NEW YORK—The No. 15 Wisconsin Badgers (7-1 Big Ten, 18-3 overall) might have traveled halfway across the country to face the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in Madison Square Garden Saturday afternoon, but there was little to no showmanship in the Badgers’ trip to Broadway.
But as time expired in overtime, sophomore forward Ethan Happ saluted the crowd, euphoric as the sophomore forward from Milan, Ill., scored a career-high 32 points to carry Wisconsin to a 61-54 victory.
In the first half UW struggled to muster any offense against the Scarlet Knights’ defense. Disrupted by Rutgers’ ball-pressure, UW didn’t have a field goal in the final 10:36 of the first frame.
Time and time again, UW looked to play inside-out, feeding the post in hopes of finding an open three-point shooter, but the shots seldom fell for UW. Wisconsin was a dreadful 1-of-12 from three in the first half, the lone make a Jordan Hill attempt with 14:09 to play.
Happ led the Badgers with 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting, but the rest of the team was only 2-of–20 from the field.
UW continued to struggle from deep to open the second half, as the Badgers missed their first three attempts from beyond the arc. Happ snapped the Badgers’ nearly 14-minute field goal drought with a layup with 16:30 to play, and minutes later senior guard Bronson Koenig made his first field goal of the game to cut Rutgers’ lead to two.
Happ made two free throws to tie the game at 27 with 14:04 to play and just over two minutes later, a long two-point jumper by Charles Thomas IV gave Wisconsin the lead.
But UW’s offense would continue to struggle. After Thomas’ jumper with 11:52 to play, the Badgers would go field goal-less for almost eight more minutes.
Happ finished a layup off of a Nigel Hayes missed free throw with 4:33 to play, but couldn’t convert the free throw.
Wisconsin trailed by seven points with under three-minutes to go, before two late baskets by Happ cut the UW lead to three. Senior guard Zak Showalter would slash Rutgers’ lead to two with just over one minute to play.
Thirty seconds later, following a basket by Rutgers’ Corey Sanders, Koenig knocked down his second three-pointer of the lead, cutting Rutgers’ lead to one.
With just over 20 seconds to play, Koenig missed a wide-open three point attempt that would have given the Badgers the lead.
Rutgers’ Nigel Johnson split his pair of free throws, allowing Wisconsin to have the final possession of regulation, trailing by two. Needing a basket, the Badgers again turned to Happ, and the sophomore forward from Milan, Ill. delivered.
Happ scored the game-tying basket with two seconds to play in regulation, sending the game to overtime.
Hayes briefly gave UW the lead in overtime, before a three-pointer by Johnson again put the Scarlet Knights on top.
Happ though would continue to carry Wisconsin, scoring four consecutive points to give UW a lead with just under three minutes to play.
The sophomore forward would continue to carry Wisconsin’s offense, making another layup with 2:15 to play, giving UW a three-point lead.
With 1:33 left, Happ played the role of lead supporting actor, finding Hayes in the paint for a layup and a foul.
Rutgers center C.J. Gettys traveled on the ensuing Scarlet Knight possession, and (who else) Happ made one crucial free throws extending UW’s lead to five with just over 50 seconds to play.
Koenig and the Badgers iced the game from the free-throw line and the Badgers turned what was almost a bad loss into a close victory.
