ST. LOUIS — When Bo Ryan stepped down in mid-December, the Wisconsin Badgers appeared on the fast track to the NIT after a 7-5 start to the season.
Three months later, they are headed to their fifth Sweet Sixteen in the last six years thanks to some Bronson Koenig heroics.
Koenig buried a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to hand the Badgers (22-12) a 66-63 win over No. 2 seed Xavier (28-6), the latest twist in a roller coaster season for Wisconsin.
“I’ve seen him make a lot of big shots, but none bigger than that one,” redshirt junior guard Zak Showalter said. “That kid’s got a flair for the dramatic, and he definitely showed that tonight.”
Friday night against Pittsburgh, Koenig failed to hit a single 3-pointer, ending his school-record 43-game streak with at least one made triple. Two days later, he buried a career-high six, including the game winner and a game-tying bucket with 11.7 seconds to play.
After Koenig tied the game, Xavier had a chance to get the game-winning shot, but when sophomore guard Trevon Bluiett went to drive toward the basket, Showalter slid in front of him to draw a pivotal charge.
“[Bluiett] went right all game,” Showalter said. “I tried to take [a charge] a couple of times. I took it away and just anticipated.”
That charge allowed Wisconsin to get the ball back with 4.3 seconds remaining. After the Badgers got the ball past half-court, UW head coach Greg Gard had junior forward Nigel Hayes call a timeout to draw up one final play.
Koenig took the inbound pass from redshirt freshman forward Ethan Happ, turned around and calmly sunk the 3-pointer with Xavier guard Remy Abell’s hand in his face. After starting the game 0-for-6 from the field, Koenig finished 6-of-15, including a 6-of-12 mark from behind the arc.
“I told Ethan [Happ] before the play even started, I knew I wanted the ball. So I went up to him and told him, ‘pass to me if I’m open.’ And I got open. He did a great job of hitting me,” Koenig said. “I let it fly and I knew it was going in. I can’t really explain the feeling after I hit it.”
Koenig led all scorers with 20 points. Happ added 18 of his own on 7-of-10 shooting, and junior forward Vitto Brown chipped in 12 points, 10 of which came in the first half.
The Musketeers led by as much as nine points with six minutes left after a 12-2 run midway through the second half. Facing a three-possession deficit and with its offense stagnant, Wisconsin’s season was hanging from its last thread.
But the Badgers refused to go quietly into the night, clawing their way back and setting the stage for a final shot that will live on forever in NCAA Tournament lore.
“That’s where I thought this group has grown so much — November, December, down nine, they might have wilted and waved the white flag,” Gard said. “This time of year they’re not doing that. They’ve grown and matured in a lot of ways. Obviously that’s the result.”
It was an especially emotional victory for Wisconsin assistant coach Lamont Paris, who wasn’t with the team earlier in the week. Paris spent the earlier part of the week with his ailing mother, who recently suffered a stroke. After the game, Paris was the first person Gard met outside the Wisconsin locker room, joining him in a lengthy embrace.
“It was hard for me not to be emotional at the end of it,” Paris said of the dramatic win. “Being in the moment of the game itself is very important, but I must admit there was one time toward the end where I thought about her.”
And of course, it was an emotional win for the tight-knit roster that endured so much turmoil at the beginning of the season and yet found a way to rebound and reach a point few thought possible as little as two months ago.
“I’m so proud of how far we’ve come, and no one really believed we’d get to this point,” Koenig said. “For us to all collectively just believe in each other and that’s how we got this done. It feels great to get to this point with a group of guys that I can call my family.”
