SPORTS
Wisconsin tops Kansas State to advance to Sweet 16
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Also by Ben Voelkel:
- Defense vital in victory (March 21, 2008)
- Balanced scoring leads team to championship (March 10, 2008)
- Wisconsin ends regular season (March 7, 2008)
- Happy basketball players come from Wisconsin (March 6, 2008)
- Big Ten Champs! (March 6, 2008)
Related Stories:
- Kansas ready for revenge against Illinois (March 21, 2002)
- UW recieves 6th seed for big dance (March 14, 2005)
- Top seeds hope to finish strong (March 13, 2008)
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by Ben Voelkel
Saturday, March 22, 2008
OMAHA, Neb. — Let the dancing continue, all the way to Mo-Town.
Thanks to a career-high 25 points from point guard Trevon Hughes, Wisconsin defeated Kansas State 72-55 at the Qwest Center Saturday to advance to the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16.
The Badgers will play the winner of Sunday’s game between second seed Georgetown and 10th-seed Davidson in the Midwest regional semifinal Friday in Detroit.
“We didn’t get away from anything,” forward Joe Krabbenhoft said. “We didn’t try to be anything we weren’t. We’re Wisconsin, and that was Wisconsin basketball that beat a very good team … probably the most talented team in the country.”
The Badgers seized control of the game immediately in the second half, scoring seven unanswered points as part of a 10-2 run that pushed the lead to 14 points at 49-35 with just more than 15 minutes remaining in the game.
While Kansas State would try chipping away at the deficit, Wisconsin never let the lead erode away. The closest the Wildcats would draw over the rest of the second half was nine.
“We always say the first five minutes are key, so we really came out in the first five minutes and we really imposed our will,” junior forward Marcus Landry said. “We really did some great things on the offensive end and the defensive end.”
Sophomore point guard Trevon Hughes, who played the best game of his young career, keyed the run, scoring eight of his career-high 25 points during that stretch. Hughes would also finish with three turnovers against just one turnover.
After leading Wisconsin in scoring for most of the season, Hughes had seen his point production drop off in the over the last month, finishing with double digit point totals just once in the last nine games.
Hughes admitted to pressing somewhat in Wisconsin’s first round game against Cal State Fullerton, Hughes’ first real time playing in the NCAA tournament. The sophomore scored eight points and handed out four assists, but he also finished the game with three costly turnovers.
“Today I knew I had to be under control and play Wisconsin basketball, get my teammates involved before I start forcing anything.”
Saturday, Hughes was a polished scorer and during that 10-2 run scored on an aggressive drive to the hoop, a mid-range jumper and a 3-pointer.
“My shot was falling,” Hughes said matter-of-factly. “That was the difference.”
As were backcourt mates Michael Flowers and Jason Bohannon shots. Flowers added 15 points and Bohannon five as Wisconsin’s guards outscored their Kansas State counterparts 45 to eight.
“It started with Trevon getting us fired up, Mike getting us fired up,” forward Joe Krabbenhoft said. “Our guards did a great job.”
The much-ballyhooed freshman duo of forwards Michael Beasley (23 points) and Bill Walker (18) lived up to the hype, combining for nearly 80 percent of the Wildcats scoring.
And while Beasley and Walker did their damage, Wisconsin was able to keep a double digit lead for most of the second half thanks to a smothering defense that limited the rest of the Kansas State team to just 14 points.
“Their offense is based on [Walker and Beasley], getting the ball in their hands every possession, so we tried to make other players beat us,” said Flowers, who at 6-foot-2 spent a good deal of time trying to guard the much taller, 6-foot-6 Walker by fronting him in the post.
“We expected them to be physical,” Walker said. “They’re a good team. That’s why they’re hard to play. They’re not going to give anything to you easy.”
As long as the Badgers continue to play with that same physicality and effort, they will be a hard to keep from continuing to dance.
“That’s for play to determine,” Krabbenhoft said.
“We’ll see on Sunday,” he continued before being reminded the Badgers next game would be on Friday.
“We’re playing Sunday, too,” he guaranteed.
Anonymous (March 24, 2008 @ 10:34am):
Now will we get respect from commentators? No, probably not. Even if (or rather, when) we beat Kansas and go to the Final Four, we'll still get bashed.
Anonymous (March 24, 2008 @ 2:26pm):
three turnovers against just one turnover? interesting
Anonymous (March 24, 2008 @ 2:54pm):
What do you expect? There's no "talent" on this team, right?
The only "talent" they have is playing as a team and winning games. Why should the commentators respect that?
GO BADGERS - to the Final Four and then on to NUMBER ONE!!!!
After all, the Badgers only "talent" is winning games.
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