With wins over upset favorite Belmont as well as Jacob Pullen and company (Kansas State), the Badgers will be moving on to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2008 and the fifth time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
With the Badgers coming off a 36-33 loss in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament to Penn State, many experts started slating in 13 seed Belmont when the Badgers drew them on Selection Sunday.
The Badgers quickly silenced the naysayers, however, putting on a show of offensive efficiency and beating the Bruins, 72-58. Leading the way was the dynamic duo of senior forward Jon Leuer and junior point guard Jordan Taylor, scoring 22 and 21, respectively.
""Problems aren't a stoplight, you know; if you run into some snags, and things aren't going the way they should, they're guidelines,"" head coach Bo Ryan said about recovering from the Penn State loss. ""You don't stop. You just keep moving forward, so that's all we did.""
The Badgers then turned their attention toward the third round and their opponent, five seed Kansas State.
Jacob Pullen of Kansas State won the scoring title between the two marquee point guards, scoring at will for a game-high 38 points, while Taylor struggled to find his shot, going two for 16 from the field.
When it was all said and done however, Taylor made the plays that counted—a steal in the post on a poor pass by Pullen to set up the go-ahead three by Mike Bruesewitz with 1:31 left, then blocking a Pullen three-point attempt with two seconds left to eventually seal the victory for the Badgers.
""I feel like I won the battle because we won the game,"" said Taylor, who had 12 points, six assists and no turnovers in 40 minutes.
The Badgers will now face America's Cinderella team, No. 8 seed Butler, in the Sweet 16.
Butler upset the No. 1 seed of the Southeast, Pittsburgh, 71-70 in one of the most bizarre endings one will ever see. Leading the way for the Bulldogs was senior guard Shelvin Mack, who scored 30 points, including seven three-pointers.
Senior forward Matt Howard was also key for the Bulldogs, scoring 16 points and drawing the last-second foul on Pittsburgh's Nasir Robinson, which ultimately led to Howard's game-winning free throw. Howard has made this a habit so far in the tournament, also scoring the last-second basket that beat Butler's first-round opponent Old Dominion.
Anyone who follows basketball knows that Butler will be a tough out for the Badgers. Butler mirrors the Badgers, in that they are extremely efficient on offense and play tough man-to-man defense. It is these attributes that led the Bulldogs to the 2010 national championship game, in which they were inches shy of a victory.
Do not expect a blowout one way or the other with these two team's grind-it-out styles, as Butler's last seven NCAA tournament games have been decided by seven points or fewer.
