Badger nation was sweating, but Wisconsin pulled out a 60-57 over Vanderbilt to advance to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year. The #4 seed Badgers will face the #1 seed Syracuse Orange in the West regional semi-finals.
The Badgers were led in scoring by Jordan Taylor with 15, Jared Berggren with 12, and Ben Brust and Ryan Evans with 11. A big key for the Badgers was their rebounding. All of Wisconsin’s players grabbed atleast 2 or more rebounds, led by Berggren who had 6. Rebounding played a big role down the stretch, as the Badgers grabbed two offensive boards on the final possesion of the game to practically seal the deal.
Vanderbilt got a big day from Center Festus Ezeli, who had 14 points and 11 rebounds. Late in the game Ezeli had a series of huge offensives boards and putbacks that eventually gave Vandy a one point lead. On Vandy’s final possesion Gasser held and pushed Ezeli under the basket to keep him from grabbing the missed three.
Ben Brust, AKA the Madison Microwave, ended his recent shooting slumps with three 3-pointers and a reverse layup off a sweet backdoor cut. Brust had 11 straight points for Wisconsin in the 2nd half.
With Wisconsin down my Jordan Taylor hit a tough three from the top of the key to give the Badgers a 2 point lead. Taylor is known for ripping out the hearts of the opposing teams, and this was certainly one of those shots. Vanderbilt tried to do the same to the Badgers with their late three attempt that bounced out. Thanks to a tipped inbounds pass by Berggren, the clock expired without and Vanderbilt shot and the Badgers were victorious.
The MVP chosen by you on our twitter was Jared Berggren. J-Bergs had some key rebounds and buckets that were really big for the Badger’s victory. Make sure to tweet your MVP to @MTBadgers after every game!
Again, Wisconsin will play #1 Syracuse on Thursday, March 22nd at TD Garden in Boston, MA. Make sure to follow us on Twitter for all of our coverage! As always, On Wisconsin!
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