| 1st | 2nd | Final | | Nebraska (9-8, 1-5) | 21 | 24 | 45 | Wisconsin (14-5, 3-3)
| 24 | 26 | 50 | | | | Stats at a Glance
| NEB | WIS | | FG Percentage | .352 | .313 | | 3-Point FG Percentage | .263 | .111 | | FT Percentage | 1.000 | .750 | | Offensive Rebounds | 9 | 17 | | Defensive Rebounds | 19 | 25 | | Total Rebounds | 28 | 42 | | Turnovers | 7 | 12 | | 2nd Chance Points | 5 | 17 | | Points in the Paint | 18 | 22 | | |
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Jan. 15, 2012
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- In Thursday night’s win at Purdue, Wisconsin converted its final eight free throw attempts to escape Mackey Arena with a 67-62 win.
It turned out to be good practice for Sunday’s contest against Nebraska.
The Badgers hit 7-of-8 free throws in the game’s final 1:20 against the Cornhuskers to seal a 50-45 win at the Kohl Center. Jordan Taylor sank 5 of 6 from the charity stripe in the final 30 seconds, and even atoned for his lone miss with a key offensive rebound to ensure the win.
Taylor finished with a game-high 19 points, including an 11-of-15 performance at the line, to lead Wisconsin back to .500 in the Big Ten at 3-3 and 14-5 overall. A preseason All-American, Taylor reached double figures for the ninth-consecutive game and the 15th time on the season.
| Fast Facts | | • Wisconsin gets back to .500 (3-3) in the Big Ten with win | | • Taylor leads all scorers with 19 points | | • Berggren nears first career double-double, 9 pts., 13 rebs. | |
Trailing 45-43 with 26 seconds left, Nebraska (9-8, 1-5) fouled Taylor, who sank both free throws. Bo Spencer responded with a quick finger roll on the other end to pull Nebraska back within 47-45.
Taylor was again fouled, this time with 17 seconds remaining. He hit the first free throw but, after missing the second, he charged the lane and ripped the rebound away from a Nebraska player and was fouled in the process. He hit the last two free throws with 13 seconds left to seal the win for the Badgers, who finished a season sweep of Nebraska in its first Big Ten campaign.
“Yeah, there were hustle plays,” Taylor said. “That’s something [Mike Bruesewitz] has been doing for three years now and it’s something he’s great at. There have been some balls that we haven’t been getting at times this year, so it’s encouraging to win the game off that.”
“When you’re in a tight game like that, a couple possessions, one possession, all those things matter,” Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan said. “We got our fair share of them. Matter of fact, I think we got pretty much all of them.
“I thought Jordan [Taylor’s] rebound off the miss and Jared [Berggren’s] and Mike [Bruesewitz] keeping the ball alive—all those things help, those are all things that you try to make happen and then when they do happen, it’s a tribute to the hustle and the effort of your players.”
Wisconsin entered the game averaging a nation’s best 8.83 turnovers per game, but the Badgers were uncharacteristically sloppy in the first half, turning the ball over 11 times.
They righted the ship in the second half, however, giving it away just one time overall and committing no turnovers in the final 15:18.
“It was pretty much exactly how we don’t want it to go,” Josh Gasser said of the first half ball-handling. “I think we got better though. In the second half we had one turnover and that definitely contributed to the outcome.”
Jared Berggren got the job done on the glass for the Badgers, pulling down a career-high 13 rebounds. He also finished with nine points to narrowly miss the first double-double of his career.
“Nothing’s given in this league,” Berggren said. “Every team is going to put up a fight. Every game is a battle. You can’t take anything for granted and you can’t look past anyone. You’ve got to bring it every night, which is why it makes the Big Ten such a good league.”
As a team, the Badgers matched their season high with 17 offensive rebounds, converting those boards into 17 second-chance points. Wisconsin out-rebounded Nebraska 42-28 (for a rebounding margin of plus-14) after out-rebounding the Huskers 30-28 in the teams’ first meeting this season. The Badgers are 12-0 this season when out-rebounding their opponent.
Gasser added 12 points and five rebounds for UW, marking his second-straight game in double figures.
Wisconsin is back in action Wednesday night at the Kohl Center in its lone matchup of the season against Northwestern. Tip is set for 8 p.m., and the game can be seen live on the Big Ten Network.
