BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Ben Brust was tempted to individually thank each and every person in Milwaukee's Bradley Center after a spirited second-half rally — culminating with his record-breaking, three-point dagger in the final 67 seconds — eliminated Oregon in the second round of the 2014 NCAA tournament.
"That's the best crowd I've ever played in front of," said Brust, who broke Tim Locum's career mark for triples (Bronson Koenig has since moved past Brust). "I wanted to thank every single fan. That was an amazing job that they did and they definitely helped getting us going."
A year later, Frank Kaminsky flexed for everyone in Omaha's CenturyLink Center — "With what?" Josh Gasser later teased of Frank the Tank's gun show — after Kaminsky scoring off a missed free throw with 44 seconds left to seal the victory that eliminated the Ducks from the Big Dance.
"Our guys did a pretty good job of taking away easy baskets from him," Oregon coach Dana Altman said after his aggressive defense "held" Kaminsky to 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field. "But that last rebound put-back was kind of a dagger."
Both of those Wisconsin teams went on to the Final Four by using Oregon as one of the early stepping stones in each of those journeys. On Friday night, the No. 5 seed Badgers and No. 12 seed Ducks will renew their mini-postseason rivalry at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.
(Here's some historical perspective on the No. 5 seed. In 2018, three advanced to the Sweet 16: Kentucky, West Virginia and Clemson. It was only the fifth time in the last 34 years, or since 1985, that at least one No. 12 didn't upset a No. 5.)
Meanwhile, Altman is inching closer to playing the UW on his own turf. As it is, the Ducks have been down this Cali path before. In 2013, they were the No. 12 seed in San Jose, and they beat Oklahoma State and Saint Louis to reach the Sweet 16 where they lost to national champ Louisville.
In 2017, Altman guided Oregon into the Final Four.
What stands out about his program in Eugene?
"Good players, you start with that," said Greg Gard. "If you're in this thing (the NCAA Tournament), you've got good players. What they do offensively, he's tweaked over the years a little bit. It's somewhat similar in terms of what Illinois does. But it has morphed and he has adapted somewhat based on personnel."
Altman had to be flexible with his lineup and rotation after losing his prize freshman, 7-foot-2 Bol Bol (the son of Manute Bol) to a season-ending foot injury in January. Bol, who will declare for the NBA draft, was averaging 21 points, nearly 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Despite his loss, Altman is still starting four players who stand 6-9: Louis King, a freshman and the leading scorer (13.1), Paul White, Kenny Wooten (61 blocks) and Francis Okoru. The catalyst is junior guard Payton Pritchard, a West Linn, Oregon native, who was actively recruited by the Badgers.
"He has become what we thought (he would)," Gard said of the 6-2 Pritchard who's averaging 12.7 points and 4.5 assists and leads the Pac-12 with 65 steals. "He's a really good point guard who's smart and savvy … obviously he makes them go and they've got other really good players around him."
After returning from Chicago and the Big Ten Tournament on Saturday night, Gard watched the tail-end of Oregon's rout of Washington in the Pac-12 championship game. The Ducks won four times in four days to earn the automatic NCAA bid and are riding an eight-game winning streak.
"They're coming in hot," Gard said.
But they've had cold spells. Like losing a home game to Texas Southern. Like losing to Iowa. Like losing another home game to UCLA during which the Ducks led by 17 points with 6:35 left, by 13 with 2:35 remaining and by nine with 58 seconds to play in regulation. The Bruins won in overtime.
It was no less painful for Altman in 2014 to squander a 12-point halftime lead to the Badgers who used the partisan crowd in Milwaukee to fuel their comeback. After giving up 19 fast-break points to the Ducks in the first half, they shut down their transition game, one of the keys to the rally.
Another key was Brust, who had four triples; one of five players scoring in double-figures along with Kaminsky (19), Traevon Jackson (16), Gasser (13) and Sam Dekker (12). The Ducks were paced by Joseph Young who had 29. The following year, Young had 30 against Wisconsin in Omaha.
It wasn't enough. The Badgers never trailed in the game although Oregon outrebounded them (34-32) and outscored them in the paint (30-24). Balanced scoring was also the difference in 2015. In addition to Kaminsky's 16, Sam Dekker had 17, Nigel Hayes had 14, and Bronson Koenig had 12.
Nigel Hayes (10) and Josh Gasser (21) guard Oregon Ducks forward Dillon Brooks (24) during the NCAA Division I Men's NCAA Tournament Third Round at the Centurylink Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Wisconsin defeated Oregon 72-65.
Wisconsin was very efficient and business-like.
Said Hayes, "It was like, 'Good job, guys, now we have the next game to take care of.'"
Zak Showalter came off the bench to contribute five points, five rebounds and two assists.
"He really set the tone with his energy," Gasser said. "He gave us that spark."
The Badgers will need one on the offensive end Friday night against Oregon. Altman likes to mix up his coverages (three-quarter traps, zone, man) while the Ducks led the Pac-12 in scoring defense (62.9), field goal percentage defense (.402) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (.294).
Still, there should be no shortage of energy. "Just seeing our name up on that board (in the NCAA bracket) after not seeing it last year is definitely an excitement booster," D'Mitrik Trice said.
