MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Wisconsin Badgers’ season came to a heartbreaking close at the hands of the Pittsburgh Panthers Sunday. Despite a hostile environment in the Bradley Center, the third-seeded Panthers were able to hold off the sixth-seeded Badgers 59-55 and advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
“We just came out and we knew we had to stick together to get this win,” Pittsburgh guard Carl Krauser said. “We just wanted to trust each other and rely on the fact that we are all that we got. Playing down here in Wisconsin against a great Badger team, we just tried to play hard.”
The contest was a neck-and-neck affair throughout, with neither team leading by more than seven. UW struck first on a Mike Wilkinson jumper off a feed from Devin Harris. A Harris 3-point field goal at the 13:25 mark gave the Badgers a 9-4 lead, but the Panthers fought back to tie the score, then claimed the lead on a putback by Mark McCarroll.
After Pittsburgh point guard Carl Krauser knocked down a jump shot to give the Panthers a 15-11 advantage, Harris drained a 3-pointer to pull the Badgers within one, then gave UW the lead on a baseline jumper with 6:22 remaining in the half.
The Panthers made another surge on the strength of a hoop and pair of free throws from Krauser. They opened up a 26-21 lead after guard Julius Page hit a 3-pointer with 1:29 left in the half, but Harris erased the advantage once again. He finished a fast break with a sensational spin move and lay-up, then ended the first stanza by drilling a 3-pointer over the top of Pittsburgh’s Chevon Troutman, knotting the score at 26.
Pittsburgh came out of the locker room firing, opening the second half with a 9-2 run to grab their largest lead of the day at 35-28 after a 3-pointer from Page. Wisconsin quickly responded by rattling off a 7-0 run. After consecutive baskets by Zach Morley, Harris capped the UW surge with his fourth 3-pointer of the game, evening the score at 35 with 14:11 remaining.
Harris hit his fifth and final deep ball at the 12-minute mark, breaking a 37-37 deadlock. That 3-pointer, however, proved to be Harris’s final basket of the game, thanks in part to the defense of Pittsburgh’s Jaron Brown.
“I knew he is a good player and I said all day that I wanted to make him make tough shots and force some things,” Brown said of Harris. “I was wearing down as the game went on because he kept on running around screens.”
With more than five minutes left on the clock, the Badgers appeared to be on the verge of putting the game away. Two free throws from Morley gave UW a 42-41 lead, and after the two squads traded three-point plays, Clayton Hanson connected from behind the arc to put Wisconsin on top by four at 48-44. The Panthers, however, were not to be denied. Freshman Chris Taft flew down the lane for a thunderous slam-dunk putback of a Page miss, cutting the lead to two.
On the ensuing possession, Page intercepted a Harris pass intended for Hanson and took it the length of the court for a dunk.
“I think they had run the same play a couple of possessions before and I knew they were going to pass it to the guy,” Page said, “so I just wanted to anticipate and hopefully I could come away with the steal. I didn’t want to miss. I just got fortunate and got the steal.”
UW’s troubles continued as Harris was called for traveling. The Panthers seized the opportunity and grabbed the lead as Troutman beat Ray Nixon inside for a three-point play. The Badgers never lead again.
“We did not finish off the game like we wanted to,” Harris said. “I think I had three or four turnovers in that span that kind of killed us and shots didn’t fall, so that’s a double hurt for us. That’s how they got ahead and they stayed on top.”
Wisconsin tied the game at 52 with a little more than three minutes left, but that was as close as it got for the Badgers. Krauser gave Pittsburgh the lead for good on a driving lay-in. Harris had a chance to give UW the lead but failed to connect on a 3-pointer. On the Panthers’ next possession, Brown ripped down an offensive rebound and sank two free throws after being fouled by Boo Wade. For the game, the Panthers held a 40-31 rebounding edge and a 15-7 advantage on the offensive glass.
Brown’s free throws proved to be crucial, as Wade buried a 3-pointer on the next possession to keep the Badgers’ hopes alive. The basket made the count 56-55 with just 21.8 seconds to play.
“We had Devin and Clay running off screens, trying to get our best shooters open,” Wade said. “I hit Devin and my man left me. Devin came off the screen and Devin was able to find me. I was wide open so I took the shot and I was able to knock it down.”
After Krauser hit two free throws to put Pittsburgh up by three, Wisconsin had a chance to tie. After Harris and Wade passed on shots, Morley missed a long two-point jump shot.
“[We wanted to] either get it to the rim, score quickly and try to intercept the inbounds pass or attack and kick it out for the three,” Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan said. “If Zach’s goes down, there’s still five seconds on the clock — we’re okay. Zach’s guy ended up backing off him, it’s a shot he can knock down.”
Brown sealed the win for Pittsburgh by making one of two free throws.
“We got through it against a very good Wisconsin team. They’re a tough team and very well-coached,” Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon said. “I’m just so proud of our guys and how they fought through it and got it done.”
Harris finished with a game-high 21 points and seven rebounds, but he was also credited with six turnovers. Morley gave UW 12 points and nine boards off the bench.
For the Panthers, Krauser tallied 16 points and eight rebounds, while Page added 12 points, four rebounds and a pair of steals. Wisconsin ends the season with a 25-7 record. Pittsburgh advances to face Oklahoma State Thursday in East Rutherford, N.J.
“We thought we would be able to get them since it was right here in Milwaukee and all,” Wade said. “They played a great game and they were very aggressive and the refs were letting us play, and they were able to finish.”
