UW men's basketball: Flowers' heroics lead Badgers to tournament title game

Rob Schultz  —  3/24/2008 1:01 pm

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The basketball was loose on the Conseco Fieldhouse court and Michael Flowers and Drew Neitzel were in a dead heat as they chased it with the game on the line Saturday afternoon.

They are senior guards, exemplary team leaders and tremendous competitors, one of the Big Ten Conference's best scorers and one of its best defenders, in a wild winner-take-all dash at mid-court in the game's final seconds.

It wasn't a surprise that Flowers, who poked the ball free on a pass intended for Neitzel, ended up with the ball. It also wasn't a surprise that Flowers went on to make what turned out to be the game-winning layup for the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team in its conference tournament semifinal thriller with rival Michigan State.

"With the adrenaline I had," remarked Flowers after the 8th-ranked Badgers rallied to beat the 19th-ranked Spartans 65-63, "I probably could have been shot and still beaten him to the ball."

Considering the adrenaline boost the Badgers (28-4) got after rallying from 12 points down to earn their ninth straight win and fourth straight over the Spartans (25-8), there's no telling how far they will race beyond Sunday afternoon's tournament championship game with upstart Illinois here.

The Badgers, the Big Ten's regular-season champions, are the No. 1 seed in the tournament. Illinois, which lost twice to Wisconsin during the regular season, is the No. 10 seed.

"I feel like we've made tremendous strides since the start of the Big Ten season and since the end of it, into this tournament," said sophomore guard Jason Bohannon, who played a huge role defensively during the Badgers' rally in the foul-plagued game. "To get that win today is important for us."

The Badgers, who were led by Brian Butch's 19 points, Marcus Landry's 18 points and Joe Krabbenhoft's 11 points and 10 rebounds, won by making 26 of 37 free throws in a game when 49 fouls were called and four Spartans fouled out. That helped the Badgers overcome shooting 37 percent overall (17-of-46) and 29.4 percent from 3-point range (29.4).

They also won after losing sophomore point guard Trevon Hughes to a left ankle injury in the second half. A game-time decision by team medical staff will determine if he can play in Sunday's game.

That's why this victory reminded the Badgers of their emotional 67-66 win at Texas when Flowers, playing the point guard spot for an injured Hughes, hit a game-winning 3 and then stole the ball to clinch the win. The Badgers, who rallied from 8 down late against Texas, have pointed to that victory as the turning point of their season because of the confidence boost it gave them.

"Just like down at Texas, we really came together as a team and we picked each other up," said Flowers. "That's something that can't be taught. It has to be ingrained intrinsically in the players. We had that today."

They didn't appear to have it until after freshman guard Kalin Lucas hit a 3 to give the Spartans a 53-41 lead with 8:15 left in the game. That was the starting point of one of their greatest rallies of the season. It also coincided with a bizarre sequence of fouls when Michigan State big men Idong Ibok, Drew Naymick and Goran Suton all fouled out within 56 seconds of one another.

It was all part of a 13-2 run that included a four-point play by Bohannon, three free throws by Butch after Ibok fouled him beyond the arc, two free throws by Landry after he was fouled by Naymick, a free throw by Krabbenhoft after he was fouled by Suton and a 3-pointer by Butch that made it 55-54 with 4:33 to go.

"That's Wisconsin basketball. We want to get to the free throw line. Bo Ryan has been saying that his whole career, especially at Wisconsin," said Krabbenhoft, who made a career-high 9 free throws in 10 attempts. "It's not like we were getting all the calls. We were just cutting hard, trying to make things happen."

Sophomore Raymar Morgan became the fourth Spartan to foul out with 3:02 left but Neitzel, who had a game-high 26 points, and Lucas, who had 18, kept the Spartans in the lead until Krabbenhoft's layup tied it at 61-61 with 2:25 to go.

It was still tied at 63-63 when Wisconsin's defense finally took over.

First, Lucas missed a jump shot with 1:21 to go but Wisconsin failed to take the lead when Flowers was stripped of the ball driving into the paint with 1 minute to go. After a timeout with 50.3 seconds left, the Spartans set up to take the lead. But Flowers wrecked their plans by poking free Lucas's pass intended for Neitzel and then beating Neitzel to the ball and scoring a layup with 27.2 seconds left to make it 65-63.

It was the Badgers' first lead since two free throws by Hughes made it 23-22 with 4:01 left in the first half.

"It was basically a no-brainer," said Flowers of his steal. "Drew Neitzel is a great player and they wanted the ball in his hands. So I tried my hardest to keep the ball out of his hands. I was over-pressuring him that possession because I knew they were going to try to get him the ball. I tipped it just inches and just outran Drew for the layup on the other end."

Bohannon then pressured Lucas into missing a runner with 10.1 seconds left, Butch rebounded and got the ball to Bohannon, who was fouled with 7.6 seconds left. But Bohannon, the Big Ten's leading free throw shooter who made 39 straight heading into this tournament, missed both free throws and that breathed life into the Spartans.

"I don't know what it was. They just didn't fall. Sometimes they happen like that," said Bohannon. "You have to get back and get the next one in the next game."

The missed free throws didn't hurt the Badgers because Neitzel missed a potential game-winning 3-point attempt with 3 seconds left and the clock ran out before anybody could gain possession of the ball.

As Flowers watched Neitzel's 3-point attempt head toward the rim, "It was Oh my God, I hope it doesn't go in," he said. "But they were very deserving if that ball would have gone in. They played tremendously."

But so did the Badgers over the final 8 minutes when they scored 24 points on their final 15 possessions.

"It was another game to go out there and prove what we have. To show the country we're a good team and to go out there and have fun," said Krabbenhoft. "We have a blast out there, all these guys. It's a dogfight when you're down 10, 11 or 12. But we kept a smile on our face.

"Coach told us, 'Hold your chin up, don't let them know you're tired even if you are.' We were gassed a little bit but we were standing up straight, we weren't down on our knees. We were sending the message that we are here to stay until the buzzer sounds and we'll see what the score is at the end."

UW coach Bo Ryan said it's impossible to measure how much the hearts of the Badgers have led them to remarkable levels this season. "That's the way it's been since it started. I hope it never ends," he added.

Rob Schultz  —  3/24/2008 1:01 pm