The saying goes that all good things must come to an end. For the UW men's basketball team, this was all too familiar Sunday when their travel plans to St. Louis for the Final Four were cancelled. Sixth-seeded Wisconsin (25-9) bowed out of the tournament and the 2004-'05 season after a close 88-82 battle with the heavily favored No. 1 seed UNC Tar Heels (31-4).
Coming into the game, the patient style of the Badgers was not expected to keep up with the high-scoring, fast-paced Tar Heels. Early in the game, Wisconsin struggled to contain the paint against UNC's big man, junior center Sean May. He accounted for eight of the Tar Heel's first 10 points.
As the first half wore on, Wisconsin struggled to find an offensive presence. UNC kept using May on the inside and eventually went up 11 points with a little over seven minutes remaining. However, the Badgers were not about to give up. Before heading to the locker room, Wisconsin went on a 3-point- shooting frenzy. Senior guard Clayton Hanson nailed three from behind the arc, sophomore guard Kammron Taylor added a three of his own and senior guard Sharif Chambliss hit one with 27 seconds left in the half to tie the score 44-44.
At the start of the second half, the Badgers kept things rolling. Sophomore forward Alando Tucker scored the first five points of the half to give the Badgers their biggest and final lead, 49-44. The momentum did not stay on Wisconsin's side for long. May made his presence known in the middle yet again and junior guard Rashard McCants helped fuel a 14-0 run to put the Tar Heels up 58-49.
Wisconsin once again fought back. Hanson hit two more 3-pointers to cut the lead within one with a little under nine minutes remaining. Down the stretch, the Badgers stayed within five points of the Tar Heels and appeared to still be in the game. With two and a half minutes remaining, UNC had the 76-73 advantage but a tie seemed to be coming with the ball in the hands of Hanson. He set up behind the arc to try for his sixth three of the game but McCants smashed any chance of that when he blocked Hanson's attempt and Wisconsin's Final Four hopes. Wisconsin was forced to foul in an attempt to catch up, but UNC nailed 7 of 8 free throws within the final minute.
In the win, May led all scorers with 29 points and 12 rebounds; McCants added 21 points and junior guard Raymond Felton tallied 17 points and seven assists. For the Badgers, Tucker's 25 points led the team while Taylor added 18 off the bench. In their final game as Badgers, Hanson added 15, while forward Mike Wilkinson tallied a quiet 11 points and characteristic seven boards and five assists.
Though Wisconsin fell short in the end, without last year's star guard Devin Harris, the team was not expected to even be on the same court as UNC come March. The Badgers pulled off victories over Northern Iowa in the opening round, Bucknell in the second round and a comeback victory over N.C. State in the Sweet Sixteen to earn a place in the Elite Eight. Although Harris was a key loss last season, Wisconsin will now say good-bye to four starters and one off the bench.
Final Four field set
With UNC advancing, Michigan State became the last team to fill out the docket, as the Spartans edged Kentucky 94-88 Sunday evening. In a thrilling set of games Saturday night, Louisville and Illinois overcame deficits of 20 and 15 points, respectively, to advance to the Final Four. MSU draws UNC while Louisville meets Illinois, as the final four teams duke it out for the national championship in St. Louis Mo.
