BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MINNEAPOLIS — During Saturday morning's shootaround here at Williams Arena, less than seven hours from the tipoff between Wisconsin and Minnesota, Big Ten Network analyst Shon Morris offered a critique of 6-foot-10 Ethan Happ and foreshadowed the type of game that he might have.
It was not surprising that his words turned out to be prophetic since the 6-10 Morris knows his way around a microphone and the low post. During his Northwestern playing days, he accounted for 1,407 career points while leading the Wildcats in scoring and rebounding three straight years.
"He's so difficult to defend and he has gotten better, as hard as it is to believe as good as he was last year," Morris said of Happ, the consensus Big Ten Freshman of the Year (2015-16). "He has gotten better in anticipating and his footwork is still outstanding. He just continues to improve.
"The play he had the other night (Jan. 17) against Michigan on the defensive end — where he blocks it (the shot), gets the ball in the middle of the floor and then makes the next smart play and kicks it ahead for the layup — there aren't guys half his size that can make that play.
"It's just the way he runs and understands angles. A lot of big guys don't understand running with a purpose, getting to a spot where you can do something rather than just running and getting in the way. He runs to a spot and understands spacing."
This is where Morris segued into some instructive analysis.
"Sometimes I think he starts dribbling and puts the ball on the floor before he locates the defense because he wants to get to the rim so quickly," he said. "Maybe he needs to take that extra second and turn and locate and see where the defense is. That's how you slow yourself down a little.
"I'm not going to be surprised if Minnesota runs some doubles (double-teams) at him and tries to get the ball out of his hands. They can't afford to get (Reggie Lynch) in foul trouble. If that happens Minnesota is in big trouble."
As it turned out, Happ did rush himself at times in the first half.
"I wasn't completing shots," said Happ, who was 2-of-6 from the field.
As it turned out, the Gophers didn't double Happ when he got the ball on the block.
"They kept giving me one-on-ones in the post," he said, "and I tried to take advantage."
As it turned out, it was a strategic mistake.
The Gophers got only 20 minutes out of Lynch who fouled out for the fifth time in seven league games. During one second-half stretch, Happ scored 14 straight points against the 6-10 Lynch and the 6-11 Bakary Konaté; a run made more impressive by the fact Happ doesn't have a face-up jumper.
And, as it turned out, it was a terrific college basketball game, a true Border Battle, featuring 16 lead changes. In the end, the Badgers rode the hot hand of Happ (28 points), the steady hand of Nigel Hayes (21 points) and the timely hand of Bronson Koenig (two clutch triples) to a 78-76 overtime win.
At the final horn, Happ collapsed on the floor.
"Exhaustion and elation," he explained. "It was a combination of those two things."
Happ finished with a career high in points and field goal attempts (19) to go along with 12 rebounds, six assists, five blocked shots and one steal — as big of a steal as he has had all season.
With the Badgers protecting a 77-76 lead with 22 seconds left in overtime, Happ blocked Amir Coffee's shot in the paint. Konaté pulled down the rebound, but Happ wrestled it away from him.
"I don't know if I surprised him (Konaté)," Happ said. "I guess it just came down to who wanted it more. He had the ball and I just ripped it out of his hands."
That forced the Gophers to foul Happ at the other end. He made one free throw and the Badgers survived a last second shot attempt from Akeem Springs whose dagger originally sent the game into overtime.
Springs, a graduate transfer from UW-Milwaukee, hit two clutch free throws with 22 seconds remaining to help lead the Panthers to a stunning 68-67 upset win over Wisconsin last season.
In that home loss, Koenig missed a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer.
But he didn't miss here Saturday when it counted the most — in overtime.
UW head coach Greg Gard called him "a crunch-time shot-maker."
His first triple in OT came after a scramble. Springs blocked Happ's shot on the right block. Happ rebounded the ball and kicked it out to Koenig who buried the 3-pointer from the wing.
"That was one blocked shot that worked in our advantage," Gard said.
Koenig's second triple in OT came off a designed play with 53.8 seconds left.
"It's a set call that we've had in the playbook for almost 100 years — all the way back to the Platteville days," Gard said. "It has changed names as it has gone through the different schools from Pioneer at Platteville to Panther in Milwaukee to Badger now.
"He (Koenig) just comes off the double-screen (Hayes and Zak Showalter) and there are a couple of options. I said to Bronson as he left the huddle, 'If you're clean and you feel good, let it go.' Because he was really low off the second screen, he had enough separation where he could turn and let it go."
Gard also had some encouraging words for Happ when he was struggling. "He didn't start exceptionally well and I think he got a little flustered," Gard recounted. "I kept saying in the timeouts, 'Don't over-analyze the shot blocking in there. Let's just finish around the rim.'"
Happ and Hayes did just that as the Badgers outscored the Gophers, 44-24, in the paint.
"We talked about a gut check against Michigan (a 68-64 win)," Gard said. "This one was too, because we had some pretty tired guys by the time we got to the end. Sometimes it's not always pretty and picturesque, but when you go on the road in this league, this is how you have to gut it out."
Some Williams Arena carry-outs:
- It was obvious that Minnesota wanted to take away Wisconsin's perimeter game, notably Koenig, even at the expense of single coverage on the block. Besides Koenig, though, the Badgers got a couple of critical 3-pointers in the second half from D'Mitrik Trice and Jordan Hill.
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- Despite missing practice time because of an injury, Vitto Brown started and played 17 minutes, 11 in the first half. Hill logged 15 minutes, 14 after intermission. On Minnesota's final possession in OT, Hill fought over Konaté's screen and had high hands to contest Springs' shot from the top of the key.
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- During the first five minutes, Happ dove off the elevated floor trying to save the ball. "That hurt man," said Happ, who landed hard on his tailbone and went to the bench for a few minutes. "It's going to hurt to sit on the plane," he said afterwards. "But it's worth it — we won the game."
