Wisconsin Upsets Ohio State

Led by Jordan Taylor and Jared Berggren, the #16 Wisconsin Badgers beat the #8 Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus on Sunday. The win marked the Badgers' first Big Ten road victory against a top-ten team since 1980, when Wisconsin took down the 4th ranked Buckeyes (a team Bo Ryan was an assistant for).

The Badgers, coming off a terrible loss to Iowa on Thursday, opened the game strong and stuck with the high-powered Buckeyes. By halftime the teams were knotted at 29 all.

The Buckeyes managed an eight point lead with around ten minutes to play, but the Badgers came back, closing the gap to one point with less than a minute remaining.

Jared Berggren took it from there, hitting a huge three-pointer to put the Badgers on top by two.

"We always -- if we have an open look -- we have to be aggressive," said Berggren. "They're a good defensive team so you know open looks can be hard to come by. So when we get an opportunity like that, you have to step up with confidence. Jordan found me on the wing and I had a little space. I just stepped up and knocked it down."

After a Buckeye miss, Berggren grabbed a rebound and was fouled, and hit both free throws, putting the Badgers up by four.

Ohio State point guard Aaron Craft hit a free throw with a few seconds remaining to close out the game's scoring, and Wisconsin walked out of Columbus with a 63-60 victory.

"It's awesome, especially late in the season," Said Jordan Taylor. "We came off a tough loss against Iowa and to be able to come into an environment like this against a great team, it's really big for us."

Taylor led the Badgers with 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Berggren added 18 points and 5 boards, while Ryan Evans notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Rob Wilson nailed 3 triples to total 9 points, and Josh Gasser closed out the Badger scoring, adding 7 points of his own.

Wisconsin (21-8, 10-6) now sits in 4th place in the Big Ten, a half game behind Ohio State and Michigan who are tied for second.

The Badgers play Minnesota on Tuesday and Illinois on Sunday to close out the regular season. Both games are at the Kohl Center.

Sweet Sixteen Preview: Wisconsin vs. Butler

Wisconsin heads to New Orleans Thursday night to make their 5th Sweet Sixteen appearance in the last 11 seasons, facing the 8th seeded Butler Bulldogs.

The 4th seeded Badgers are coming off two big wins to start the tournament. Last Thursday the Badgers were a favorite to be upset by the Belmont Bruins. Belmont stuck around for a short time, but the Badgers were too much and pulled away, eventually winning 72-48.

The story was much different last Saturday against Kansas State. The 5th seeded Wildcats came in with one of the best scorers in the league, point guard Jacob Pullen. Wisconsin struggled to guard him the entire game, but thanks to little production from the rest of the Wildcats and a few defensive stops at the end of the game, Wisconsin scraped out a 70-65 game and held Pullen to "only" 38 points.

Butler, who made it to the finals last year against eventual tournament-winner Duke, started out this year's tournament by beating 9th seed Old Dominion on a buzzer-beating layup and narrowly upsetting the #1 seed Pitt Panthers.

The Sweet Sixteen will be a matchup of two similar teams. Both Wisconsin and Butler like to play a slow game, take care of the ball, and shoot tons of 3's.

Some key matchups to watch:

Shelvin Mack vs. Jordan Taylor

Both Mack and Taylor have the ability to produce on the offensive end. We saw Taylor explode for 39 against Indiana, and Mack put 30 up against #1 Pitt. Taylor has the edge as a distributor, and has double Mack's assist-to-turnover ratio on the season.









Matt Howard vs. Jon Leuer

The inside game will be vital for both teams. Leuer was able to score at will against Belmont in the second half, and put up 18 against Kansas State. Howard was the hero against Old Dominion, getting a rebound to score a buzzer-beating layup, and was able to score 16 against Pitt. Leuer will have to exploit his height advantage when he is matched up against Howard.





Keaton Nankivil vs. Butler's help defense

Butler's center, Andrew Smith, is not nearly as mobile as Nankivil. The Badgers will look to pop Nankivil outside the arc for an easy three. If Nankivil is able to hit a few shots it will open up the court and put Butler in a tough defensive situation.

Butler's bench vs. Wisconsin's bench

The Badgers' backups came up big in the win over Kansas State. Mike Bruesewitz scored 11 points, including a key three near the end of the game, and picked up 6 rebounds. Ryan Evans provided a much-needed spark midway through the second half. Butler regularly plays 4 backups. Should any of the big hitters get into foul trouble, both teams' benches will need to step up.






Bo Ryan vs. Brad Stevens

Ryan has never missed the NCAA Tournament while coaching Wisconsin, and has seen moderate tournament success in his tenure. Butler coach Brad Stevens might look like a teenager, but has made the NCAA Tournament in all four years at Butler, making it to the final round last year.

Picture of the Week

Let's see how many funny comments we can post about this picture!

NCAA Basketball: Preseason Coaches Poll Released

The first coaches poll was released today for the 2010-2011 NCAA Basketball season.

Five Big Ten teams made the poll, including Michigan St. Ohio St., Purdue, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

Here's how the coaches ranked the teams in the preseason:

1. Duke
2. Michigan St.
3. Kansas St.
4. Pitt
5. Ohio St.
6. Villanova
7. Kansas
8. Purdue
9. North Carolina
10. Kentucky
11. Florida
12. Gonzaga
13. Syracuse
14. Baylor
15. Missouri
16. Illinois
17. Washington
18. Butler
19. Memphis
20. Tennessee
21. Georgetown
22. Temple
23. Virginia Tech
24. Wisconsin
25. Texas