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December 11, 2010 - Wisconsin vs. Marquette

Wisconsin 69 Marquette 64

Wisconsin Too Tall, Too Tough For Marquette

The Wisconsin Badgers left the door ajar Saturday afternoon . . . just enough to give the Marquette Golden Eagles a glimmer of hope with time winding down and the game on the line.

Then, just as a true rival is supposed to, they slammed it shut in their faces.

With UW up by three, Josh Gasser helped force Dwight Buycks into a turnover in front of MU's bench with 2.6 seconds remaining, keeping the Golden Eagles from getting a potential game-tying shot off, and the Badgers escaped the Bradley Center with a hard-fought, 69-64 win in the teams' 117th all-time meeting.

A crowd of 19,074, fourth-largest in MU history, watched a bigger, more disciplined UW team cause the smaller and more athletic Golden Eagles fits all game long defensively and flummox them on the offensive boards in the second half in opening up a 12-point lead with 9 minutes 7 seconds remaining.

Yet MU (7-3), which went the first 7:11 of the second half without a field goal, was able to cobble together enough offense to get to within a three-pointer of possibly sending the game into overtime before finally falling to the Badgers (8-2) for the second consecutive season.

“This is a tough place to come in and get one,” said UW coach Bo Ryan, who improved to 6-4 overall against MU and 2-3 at the Bradley Center. “Whether it's an in-state rivalry game or a Big East game or a non-conference game. That's the way it should be.

”(We) weren't frazzled.“

Junior guard Jordan Taylor scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Badgers, and hit 5 of 7 free throws in the final 32.6 seconds. But it was his second miss, with 7.8 seconds remaining and UW up, 67-64, that set the stage for the dramatic finish.

Jae Crowder corralled the errant toss and got the ball to Buycks, who worked the ball upcourt and toward the Golden Eagles' bench. The senior guard was looking for a dribble handoff to teammate Darius Johnson-Odom, but Gasser had other ideas.

The freshman guard from Port Washington was able to affect the play just enough to cause the ball to deflect off Buycks and out of bounds.

The stunned Golden Eagles were then forced to foul Taylor, who stepped up to the line with 1.8 seconds left and calmly drained both to seal the deal.

“I didn't even look at the official because they were trying to foul - they were up three,” said MU coach Buzz Williams. “Then, when I did look at him he said, 'Turnover.' We were looking for a handoff and fade screen, which is what we had done the previous possession.”

Added Buycks: “They tied it up, basically, ball went out of bounds, no call. We can't hang our heads on that.”

Indeed, UW won the game with a mix of stifling defense and hard work on the offensive glass coming out of the locker room in the second half.

Nursing a 32-30 halftime lead, the Badgers - who entered the day limiting opponents to 37.1% shooting and 52.6 points per game - held the Golden Eagles to seven free throws until Jimmy Butler's drive at the 12:49 mark ended MU's shutout from the field.

Adding to their frustration was the fact UW was able to do much of its damage without the benefit of star forward Jon Leuer (17 points), who was forced to take a seat at the 17:44 mark with three fouls. Picking up the slack offensively was senior Keaton Nankivil (12 points), who scored three straight baskets to help keep the Badgers afloat.

Leuer finally checked back in at the 10:41 mark, and from there he helped UW demoralize MU on the glass. On three consecutive possessions the Badgers ran time off the clock, missed a shot and then grabbed their own miss, only to bring the ball back out top and reset.

After the third, UW had opened its lead to 63-53 with 3:12 left, leaving the heavily partisan MU crowd groaning in frustration. In all, the Badgers grabbed 15 of their 32 rebounds on the offensive end and outscored the Golden Eagles, 21-9, in the paint.

Mike Bruesewitz led the way with a game-high eight rebounds, with four on each end.

“That's too frustrating,” said Butler, who led MU with 15 points. “We play great defense for a good 25, 30 seconds and then they put up a shot and we all turn and watch, knowing if they get it they're going to back it back out and play another 25 to 30.”

Added Ryan: “The idea is you can put it right back after a pump-fake, or we get it out and make them work again. Plus, we know what it does mentally to the other team.”

Buycks rebounded from a sprained left ankle that held him out of Tuesday's game to score 13 points off the bench, while Vander Blue was mostly a non-factor with seven in 29 minutes. Johnson-Odom, meanwhile, turned in his worst game of the season, scoring eight points on 1-for-9 shooting.

The win was the fourth straight for UW, while MU is still looking for its first “résumé” win, with a game Dec. 29 at Vanderbilt the Golden Eagles' last chance in the non-conference portion of their season.

Box Score



Play-By-Play



men_s_basketball/uw_12_11_10.1292263823.txt.gz · Last modified: 2020/12/07 16:39 (external edit)