For the 19th consecutive time, the Wisconsin men's basketball team followed a loss with a victory. Tuesday night that victory came at the hands of No.10 Purdue (7-3 Big Ten, 18-5 overall) as UW (6-3, 16-5) took down the Boilermakers 66-59.
It has become a regular occurrence for the Badgers to bounce back after a defeat— they haven't lost two consecutive games since Jan. 2009— but Tuesday night's game-changer was far from predictable.
Sophomore forward Ryan Evans arguably played his best game in a Badger uniform, dropping 10 points in 19 minutes, and bringing the Kohl Center faithful to their feet with a number of thunderous dunks.
""We've been talking all year long about how we got guys on this team that people probably are not going to think twice about just because they might not be the big names,"" junior guard Jordan Taylor said. ""And Ryan, we've been saying what he could give to this team all year long and this was just a little show tonight.""
The Badgers used a decent shooting display and some great inside scoring in the first half to take an eight point lead into the intermission.
Following halftime, the Boilermakers came out firing on all cylinders, connecting on 13 of their first 14 shots, and were able to take the lead 43-39, with 12:14 left in the second half. Purdue's JaJuan Johnson led the charge scoring 10 of his team-high 23 points in the six minutes following halftime.
""I didn't think we did a very good job [of defending Johnson] in the second half and we're going to take a look at why,"" head coach Bo Ryan said. ""This is a forty-minute game and we need to be better.""
UW was able to recover in the second half partly due to the efficient play of senior forward Jon Leuer. After a quick turnover early in the second half, Leuer knocked down his first four shots and kept it close despite the push the Boilermakers were making. Leuer, who finished with a game-high 24 points, shot 8-of-18 from the field for the game and converted all six of his free throw attempts.
""He could have taken better care of the ball ... but he found some areas to get angles and finished around the basket,"" Ryan said.
Taylor was able to contribute again Tuesday night, putting up 15 points and grabbing seven rebounds in 38 crucial minutes. He also did nothing to hurt his nation-best 4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio by dishing out five assists, while only committing two turnovers.
Although Taylor and Leuer have garnered most of the national attention, Taylor is quick to praise his teammates and the fans for the success they saw against a stubborn Purdue squad.
""The crowd was unbelievable tonight—anytime you have a tough opponent like that you will take any advantage you can get,"" Taylor said. ""It was just a complete team effort.""
