DETROIT — University of Wisconsin senior guard Michael Flowers isn't one to make excuses.

After Davidson sophomore guard Stephen Curry went off for 33 points in 37 minutes Friday at Ford Field, leading the Wildcats to a 73-56 victory over the Badgers in the NCAA Midwest Regional semifinals, Flowers gave credit where it was due.

Flowers didn't call Curry the best player he's ever faced, but he did say, "He has the quickest release I've ever guarded.

"He doesn't need that much space. They did a good job of bumping me off of screens. He hit, I think, three 3s in transition. Any time you give somebody that much room, that shoots 3s in his sleep, (he's) going to knock them down."

But it was clear to Curry, that Flowers probably was asked to do too much in this game.

An already big assignment for Flowers got bigger when UW point guard Trevon Hughes left the game with a foot injury in the first half.

Hughes tried to return briefly in the second half, but ended up playing only 12 minutes.

That meant, in addition to shadowing Curry around the court, Flowers had to take over point-guard duties for most of the game.

Flowers did not come out of the game until 22.1 seconds remained.

"He had to play the whole game, and when Hughes went out, that was big, because (Flowers) had to take some of the point-guard role and run the offense and chase me around screens, which is what I do best — running around like a little kid," Curry said. "You could tell towards the end that not only him but everybody on the court was tired. Having that dual role of having to chase me around and having to run the offense had an effect."

When Flowers was asked if playing point guard detracted from his defense, he said, "Not so much. They did a good job of pressuring the guards. They forced Marcus (Landry) and Joe Krabbenhoft to bring the ball up (in the second half). They got us out of our offensive rhythm. Hats off to them, they had a game plan and executed their game plan better than we did."

For somebody who built a formidable reputation by playing defense, this had to be the worst possible way for Flowers to go out.

"To know this was the last 40 minutes of your collegiate career, it's going to take a while to get over," he said. "As an athlete, you spend so much time — hours, tons of days, weeks, practicing your craft. Any time it's over, it stings a little bit."

In a half-court game, Flowers might have had a fighting chance, although it's hard to imagine anybody in college basketball putting the clamps on Curry, who was 6-for-11 on 3-point shots.

But the Wildcats got their running game going, scoring 18 fast-break points, which made it almost impossible. Curry did say Flowers was the quickest defender he's faced.

"I was coming off screens and usually I'm wide open," Curry said. "But he was right there on my back. It was tough to get open shots early. But our strength is getting in the open court, so if you can take away the one-on-one factor of a defender and make them play the whole team in transition, it's hard to key in on one guy."

Flowers' teammates said this game should not detract from his reputation as a defender.

"I know as a competitor, he'll try and put it on his shoulders," Krabbenhoft said. "But as a teammate and somebody who's been around Michael Flowers for three years, Mike can guard anybody in the country. That kid (Curry) is playing like Kobe Bryant right now. I hope Mike doesn't let one thing like that get to him, because he's accomplished so much in his career."