The No. 11 Wisconsin Badgers led the Oregon Ducks by double-digits for most of Saturday afternoon before, seemingly out of nowhere, the Ducks took the life out of Wisconsin, ending regulation on a grueling, nine-minute, 19-4 run to defeat the Badgers 77-73 in overtime.
Wisconsin had everything going to plan. Leading Oregon by 11 with six minutes remaining, it was shaping up to be yet another Kohl Center clinic the Badgers had shown so many other Big Ten teams this season. But when Wisconsin started slipping, they didn’t stop until the final buzzer sounded.
The loss moves the Badgers to 21-6, (11-5 Big Ten) and drastically limits their chances at a share of the Big Ten title.
Guard John Tonje led the Badgers with 22 points, shooting 9-20 and seven assists, while guard John Blackwell had a forgettable offensive performance, scoring only six points on 2-9 shooting. Forward Steven Crowl added 12 points and six rebounds but had six turnovers, guard Max Klesmit added eight, shooting 3-9 with four rebounds, and guard Kamari McGee scored seven, (3-5) with two rebounds and two assists.
Meanwhile, Nate Bittle led the way for the Ducks. The seven-foot center scored 23 points and grabbed six rebounds, while guard Keeshawn Barthelemy added 14 points along with Jackson Shelstad’s 13 points.
From about the eight-minute mark in the second half on, faced with a physical Oregon defense, Wisconsin seemingly forgot how to play the game that has propelled their season to magical heights. Their offense, fast and fearsome, smooth and ruthlessly together, turned into an hesitant, broken-down version of it. Oregon took over the game, and the Badgers let a huge one slip away.
In the second half, Wisconsin turned the ball over 11 times and didn’t attempt a free throw, letting their once 17-point lead whittle away in front of them.
“You turn the ball over like that, it's a lack of aggression, it's a tentativeness, that I felt we didn't play on our toes and keep the throttle down like we had in the first half, and, again, that's credit to Oregon,” Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard said after the game. “We didn’t attack the pressure, they got us to walk the ball up and play slower.”
Oregon head coach Dana Altman went to a full-court press early in the second half, throwing off the Badgers, who are used to pushing the ball at a fast pace and making opposing defenses uncomfortable. Altman’s defense worked in reverse, making Wisconsin uneasy on their homecourt.
"Watching Greg’s team play on film — the ball movement, their execution, so impressive, and I told our guys we have to break the rhythm a little bit in some way,” Altman said. “They (Wisconsin) move the ball so good. We got that rhythm just a little bit out of sync in that second half, and that really helped us.”
But for as bad as Wisconsin’s offense played over the final stretch, the Badgers offense played well enough to win for most of the game.
After a tightly-knotted first nine minutes, Wisconsin broke out like they’ve done at home all season. A 12-0 run punctuated by two Tonje 3-pointers and a fast-break drive built Wisconsin’s lead to 11. It seemed that it had taken the Badgers little time to introduce the Ducks to their way of doing things.
A few minutes later, around the four-minute mark, Tonje made a jumper in the paint, stole the ball from Barthelemey, raced down the court and passionately threw down an intimidating dunk. That moment, with the Kohl Center jumping, felt like a culmination of everything that this season has been for Tonje and the Badgers.
Wisconsin’s double-digit lead stuck around for a while, even deep into Oregon’s full-court blitz. The Badgers offense had slowed but had done enough for most of the second half to keep the lead felt safe.
But around the aforementioned eight-minute mark, things went sideways for Wisconsin and never turned upright. The Badgers made bone-headed, bow-wrapped give-aways, passes were bounced off knees and bad shots were clanked off the iron. Over those final eight minutes, Wisconsin committed seven turnovers and only scored four points.
Wisconsin didn’t bow down in overtime, but the damage had already largely been done. In falling to Oregon, Wisconsin didn't just drop a clunker, they lost a game they were in control of for 32 minutes and then did everything possible to give away.
With only a handful of games left before the postseason, the Badgers surely hope they got the embarrassment out of the way.
