Facing a second-half deficit for the first time all season, Wisconsin used big performances from a pair of bench players to rally past Georgetown for a 68-65 victory and advance to the final of the Battle 4 Atlantis.
The Badgers (6-0) trailed by as much as nine points with 11:36 remaining, but used a 22-6 run to take down the Hoyas (4-1). Sophomore Bronson Koenig scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half for Wisconsin, who will face Oklahoma tomorrow at 3 p.m. in the tournament championship game.
Redshirt senior forward Duje Dukan scored all eight of his points over a 65-second span in the second half, during which he hit two 3-pointers and sunk a pair of free throws.
Junior forward Sam Dekker scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Badgers, and sophomore forward Nigel Hayes added 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting and finished with seven rebounds. Hayes had a key tip-in with 20 seconds left to push the UW lead to three.
Wisconsin overcame a huge performance from junior guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera, who finished with a season-high 29 points for the Hoyas to lead all scorers.
Smith-Rivera was 11-of-18 from the field, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. Senior center Joshua Smith was the only other Georgetown scorer to reach double-digits, finishing the game with 10 points and three rebounds.
The lone 3-pointer that Smith-Rivera missed on the day was his attempt to tie the game at the final buzzer.
As a team, the Hoyas shot 53.2 percent from the field, but missed eight of their last 10 field goals. In addition, they also held a 32-22 scoring edge over Wisconsin on points in the paint.
Both teams, who met for the first time since 1982, struggled to protect the ball, combining for 29 turnovers on the afternoon. The Badgers scored 23 points off 15 Georgetown turnovers.
Wisconsin overcame a poor performance from senior forward Frank Kaminsky, who finished with a season-low six points and made just one of his eight shot attempts.
