A big 3-pointer splashed through the net to put the score at 67-66 and for a moment the scene was reminiscent of last year's thriller between UW and the University of Texas. And then it all went awry for the Badgers.
The Wisconsin men's basketball team (9-3) dropped a 74-69 game to No. 9 Texas (10-2) at the Kohl Center Tuesday. Over 17,000 raucous fans were on hand as a steal by sophomore Texas guard Dogus Balbay changed the complexion of the game late in the second half.
[Balbay] made the big play,"" Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan said. ""You got a team on the road that all of a sudden gets that fresh air, kind of us last year at their place. We were able to hang around, hang around, hand around, get an opportunity. This year they took advantage of theirs, we didn't.""
Last December, against then-No. 7 Texas, Michael Flowers hit a 3-pointer near the buzzer to give Wisconsin a victory in Austin.
The honor of hitting the big 3-poiner fell to sophomore guard Jason Bohannon Tuesday. Wisconsin forced a turnover on the next possession but then Balbay intercepted the handoff from senior forward Joe Krabbenhoft near half court and raced untouched for the go-ahead layup.
""It just keeps getting replayed in my mind and it hasn't stopped,"" Krabbenhoft said. ""I just can't figure out why I would do that '¦ I've been in big games and handled the ball. I take 100 percent responsibility for it. You have to give credit to the defender who made the play, but it was my fault. As a senior it really hurts.""
The Longhorns then extended their lead to three after Wisconsin's Marcus Landry missed a short jumper. The Badgers struck back, cutting the deficit to one and then forcing a Texas miss.
Texas junior forward Damion James, however, snatched the rebound and sophomore forward Gary Johnson nailed a straight-on bank shot with his foot on the 3-point line to push the lead to three once more.
With 22 second left Wisconsin had one more chance, but junior guard Trévon Hughes drove, tried to pivot and forced up a short jump shot that James slapped away. Senior guard A.J. Abrams followed with a pair of free throws and put the game out of reach.
""Definitely good defense on their part,"" Hughes said. ""I tried to draw the contact, he saw it and he jumped back. He has long arms and that's basically his athleticism.""
One of the biggest differences in the game came on the offensive glass, where Texas completely dominated the Badgers. Out of 32 Texas misses that were rebounded, 17 ended up in Longhorn hands.
""Those guys go to the glass so hard and we knew it,"" Krabbenhoft said, ""We had to check them out collectively as a team and we didn't. It really played a big role in the outcome of the game.""
The Longhorns coaches used film from the last meeting between these teams to spur his players' rebounding. ""[Coach Barnes] said they punked us on the glass. Like they pushed us and we didn't do nothing about it."" James said. ""We took it personally. You don't let people punk you and do nothing about it '¦ we came out and we did what we had to do on the glass.""
James scored 18 point and grabbed 15 rebounds. Abrams also impressed with a game-high 21 points but struggled to shoot a high percentage in the second half.
Abrams made his mark weaving around a forest of screens only to emerge with open 3-point attempts and an array of leaning floaters.
The Badgers stayed in the game on the strength of 3-point shooting, connecting on over 47 percent of their long-range shots.
Both teams struggled to maintain a handle on the ball throughout the contest. There were 18 turnovers in the first half and, though that number decreased dramatically after the break, there were many instances where players simply lost their handle on the ball or struggled in securing rebounds.
The contest was close throughout, as the margin never grew to more than seven and the lead changed hands 10 times.
Wisconsin fell to 0-3 against ranked teams with the loss and only has one win against a major conference opponent this season.
After the game, Texas head coach Rick Barnes had some kind words about how the series with the Badgers has affected his program.
""We told our guys going in, that there's no team in the country that screens any better than Wisconsin. There's no team in the country that's going to go at it on the boards and harder than Wisconsin,"" Barnes said. ""When you play a Wisconsin team that's extremely well coached '¦ you're going to have to beat them, they're not going to beat themselves.""
