Not much was expected from the Wisconisn men's basketball team this season, certainly not a 25-9 finish, a win over No. 1 Ohio State and a Sweet 16 berth. The loss of guards Trevon Hughes and Jason Bohannon, who combined for 40 percent of last year's scoring, had many thinking that a rebuilding year was coming.
Rebuilding year?
The non-conference slate did nothing to change those perceptions of mediocrity. Wins over fairly weak ACC foes NC State and Boston College were balanced by disappointing defeats at UNLV and against Notre Dame in the Old Spice Classic final. The only truly quality win came at Marquette.
When the Badgers began Big Ten play 2-2, leaving them unranked, it seemed to many that spring football couldn't come soon enough.
With the season seemingly going nowhere, the calls for rebuilding were back in force. But that was, and never has been, an option for head coach Bo Ryan.
Turning the ship around
After losing a halftime lead against then-No. 10 Purdue, the Badgers used the momentum of the snow day announcement to finish the game on a 23-10 run over the final 10 minutes to get the victory.
Five days later, Michigan State to bore the brunt of the newfound Badger momentum as Wisconsin started off Super Bowl Sunday by handing the Spartans a 26-point defeat.
Having won six of seven, it was time to face undefeated Ohio State.
After an adrenaline filled first half resulted in a lead of six turning into a two point deficit at the break, the Badgers came out of the half cold as the Buckeyes built a 15 point lead and seemed well on their way to victory.
But with 13:21 left, the legend of Jordan Taylor was born.
Trailing 47-32, Taylor led the Badgers on a 15-0 run over the next 3:35, scoring 10 of those 15 points and kicking out to freshman guard Josh Gasser for a tying three-pointer that ignited arguably the loudest roar in the history of the Kohl Center. Taylor finished with 21 points in the second half alone, a performance that had his name trending worldwide on Twitter and forced the Cousy Award committee to put his name back on the finalist list.
In less than two weeks, UW went from 15-5 tournament hopeful to 19-5 national title contender.
With a senior day victory over Northwestern a few weeks later, Wisconsin capped off just the third undefeated home schedule in the last 80 years.
But just as quickly as they shot into the national title talk, the Badgers went through a final period of adversity, losing by 28 in Columbus to the Buckeyes and then famously losing 36-33 to Penn State in the Big Ten quarterfinals.
March springs hope
Heading into the NCAA Tournament off of the two worst games of the season, the fourth-seeded Badgers were picked by many to be upset by Belmont in the first round.
Seemingly tired of the talk about their inability to shoot away from the Kohl Center, UW hit 12-of-22 three-point shots and held the Bruins under 37 percent shooting, cruising to a 14-point victory that had analysts everywhere quickly covering their tracks.
Two days later, UW proved that it wasn't just about senior forward Jon Leuer and Taylor. While Kansas State senior guard Jacob Pullen outscored Taylor by 26, it was the Badgers who earned a spot in New Orleans, fighting their way out of another second half drought en route to a 70-65 victory capped off in style by a gutsy Taylor block of Pullen's attempt at a game-tying three pointer in the waning moments.
""Everybody stepped up,"" Leuer said after the win. ""Mike [Bruesewitz]'s big three, Tim Jarmusz hit some big shots. Even though Jordan was off offensively, he made some huge plays down the stretch. He found Mike on that three. Right before that, he got the steal. Josh made some big plays. Just go right down the line of guys stepping up and making key contributions.""
All in a weekend's work; UW had vaulted from upset special to championship contender once again.
The Badgers couldn't overcome a 20-point deficit against Butler in the Sweet 16 and while the loss was a letdown, UW showed the resiliency that got them to that point, working back from that large hole to cut the Butler lead to just four before Bulldog guard Shelvin Mack knocked down a contested jumper with a minute to go that erased hopes of another epic Badger comeback.
A season to remember
Despite the loss, a season many believed would end in mediocrity resulted in the Badgers' 13th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, the program's second victory over a No. 1 team, Wisconsin's fifth Sweet 16 appearance, 25 wins and two first-team all Big-Ten selections for the first time in UW history.
""It's always tough when it ends, when you've got to put the balls away and the uniforms and practice gear. But I'm really proud of these guys,"" Ryan said. ""When you look at the entire season, just there are things accomplished this year that people never dreamed of with this group.""
Losing in the NCAA Tournament is a heartbreaking finality that 67 teams deal with each year, but it should not take away from what was an otherwise memorable season for the UW program.
