It was likely a win for Wisconsin in the second half of Sunday's loss to Nebraska. The Badgers came so close to winning the Big Ten Regular Season title for the first time since 2015.
The Badgers' odds should have felt too high for the Huskers, who came in as a 12.5-point underdog and announced 15 minutes before tipoff that their leading scorer, freshman guard Bryce McGowens, would be out with a wrist injury.
Chances of winning can sometimes be a volatile barometer, but it provides an accurate assessment of the pace of the game. When Nebraska took an unexpected 30-18 lead in the first half, the Badgers still had a better than 55 percent chance of winning. Despite being four points behind at halftime, Wisconsin's chances of victory had increased to 68.1 percent.
The game was over when Nebraska junior guard Trey McGowens was called for two fouls and Wisconsin sophomore guard Johnny Davis was kicked in the face on a layup.
After seeing the referee, senior guard Alonzo Verge Jr. was called in for a technical fault, which meant he expected a wrong call on his shot. Nebraska committed eight fouls in the first four minutes of the half, while Wisconsin had one. The Badgers' win anticipation had risen to 84.7 percent by that time, and the game felt like it had flipped tangibly as their lead rapidly increased to double digits.
But, despite being without its leading scorer, losing another starter in the middle of the game, and being deep in the mess early on, Nebraska beat the top team of the Big Ten and lost its first AP since 2014. Top 10 wins.
Despite the absence of Bryce McGowens, the Huskers fired, buoyed by a two-game winning streak. Within the first four minutes, he forced four turnovers against the risk-averse Badgers and jumped to a 10-3 lead on a trio of layoffs.
The Huskers took a 12-point lead twice in the first half, the second time new guard CJ Wilcher hit Nebraska's first 3-pointer in the half of the game with just under 8:00. For the first 15 minutes of the game, the Huskers made their 2-point efforts and did not turn over. Even as Wisconsin returned with a 16-4 run, Nebraska had the answer and held on for a 40-36 halftime lead.
The Huskers took an eight-point lead early in the second half, but dominant over Trey McGowens, who took both him and Davis out of the game, and a subsequent call on the Verge had the effect of flipping the pace of the game tangibly. inserted. It started a run in which the Badgers scored 10 of their 12 points on free throws. It was part of a massive 25-7 run that gave Wisconsin a 62-52 lead with less than 12 minutes to spare.
With the score suddenly turned away from home and much less to play than their opponent, the Huskers could give up. He didn't.
Nebraska did not rise as rapidly as it did in its decline. Rather, as Huskers returned to the game, the growing concern was only visible in the announcers' growing inflections.
With 7:05 remaining, senior guard Kobe Webster hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 66–62, but Wisconsin responded with five straight points, including a 3-pointer from senior guard Brad Davison. . With five and a half minutes remaining, the Huskers went on an incredible 12–0 run to give them the lead with thirty seconds remaining.
It began with a free throw by junior forward Derrick Walker, followed by a lay-up by Wilcher and Verge, and a pair of free throws by Verge made it a one-possession game with 2:24 remaining. Wisconsin missed the other end, and Verge, not known for his long-range shooting, sank a 3-pointer to give Nebraska a fresh lead.
"He just played after play, play after play," Hoiberg said of the Verge on his postgame radio show. "I couldn't be more proud of that kid for the way he continues to fight."
The Badgers' long capture was in vain, as they missed two shots. With 44 seconds left, Verge forced a shot, but Walker held off a massive offensive rebound, a rare occurrence for Nebraska, to keep possession. Verge was fouled and calmly made both his free throws to give Nebraska a three-point lead with 37 seconds to spare.
Wisconsin new guard Chucky Hepburn, a Nebraska native, shot a three-pointer, Davison missed a three-pointer, the Badgers got an offensive rebound, and Verge picked up his fifth foul. He made only two free throws to cut Nebraska's lead before Wilcher missed a free throw at the other end. Hepburn had a chance to repeat his heroics from earlier in the week against Purdue, but he missed a potentially game-winning 3-pointer, leaving Wisconsin stunned and devastated on senior night.
Seven days earlier, the Huskers had done the same thing in a 23-point victory for Penn State, and then they beat No. 23 Ohio State in Columbus on Tuesday for their first Top 25 win in Hoiberg's three-year tenure. With four conference victories, the Husker coach, who was rumored to have been in the hot seat just a week ago, now has his highest victory in the Big Ten. It is also the first time Hoibeg has won three conference games in a row.
The Huskers overcame a starter who was missing the entire game and another who missed most of the second half, questionable substitute decisions, a full field blunder, and double-digit scores against a top 10 team. Shortly, all of this contributed to Wisconsin's seemingly insurmountable victory. Possibility.
"It was an emotional game and a fight against adversity," Hoiberg said.
After a poor start, the Badgers returned to their nation-leading 8.6 turnovers per game, with only nine. Offensively, the Huskers lost the turnover fight and the rebounding fight (13-5), but they won by shooting 66.6 percent inside the arc and 53.7 percent overall. The Verge led the way with a masterclass performance, scoring 13 of 9 2-point attempts and finishing with a game-high 26 points and six assists.
Wisconsin was led by Davison with 20 points and Walker with 15 points and seven rebounds. Davis, the National Player of the Year nominee, played only 11 minutes in the first half due to a disturbance in the first half and injury in the second. Despite this, Bryce McGowens was out of the game after scoring 25 and 26 points in Nebraska's last two games. Hoiberg said on his radio show that he hopes to return for the Big Ten tournament.
To further demonstrate how Nebraska's 74-73 victory defied all expectations, the Cornhuskers were 0-3 this season in one-capped games, including those that went into overtime. . Wisconsin won 15 consecutive games that were decided by two or fewer assets.