Jordan Taylor's 3 leads Wisconsin Badgers to a 60-54 win over Milwaukee Panthers - NCAA Basketball
Wisconsin Badgers are definitely one of the strongest contenders for the NCAA Basketball title this year. They have only lost against North Carolina Tar Heels and Marquette Golden Eagles and both those losses were close ones, which
could easily have been avoided had they managed to hold nerves in the ending moments.
On Tuesday night, they continued their good run by downing their state rivals Milwaukee Panthers 60-54, and have now improved to a 9-2 record.
Badgers came into this game as favourites; however, Panthers fought gallantly. Both teams were neck to neck with 5 minutes remaining on the clock, but a 10-4 run down the stretch proved to be the difference in the end.
All the power players fired for Badgers tonight.
Jared Berggren led the attack with 17 points on 3 for 4 from the downtown and pulled down 9 rebounds. Ryan Evans put up an all round show by pounding 16 and pulling down 8 rebounds while Jordan Taylor, who has been inconsistent
in the tournament so far, also chipped in with 14.
Tony Meier paced the Panthers with 15 points, while James Haarsma added 11 on a near perfect shooting, knocking down 5 for 6 from inside the arc. Evan Richard, who came off the bench late, also had 10 for Panthers.
Taylor and Evans got Badgers off to an 8-2 start. Back to back three pointers from Jared and Ben Brust made it even better for Wisconsin and with six minutes remaining in the half, the Badgers were leading by14 points, 22-8.
Ryan Haggerty, Evan Richard and Kaylon Williams jumped to the rescue for the Panthers and reeled off a 12-4 spurt to bring their team back into the game. Unfortunately for them, Berggren and Evans again combined for a 5-0 run in
the last minute to finish the first half with Badgers in a commanding position at 31-20.
Badgers continued from where they left off in the first stanza and seven minutes into the second half, they had propelled themselves into a winning position at 44-27.
The Panthers however did not succumb to the pressure of the big lead and bolted back with a magnificent 16-1 run, capped by Tony’s free throw, to get as close as 45-43 with 9 minutes remaining. They were slowed down in the next
few minutes by the Badgers, but managed to stay within striking distance, 55-52, with a minute remaining.
That was the time when Taylor knocked down a crucial three to put the game out of reach.
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