Old habits die hard, especially for the UW men's basketball team. Wisconsin was held without a field goal for the final five-and-a-half minutes Wednesday, falling 62-61 to Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
The Badgers (1-4) squandered a 20-point lead to the Yellow Jackets (3-3), who took their only lead of the second half with 14 seconds left on a pair of free throws by sophomore forward Halston Lane.
Wisconsin appeared to be coasting to victory when an inside hoop by senior forward Charlie Wills gave UW a 51-31 lead with 16 minutes remaining. However, Georgia Tech slowly erased the lead and used a 25-7 run over the last 11:53 to steal the victory.
Georgia Tech's full-court pressure, ineffective in the first half, finally took its toll on Wisconsin down the stretch. Georgia Tech used five Badger turnovers to rattle off a 13-2 run in the middle of the second half.
After a UW timeout, freshman forward Mike Wilkinson scored five straight points for Wisconsin on a three-pointer and two free throws. Leading 61-50 with just more than four minutes to play, the Badgers appeared to have quelled the Georgia Tech uprising.
But Wisconsin would not score again, as the offensive woes of recent Badger teams resurfaced.
Senior point guard Tony Akins went to work for the Yellow Jackets, scoring seven points from then on to lead the comeback. Akins finished with a game-high 20 points.
The story was much different during the first half. Badger players consistently found themselves open from the three-point arc, sinking nine-of-18 three-point attempts en route to a 39-27 halftime lead.
Senior point guard Travon Davis spearheaded the Badger attack early, scoring all 14 of his points in the first half.
As Georgia Tech shut down Davis' driving ability in the second half, Wisconsin's outside shooting also turned cold. Although seven different Badgers made three-pointers in the game, the team only shot one of nine from three-point land in the second half.
Georgia Tech held Wisconsin to 39 percent shooting for the game and out-rebounded UW 31 to 22. The Yellow Jackets also forced the Badgers into 11 second-half turnovers.
Davis and junior guard Kirk Penney led the Badgers with 14 points apiece. Wisconsin is still winless against Division I opponents this year.
The loss struck another blow to the Big Ten by the Atlantic Coast Conference in the third annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Prior to the game, Big Ten teams had lost three out of four to ACC teams.
In other action from the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, the Michigan State/Virginia game was halted with 15:04 remaining in the second half due to condensation on the floor.
The Spartans trailed the Cavaliers at the time, 31-28. An ice rink underneath the floor and 70-degree temperatures were deemed the cause of the moisture.
