winners through defensive intensity. In a lot of ways, Diener's top players were ideal Badgers, provided they could make the grades and stay out of trouble.

With scholarships accounted for in 2009 and offers already extended to other in 2010, it may be awhile before another Badger emerges from the state's largest city. It's too early to tell, but 2001 PG Larry Bradley from Vincent appears to be the only one out there. Perhaps the assistant who scours the Milwaukee area for Bo can take some much-needed vacation time.

We know conclusively that Howard Moore is hard at work all over the country. After Ryan Evans signed his LOI, Moore was finally able to comment on his third Badger recruiting success. Moore revealed some interesting comparisons, both physical and social, regarding Evans. Needless to say, Moore is excited about the Ryan Evans era.

I bet Evans appeared much different on Moore's highlight reel than he did on the game film I downloaded the other night. I felt pretty stupid that it took me almost the entire game to realize it was a game from Evans' junior season. That would seem to partially explain his slow defensive footwork and lack of aggression on the glass despite being one of the tallest players on the court. It is not surprising that it might take more than a year to adjust to growing six inches all of a sudden. In the clips I have seen elsewhere, Evans does look noticeably bigger nowadays.

I'm sure Diener would have loved coaching Evans this year. He could have gone out with another gold ball.

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Links:
- Brian Butch plays too soft for pro ball. Duh ... but hearing it from a French dude?! Ouch.
- Another duh: Bucks fire "the other" Coach K
- Marquette keeps Mbakwe and replaces a star recruit with another JUCO

Hook'em Bucky

Wow.

It's been a few days since the Badgers shocked the 9th-ranked Texas Longhorns and I'm still giddy. Just the type of win Wisconsin needed to validate the non-conference portion of the schedule. Not only did the Badgers get their first road win against a top ten opponent in 27 years, but the team inspired a great new one-liner from Jay Bilas: "Bo Ryan is a thief!"

It was a thrilling game that was tight the entire 40 minutes. If I had to categorize the upset, I'd apply two labels. First, the Most Pleasantly Surprising Finish Ever. Losing arguably the team's most talented player the night before a game in which UW squared off against the quickest point guard in the nation, no one expected the Badgers to hang with the Longhorns, let alone win on the road. Secondly, I would call the performance Wisconsin's Best Executed Game Plan of the Year. Bo out-coached Rick Barnes and effectively set the tempo in Wisconsin's favor. What a breath of fresh air to see Wisconsin pound the ball inside to its best scorers (Butch and Landry) with smart passes (14 assists) and few turnovers (10 total). [box score]



While the ending was historic, none of it happens without Brian Butch. The Polar Bear dominated the post, using shot fakes and a deft touch around the rim. He tallied 21 points, 11 boards and three assists to lead UW in each category. Even so, when Butch missed the front end of a bonus opportunity -- part of another poor showing at the free throw stripe -- I thought the Badgers were sunk. But that's where the hometown boy come in ...

The last 30 seconds contained three of the most important plays of Michael Flowers' career. Saying he stepped up is more than a huge understatement. It started with his hustle for an offensive rebound in the corner after an absolutely pathetic possession in which J-Bo fired up an off-balance prayer with the shot clock winding down. Bo's decision to go for a quick two-pointer out of the timeout was perfect; the execution by Marcus Landry was priceless.

A missed free throw by A.J. Abrams (Texas was equally awful at hitting freebies) was all Wisconsin needed to complete the coup. And there are hardly any words for that ... as Bo proved by choking up in the post-game interview.