SPOKANE, Wash. — Freddie Owens had a feeling he’d get open. After being down 13 points to Tulsa with four minutes left in the game, Wisconsin came raging back to pull within 2 points, 58-60, with 12 seconds remaining. With just one possession left, Owens was almost certain the ball would end up in his hands.

Head coach Bo Ryan drew up a high-ball screen, where Devin Harris would turn the corner and take the ball to the hoop. But two defenders followed Harris around the screen, and the sophomore was forced to dump the ball off as he crossed back toward the baseline, finding Owens wide open in the corner.

“I was very tempted to shoot it, but we had plenty of time left,” Harris said. “So I crossed the ball back over and looked crosscourt and there was Freddie, with his eyes as wide as I don’t know what.”

“I was just ready to catch and shoot,” Owens said. “I just had a feeling that I was going to get open. When [Harris] passed it to me, I was ready with my feet set. I caught it and shot it and it went in.”

And as simple as that, Owens drained a 3-pointer from the corner with one second remaining to beat Tulsa 61-60 in the second round of the Midwest bracket of the NCAA tournament. With the win, the Badgers advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since they made it all the way to the Final Four in 2000.

After holding on Thursday to beat Weber State, the Badgers had a much more difficult time with the Golden Hurricanes of Tulsa.

Tulsa held UW to a lowly 38.6 shooting percentage while outrebounding the Badgers 41-32. Kirk Penney, who had 21 points and nine rebounds against Weber State, was held to a season-low 6 points on 2-12 shooting.

Tulsa shot 44.1 percent from the floor. Overall, Tulsa was 22-6 in games in which the Golden Hurricanes shot better than their opponent and 17-4 in games in which the Golden Hurricanes outrebounded their opponent.

“[The Golden Hurricanes] did a good job [on defense] for most of the game, but it just shows the depth we have on our team and how they react to the ball,” Penney said. “If one guy is not getting where he usually goes then that is fine, because we’ve got so may weapons.”

The most consistent offensive presence for the Badgers was sophomore forward Mike Wilkinson, who led the team with 18 points and eight rebounds. The Badgers improved to 15-1 when the forward reaches double figures.

Despite the sophomore’s success, Wilkinson had a hard time stopping Tulsa forward Kevin Johnson, who scored 23 points and collected nine rebounds.

“Mike gave me a headache for a while,” Ryan said. “Early, they were craftier than he was. He was getting beat quite a bit. But Mike never stops working, and once we got over the headache, he did a better job of blocking out and getting his shot.”

Johnson and junior guard Jason Parker gave a nearly unstoppable performance for Tulsa, providing 40 of the Golden Hurricane’s 60 points. Parker scored 15 points in the first half on 5-9 shooting but only managed one field goal in the second half.

Johnson scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half, and Tulsa’s dominance wasn’t halted until the Badgers made their late run.

A media timeout was called after Johnson nailed a 3-pointer to put Tulsa up 45-58 with 4:08 remaining. Ryan gathered his troops for one last stand, injecting his team with enough poise to limit the Golden Hurricanes to just one field goal in the game’s final stretch.

“In the huddle with about three or four minutes to go, I told those guys, ‘This is going to be one that they’ll talk about for a long time.’ And they listened — and they did it,” Ryan said. “I’m just extremely proud of them.”

After a Harris 3-pointer, Alando Tucker hit both free throws on a one-and-one after being fouled by Tulsa’s Charlie Davis with 3:04 remaining. Tucker then collected a lay-up on the Badgers’ pursuing possession with 2:04 remaining to cut the lead to six at 52-58.

Wilkinson went to the free-throw line with 1:37 remaining after being fouled while rebounding a missed free throw by Tucker. Wilkinson nailed both to cut the lead to 54-58.

Harris stole a Dante Swanson pass and turned it the other way, dumping it off to Wilkinson for a long 2-pointer to cut the lead to two.

Kevin Johnson found an easy two underneath the hoop to extend the Tulsa lead back to four, 56-60, but Harris came back with a contested layup with 48 seconds remaining to cut the lead back to 2.

Tulsa turned the ball over on a shot clock violation after Parker missed the rim on a bank shot with 12 seconds left in the game. The Badgers then called a timeout to draw up their final play.

“They came down the floor and everybody was running everywhere,” Tulsa’s Johnson said of Wisconsin’s final possession. “[Owens] slipped out to the corner and was able to hit that shot. It’s hard to say what happened. This is March Madness and anything can happen.”

The Badgers’ 16-2 run in the game’s final four minutes was fueled by Harris, who scored five of his 12 points and accounted for one steal and two assists, including his dish to Owens in the corner for the game-winning 3-pointer.

“Everyone that has seen us play knows that that is his shot,” Ryan said. “He is pretty comfortable.”

“I work on shots like that every day, and this is where it pays off,” Owens said. “It’s a great feeling. It’s one you tell your kids and grandkids about.”