Wisconsin (9-8 Big Ten, 18-11 overall) could not rebound from a rough first half and lost a thriller to the Minnesota Golden Gophers (9-8, 21-8) Wednesday night in Minneapolis, falling 51-46.
The Badgers looked to avenge an overtime loss at home to Minnesota Jan. 15 and avoid a season sweep at the hands of the Gophers.
Despite sloppy play, including two missed dunks on the same play, the Gophers kept the lead the entire half. Minnesota managed to prevent the Badgers from getting many points in the paint, all but shutting down Wisconsin's inside scoring game.
Meanwhile, UW's inside defense struggled mightily, allowing drives through the lane and lob passes. Minnesota freshman forward/center Colton Iverson dominated the Badger forwards who tried to front him.
Senior forward Marcus Landry kept the Badgers in the game with two clutch 3-pointers.Minnesota led at the half, 23-16. It marked the lowest-scoring first half of a conference game for the Badgers this season.
As the second half began, Wisconsin's offense showed signs of life. Two more 3-pointers by Landry and junior guard Trévon Hughes brought the game to within one with about 12 minutes left.
Then a scoring rally by Landry gave Wisconsin its first lead, 39-38, with 5:53 left in the game. Wisconsin would extend the lead to five points before watching it disappear.
With just over a minute left, Minnesota junior guard Lawrence Westbrook drove the lane, scoring to bring the Gophers once again within one.
On the Badgers' ensuing possession, Hughes fired an errant mid-range jump shot, and Westbrook drove down the court again, drawing a shooting foul. He then hit two free throws with under 30 seconds, left, giving the Gophers the lead. After two missed 3-pointers and an errant inbound pass, the Badgers hopes for victory were finished.
Landry led the Badgers in scoring with 18 points, including four 3-pointers.
For the second time this season, the Badgers failed to shut down Westbrook. The Gopher guard, largely responsible for Minnesota's come-from-behind victory against the Badgers in January, once again carried his team down the stretch. Westbrook—who started the game on the bench—lead his team in scoring with 15 points, shooting 6-of-6 from the free-throw line in the waning minutes of the game.
""What a crowd we had. The Barn was rocking tonight. We beat the hottest team in the Big Ten,"" said Gopher head coach Tubby Smith said.
Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan remained optimistic.
""It was a hard-fought game, and I like being in games like that,"" he said. Ryan further commented on the Badgers' challenges that lie ahead.
""It's part of our goal to see how high we can finish in the Big Ten, and our guys have been pretty competitive,"" he said. ""So we still have one more left, and we go from there.""
The Badgers now look to end their regular season on a winning note as they host the Indiana Hoosiers this Sunday, March 8.
—uwbadgers.com and gophersports.com contributed to this report.
