COLUMBUS, Ohio—With 20 seconds remaining Sunday at Ohio State, hopes of at least a shared Big Ten title were still alive for the UW men's basketball team. The Badgers held a 48-47 lead and their best free throw shooter in senior guard Kammron Taylor at the free throw line.
Unfortunately for Wisconsin, those hopes disappeared quickly as Taylor missed the front end of a one-and-one and OSU freshman point guard Mike Conley Jr. hit a runner in the lane with 3.9 seconds remaining to lead Ohio State to a 49-48 win and its second straight Big Ten title.
""I was telling Greg [Oden] I was going to make the shot,"" Conley said. ""We are happy we did it, finally. It was a hard road and a lot of hard work was involved.""
Conley played with Oden in high school and the two joined the Ohio State program this season, winning the conference title in their first year. For seniors Ivan Harris and Ron Lewis, it was their second Big Ten title in as many years and the two were just as involved as the freshmen Sunday.
Harris led all scorers with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, but in a game of defense, it was Lewis who made the stop of the game.
Despite the missed free throw just seconds earlier, Taylor had the ball in his hands at the end. Head coach Bo Ryan called a time-out after Conley's shot put Ohio State ahead, leaving the Badgers with just under four seconds to go the length of the court.
Taylor took the in-bound pass from junior guard Michael Flowers and dribbled to within 10 feet of the basket along the baseline. It was there where he met a fellow senior, but one who was playing on his home court on Senior Day. Lewis blocked Taylor's attempt and the horn sounded, leaving the Badgers stunned as the opposing fans stormed the court for the third time in as many road losses this season.
""I didn't know I was going to block it until he put it right in my face,"" Lewis said.
Ryan begged for a foul as there was contact, but in a game with so much riding on the line, it was not coming.
""They did a good job of officiating the game, so I knew they wouldn't call a foul to end the game,"" Lewis said.
When asked if he thought he was fouled, Taylor said, ""I don't know. I'm the player and they're the refs so if they didn't call it then I guess I didn't.""
Taylor struggled after the game to fight back tears as Wisconsin lost its second game of the week and fell right out of the Big Ten title race and put the possibility of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in serious jeopardy. The senior admitted he was thinking more about the missed free throw than the blocked shot as time expired.
""I've taken big shots before and to step up to the free throw line where I'm shooting like 80 percent and miss, it hurts,"" Taylor said.
Despite the conference race being decided, Wisconsin and Ohio State both have one more game to play before the postseason begins and both teams have a legitimate shot at a Final Four run. That reality was probably easier for the Ohio State players to see after the game, as Oden, who shoved aside all post-game questions about whether or not Sunday was his last home game as a Buckeye, was all smiles about making a long postseason run.
""I always wanted to win a Big Ten championship when I first got here,"" Oden said. ""That's the first goal but we know that we have more to do. We have a conference championship and an NCAA championship.""
Butch goes down
Call it an omen, but after not starting for the first time all season, junior center Brian Butch went out with a right arm injury midway through the first half after playing just three minutes.
After a collision under the hoop on a play in which fellow junior Greg Stiemsma was called for a foul, Butch went to the ground holding his right arm. The arm was put in a sling and he did not return to the game.
The senior had started 59 of his last 60 games before Sunday, but Ryan opted to give sophomore forward Joe Krabbenhoft his first career start in an effort to guard Ohio State's 3-point shooters.
No specifics on the injury were available after the game, although the prognosis does not look good.
