The situation was worrisome at halftime. Purdue led 35-30 and had held off an impressive UW push to tie the game going into the locker room. The Boilermakers’ star center A.J. Hammons was dominating on both sides of the floor, scoring 10 points and holding Big Ten Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky to just four points. Purdue had played an excellent half of basketball and it was definitely possible they could keep it up and shock the nation.
Then the Badgers walked out of the locker room and proceeded to obliterate any and every hope of an upset.By the final buzzer, Wisconsin (16-2 Big Ten, 30-3 overall) had taken home a dominant 71-51 win over Purdue (12-6, 21-12) and was on its way to the Big Ten final.
Wisconsin reeled off a 10-0 run to begin the second half, then stretched that out to 29-9 to put the game out of reach. By the time junior forward Sam Dekker walked off the court as the final starter to be removed, the Badgers had outscored the Boilermakers 41-16 in the second half. The points per possession disparity was even more obscene: 1.68 to 0.60 when each team had its starters in.
It wasn’t a total turnaround for Bo Ryan’s squad, as they had actually played decently in the first half. The team hadn’t committed a single turnover and registered assists on all 10 of their field goals. Shots just weren’t falling, partially because Hammons (three blocks and even more shots altered) brought an authoritative presence to the Purdue interior.
“We were behind for a reason, but we're never going to freak out,” Dekker said after the game. “We're never going to try to get it all back in one play. We know we have a team that can put some things together and string some possessions together and win some ball games.”
Looking for that one play leads to some fun debates though. You could pick the possession where the Badgers muscled out two offensive rebounds and delivered a back-breaking 3-pointer from redshirt senior Josh Gasser.
Or you could pick when sophomore forward Nigel Hayes threw an outlet pass multiple feet ahead of Dekker and Kaminsky and watched as Dekker sprinted to the ball and dunked it over two defenders in one fluid motion.
“We limited the post touches and when they caught it in the post we made it tough,” Hayes said. “We limited them to one shot for most of the time and we are able to push the ball in the second half, so when we got the rebound we were getting easy looks and fast breaks.”
If there was one death knell for the Boilermakers though, it was when Hammons checked out for the final time after his fourth foul. He had scored no points in the second half thanks to Kaminsky's lockdown effort, but was still Purdue’s eventual leading scorer with 10 points and any comeback was likely to come through him.
Hammons’ backup, freshman Isaac Haas, was invisible for the most part, an impressive feat given his 7-foot-2-inch, 297-pound frame. Haas finished with just two points.
“[Hammons] is one of the best bigs in the country, he’s so dominant,” said redshirt senior forward Josh Gasser. “Haas is still a freshman, he’s still getting better and going to be a heck of a player, but there’s a reason Hammons got all the recognition ... We knew if we could get Hammons to the bench, it would probably be in our favor.”
Overall, the game was a testament to the Badgers’ ability to stay patient with their game plan when it doesn’t quite work out and blow the doors off their opponent when it does. Once Kaminsky and Dekker rediscovered their ability to penetrate the interior, Purdue was forced to adjust and leave a little more space for sophomore guard Bronson Koenig.
It was then Koenig who started striking, scoring 14 second-half points to total a career-high 19. His ability to capitalize on the lack of attention was one of the key factors in dismantling Purdue’s defensive game plan.
“He broke us down on a switch one time and stuck a three off Vince [Edwards]. He stuck a three on Basil [Smotherman], and we're going to live with that,” said Purdue head coach Matt Painter on Koenig. “We’re going to go on the switch and knock Frank Kaminsky out of driving the basketball, and then make him make a play over us. I think you've got to tip your hat to him.”
Wisconsin has taken some early punches from its opponents in both of its tournament games so far, but it has responded with a flurry of haymakers to leave no doubt as to who the top dog in the Big Ten is.
It now has one more game to play against Saturday's other winner, Michigan State. One more game to grab its first Big Ten Tournament trophy in eight years, one more game to make its case to the NCAA selection committee. With ACC powerhouses Virginia and Duke both falling in their tournament semifinal, one more win could bring the Badgers their first NCAA 1-seed in program history.
