UW sophomore guard Freddie Owens made a three-pointer with one second on the clock to give the Wisconsin men's basketball team a 61-60 victory over Tulsa Saturday. The Badgers rallied from a 13-point deficit in the final four minutes of the game to advance to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament.
Wisconsin next plays Thursday in the Midwest Regional semifinals in Minneapolis against No. 1 seed Kentucky, which defeated No. 9 seed Utah 74-54 Sunday night.
Despite shooting just 38 percent from the field, Wisconsin went on a 16-2 run to close out the game and pull off the come-back win.
It was a game of runs. After scoring the first basket of the game, the Badgers fell behind midway through the first half. Trailing 18-11, Wisconsin answered with a 12-0 rally to go up 23-18 with seven minutes remaining in the first frame. Tulsa, however, ended the half on a 12-0 streak to go into the locker room with a 32-25 advantage. Jason Parker had 15 first-half points to pace the Golden Hurricane.
In the second half, Tulsa's senior forward Kevin Johnson made a three-pointer with 4:20 remaining to give the Golden Hurricane a game-high 13-point lead, 58-45. Johnson led all scorers with 23 points. After Johnson's three, the Badgers responded with an 11-0 rally, cutting the Tulsa advantage to 58-56 with 1:31 left. Wisconsin held the Golden Hurricane to two points in the final four minutes of the game.
Down 60-56 in the final minute, sophomore guard Devin Harris drove the lane and scored to cut the deficit to 60-58. Tight Badger defense forced a Tulsa shot-clock violation on the Golden Hurricane's final possession of the game, giving Wisconsin the ball with 12 seconds remaining. Harris brought the ball up the court, drove the lane and found an open Owens in the corner to sink the game-winning three with just one second remaining.
In addition to his 18 points, Wilkinson also led the Badgers with eight rebounds. Harris finished with 12 points and freshman forward Alando Tucker scored 10 to go with his six rebounds. The Badgers' leading scorer, senior guard Kirk Penney, was limited to six points.
My Gritty burger basket arrived about the time Tulsa forward Kevin Johnson knocked down a three-pointer to put the Golden Hurricane ahead 58-45 with 4:20 to play on Saturday night. So at least I had a valid excuse to tune the beloved Badgers out, though UW's dismal offense might have been enough to do the trick.
A few possessions and a couple of fries later, Wisconsin cut the lead to six points on a nifty inside move by Alando Tucker. It got my attention along with a few other anxious spectators inside Marsh Shapiro's Birthday Bar.
A Tulsa turnover followed.
Then, Mike Wilkinson saved the day and UW's season. After Tucker drew a foul and missed a crucial front end of a one-and-one, Wilkinson knifed in front of his man, drew another foul, and proceeded to hit two free throws, cutting the Tulsa lead to 58-54.
Wilkinson converted inside the paint and a Devin Harris drive to the basket made it 60-58.
It was time to put the last bit of my burger on hold.
Wisconsin forced a shot-clock violation and retained possession with 12.1 seconds to determine the season's fate. Harris penetrated into the Tulsa defense and dished to a wide open Freddie Owens in the left corner. Owens calmly drained the three-pointer to give UW a 61-60 win and its second Sweet Sixteen appearance in school history. The red-and-white crowd at 223 N. Frances Street was one of many venues to erupt across the state.
Too bad the national media saw it a different way.
The rest of the nation still sees Wisconsin as a football school with a basketball program stuck in the 1950s. Not a single highlight of Saturday's game appeared on ESPN College Game Night and only about a seven-second package aired on Sports Center. The same could be said about Wisconsin's 81-74 victory over Weber State on Thursday.
ESPN and CBS continue to compare the current Badgers with those of a few years ago. The key is to get them to notice the change in weaponry.
""Somehow, someway, WES-consin finds a way to win,"" ESPN analyst Digger Phelps usually states. ""They make you play ugly.""
I'll start taking Phelps' comments with some credibility the moment he learns to pronounce Wisconsin.
What does UW have to accomplish to garner the respect of the national media? Obviously, back-to-back Big Ten titles and a Sweet 16 appearance wasn't enough. It might not only take a victory over Kentucky on Thursday, but a win at UK's up-tempo pace for the rest of America to jump on the Bucky Wagon. And neither will be easy. The Wildcats (31-3) have not lost since Dec. 28 to archrival Louisville and are clearly the most dominant team in college basketball.
Jim Nance and Billy Packer will most likely broadcast Thursday's matchup with Kentucky, meaning the game would be televised to most of the country, a perfect opportunity for UW to bury its misleading identity.
That way, fans and media across the nation will start taking notice.
