Before Monday night's battle with UNC-Wilmington had even started, head coach Bo Ryan and his Badgers knew they would be in for a tough game. The Seahawks were giving up only 56 points per game and holding teams to just 37.9 percent shooting from the floor. Junior point guard Kammron Taylor knew he might have to face the worst of it going up against the Seahawks' 2004-05 Colonial Athletic Association defensive player of the year, senior point guard John Goldsberry. Through the first 35:03 of the game, this proved to be exactly the case.
Thoughout the Badgers scored only 16 total points in the first half, Taylor may have fared worse than any other individual player by going 0-6 on field goal attempts and committing two turnovers. But still, Taylor kept working.
'It shows how he has matured over the years,' junior forward Alando Tucker said after the game. 'It shows that he is not getting down on himself and to stick with it. It's great for our team.'
Taylor's refusal to lose confidence could be seen in his play over the final 4:57 of the game. Having only two points at the time, both on free throws, Taylor made his first field goal of the game, a critical three during a stretch where the Seahawks and Badgers traded seven consecutive three pointers. But it was over the last 53 seconds where Taylor exploded.
Taylor scored the Badgers' final seven points when he made a tough drive and the subsequent foul shot, a critical jumper with 16 seconds left from the top of the key, and then the final basket, a three-pointer right as the clock ran out after taking the ball the length of the court with only six seconds left. Taylor said he never lost confidence and knew the ball would likely be in his hands at the end.
'I have to make a play even though the first half, things weren't going well for me,' Taylor said. 'Being a point guard, I can't get down on myself. When time is running down like that, it is more likely to have the ball in his hands.'
'For him to make those earlier baskets, the three-point play and the two-pointer from the elbow, I think that was good for his confidence for the last shot,' Tucker said.
After the ball fell through the bottom of the net, Taylor immediately rushed downcourt after escaping his onrushing teammates and began to celebrate in front of the student section.
'I was excited. I don't know what more I can say; I was excited,' Taylor explained. 'I hadn't been playing that well, except for the last five to seven minutes of the game. It felt good to hit that shot. My teammates believed in me and I knew they did and that's what gave me more confidence. You have to think like that, that you are gonna make the shot.'
Tucker also commented on the explosion of emotion from the normally reserved Taylor.
'That's what we play for, to see things like that. I love it: To see how intense our team was. It's great for our program.'
UNCW head coach Brad Brownell noted the Seahawks' success defending Taylor the whole game, but credited Taylor for finally breaking out.
'Kammron Taylor got loose for them. He does what good players do, he's a playmaker. He makes shots.'
Don't look now, but Kammron Taylor is developing into a special player: One that is starting to look like a certain point guard who also used to be known for making a big shot here and there.
