After last year's blowout loss at Duke, the No. 22 Wisconsin men's basketball team knew that road wins are not easy to come by in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.
The Badgers experienced this again on Monday night, when they defeated the Virginia Tech Hokies in Blacksburg in a 74-72 thriller. Junior guard Trevon Hughes hit the game-wining shot with just 0.9 seconds left, leading the Badgers to victory.
[Hughes is] a lead guard and that's what he's supposed to do,"" Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan said. ""He gets [the ball] and he pushes it. He can make a play. That's his job.""
The game was close midway through the first half, as Wisconsin led 13-12. But a 10-0 Badgers' run, capped off by two 3-pointers from senior forward Marcus Landry. extended Wisconsin's lead to 11.
The Hokies fought back as they would continue to do the entire game, cutting the deficit down to three with two minutes to go in the frame. Wisconsin entered halftime with a 38-30 lead.
In the second half, the Badgers took an early 13-point advantage, but then the Hokies scored nine unanswered and Wisconsin led by only four, 43-39.
Timely 3-point shooting by Wisconsin gave the Badgers a 10-point lead with seven minutes to go. But once again the Hokies showed they would not go down without a fight.
Senior swingman A.D. Vassallo took over, scoring seven straight points to bring Virginia Tech within one point with just three and a half minutes to play. Then Wisconsin extended its lead to seven with just a minute to go. To some the game appeared to be out of reach, but once again the Hokies stormed back.
After another Vassallo three-pointer
with just 17 seconds left, the Badgers led by just one, 70-69. Junior guard Jason Bohannon drew a foul and hit two free throws, but Vassallo struck back once again with yet another three to tie the game.
With no timeouts left for the Badgers, Hughes dribbled down court and drilled an off-balance layup from straight on. The Hokies tried a final half-court prayer, but it came up short.
""[Hughes] drove it right down our throats,"" Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. ""We've got to stop the ball. He drove it at the rim and made a good shot, and we didn't contain him.""
Landry led all Wisconsin scorers with 18 points, while sophomore forward Jon Leuer added 17 off the bench. Still, no two points were more important than the final layup from Hughes, who finished with 12.
Both teams shot the ball extremely well from beyond the arc. The Badgers and Hokies finished the game shooting roughly 51 percent. Wisconsin shot 12 for 18 from outside the arc while the Hokies finished 11 for 15.
Wisconsin had no answer defensively for Vassallo, who finished the game with 30 points, including 24 in the second half alone. He shot 12 for 16 from the field, including six for eight from behind the 3-point line.
However, the Badgers were strong in their coverage of sophomore forward Jeff Allen, the Hokies' leading scorer and rebounder entering the contest. Allen fouled out and finished with just two points.
With the win, Wisconsin picked up its first road win in six Big Ten-ACC Challenge road games. The Badgers also snapped an 11-game home win streak for ACC teams in the event. Wisconsin has a 4-6 all-time record in the challenge.
Next up, Wisconsin will face another difficult test on the road. The Badgers will travel to Milwaukee this Saturday to take on in-state rival Marquette.
- hokiesports.com
contributed to this report.
