The Kohl Center event staff standing in front of the Wisconsin student section began to get a little nervous during Wednesday night's game between UW and Illinois.
And it was only halftime.
\They don't want people to come down,"" said an event staff worker who wished to remain anonymous. ""But we're not going to stop them.""
With close to two minutes remaining, UW led 59-52. But following a couple of steals by Illinois freshman guard Dee Brown, the Illini clawed their way back, tying the game 59-59 on a four-foot jumper by senior forward Brian Cook.
Following a timeout, sophomore guard Devin Harris drove to the basket and drew a foul with 0.4 seconds remaining. The crowd was stunned. But so was the event staff, albeit for another reason.
""I'm biting my nails and I don't have anything left on them,"" said the staff member with a slight smirk.
Harris sank the game-winning free throw to put UW ahead 60-59. Cook failed to get a desperation shot off as the student section poured onto the court and streamers fell from the rafters. The victory gave UW its first outright Big Ten title since 1947 and first consecutive conference titles since 1923-'24.
The sellout crowd of 17,142 had few opportunities to sit down in the second half, partly because of several questionable calls by the referees which prompted UW Head Coach Bo Ryan to pick up a technical foul midway through the second half.
""That was the loudest, most relentless crowd I've ever seen for a basketball game,"" said junior tuba player Daren Ellefson. ""Every time the Badgers were on defense, the place was going crazy.""
Illinois Head Coach Bill Self was proud of his team for its late rally in the game, but was disappointed nonetheless.
""I thought that was a pretty good finish,"" he said. ""That's the way it should be... I said this before, it was a great game. Badger fans, of course, think I am crazy, but the wrong team won. Other than that, it was a great game.""
The crowd gave a farewell to senior guard Kirk Penney, who played his final home game for the Badgers. He was treated with a standing ovation.
Penney led UW with 14 points, nine of those coming in the first half.
""I'm going to miss this place so much,"" Penney said. ""It's just been awesome. It's been unreal.\
