EVANSTON, ILL.'In order to have the best chance of winning Thursday's matchup with Northwestern (5-8 Big Ten, 13-12 overall), the Badgers (8-5, 18-8) needed to stop the double-pronged attack of Vedran Vukusic and Mohamed Hachad. Vukusic, who tied the all-time Northwestern record for career 3-pointers in the game, was held to only 13 points, but Hachad exploded for a career-high 25 to down Wisconsin 62-51.
'It's a tale of two games. At our place we had some guys step up and hit some shots, and here we didn't,' head coach Bo Ryan said. 'At each place, each team got out of sync on the offensive end.'
Northwestern appeared to own the Badgers in the first half with dominating performances from Vukusic and Hachad, who combined for 26 of the team's 31 points. Nonetheless, the Badgers went into the locker room down by only three. Sophomore Brian Butch had eight rebounds, while junior Alando Tucker added 10 points despite missing three of his five free throws.
'We didn't move well,' Ryan said. 'When you do get a look, you have to make some shots.'
'We tried to attack, but we relied too much on outside shots,' junior guard Kammron Taylor added.
The second half started much like the first, with both teams using their two main scorers early. The Wildcats pushed their lead to nine as Wisconsin hit an offensive rut, a problem they have struggled with all season. A 3-pointer by sophomore guard Michael Flowers cut the lead to four, but Hachad ignited the crowd with a rim-rattling dunk to swing the momentum back to Northwestern.
The teams traded baskets until an apparent Butch hoop turned into an offensive foul that sent the Wildcats to the free-throw line, extending their lead to 10. The lead became 12 before Tucker finally scored to bring the lead back down to 10 with five minutes to play.
A Flowers 3-pointer cut the deficit to seven with 2:16 left. No late-game heroics could save UW this time, however, as 32- percent shooting from the field in the second half doomed the Badgers to defeat. The Wisconsin big men virtually disappeared in the second half, as junior Jason Chappell and Butch combined for three points in six minutes.
'Our backs are against the wall, every game from here on out is do or die,' junior Kammron Taylor said. 'We're just going to have to bounce back tomorrow in practice and get ready for Minnesota on Sunday.'
