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Badgers fall in OT

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Photo by AP Photo/Andy Manis

Minnesota's Paul Carter, left, and Lawrence Westbrook battle with Wisconsin's Trevon Hughes and Marcus Landry, right, for the ball during overtime of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009, in Madison, Wis. Minnesota won 78-74.

MADISON — The clock read 3:27, the scoreboard read 52-42 for the Badgers, and everything was going the University of Wisconsin’s way.

The Badgers were about to get their 12th consecutive win in games following a loss since February 2007, in front of a rowdier-than-usual sellout crowd of 17,230 at the Kohl Center— and at the expense of one of their top rivals, the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who at least on a temporary basis have assumed the basketball throne between the neighboring schools.

But the hot hand of Gopher guard Lawrence Westbrook, along with superb execution of the full-court press, wouldn’t let Wisconsin flex its hoops muscles over Minnesota again in a 78-74 overtime victory for the Gophers here Thursday night.

It’s only the ninth loss at the Kohl Center in Wisconsin’s eight seasons under coach Bo Ryan, and only the Badgers’ fourth Big Ten loss at home under Ryan. Minnesota, in fact, joined Illinois and Purdue as the only Big Ten schools to beat the Badgers at the Kohl Center in the Ryan era.

At the same time, the Gophers got their first win at Wisconsin since Feb. 12, 1994—and even that win was tainted by the academic scandal under former coach Clem Haskins. Minnesota’s last win at Wisconsin that officially counts in the school’s record books was exactly 17 years ago, on Jan. 15, 1992

But now, the 17th-ranked Gophers (16-1) have another—along with a 4-1 conference record that has them just a half-game behind Michigan State (4-0) in the Big Ten.

“A loss like this always hurts,” said despondent UW forward Marcus Landry, whose team fell to 3-2 in the Big Ten and 12-5 overall. “You come in, you’re up 10 with about four minutes to go, and you end up losing the game.

“These are the games that hurt. These are games that stick with you, and these are games you never want to have games like this again.”

Landry wasn’t alone in those feelings.

“To blow it right down the stretch is really tough,” UW junior guard Jason Bohannon said.

It all started with Minnesota’s full-court press defense, which was particularly effective on a Wisconsin team that had trouble even inbounding the ball. As it happened, the Badgers committed 18 turnovers, including a season-high six for point guard Trevon Hughes.

“We just made some poor decisions, as a team collectively,” Bohannon said. “I had some, Trevon had some, everybody had some. We have to correct that.

“It was tough to handle. They did a good job pressuring, but we still should have been able to break it and make smarter decisions.”

Then when Bohannon’s layup attempt was blocked by a flying Paul Carter, Minnesota got back-to-back threes-point goals, including Westbrook’s game-tying shot with two seconds to go, which sent the game to overtime at 62-62.

“I’ve ran that over in my mind many times,” Bohannon said of his layup try, which would have given Wisconsin a six-point lead with 37 seconds remaining.

“I should have pump faked, and either gotten the easy layup or drawn the foul, or I could have pulled it out. It was in the speed of the game, I just thought I would get it up there real quick.

“Looking back on it now,” Bohannon lamented, “I probably should have made a different decision.”

As it was, Minnesota looked like the fresher team in overtime. Westbrook continued to dominate, and had eight points on Minnesota’s 10-0 run that propelled the Gophers to victory.

“He was remarkable,” said Minnesota coach Tubby Smith of Westbrook, who finished with a career-high 29 points. “There is nothing bigger than a three to send it into overtime.

“When he attacks the basket with his size, the players know when he is in that zone. I’m glad he got into it tonight when he did.”

As much as Wisconsin lost its focus on the offensive end, Minnesota was tenacious with the ball down the stretch. In the final four minutes of regulation, the Gophers had 10 possessions that produced 20 points.

Then, in overtime, Minnesota hit all four of its two-point attempts, and was 8-of-9 from the line.

“It came from their aggression; it came from our guys making some mistakes,” UW coach Bo Ryan said. “They’re human. The problem was, they were too human in too short a period of time.”

This all came with Minnesota getting virtually nothing from its dynamic point guard, sophomore Al Nolen (second in the Big Ten in assists), who fouled out with seven points and no assists.

Westbrook and his defensive helpers were more than enough to pick up the slack.

“This one’s going to keep me up (at night),” Landry said. “You think about the game, always think about what we could have done different, but it doesn’t change the outcome of the game at all.”