- Final01
5UNC
DUKE76
6876
68 - Final1
2CAL
UCLA80
8180
81 - Final2
3UAB
MEM56
9456
94 - Final36KU
TA&M;72
5572
55 - Final47STAN
USC64
7764
77 - Final58WIS
NW65
5265
52 - Final613
10LOU
GTWN52
5552
55 - Final7
11RICH
XAV61
8661
86 - Final8
12UIC
BUT50
6650
66 - Postponed9
14CIN
CONN0
00
0 - FinalOTOT1016VAN
ALA73
7873
78 - Final1119ND
USF67
6067
60 - Final1220MARQ
SYR72
8772
87 - Final13
21CREI
DRKE67
7567
75 - Final2OT2OT14
22WASH
WSU73
7673
76 - Final1524BYU
TCU61
5461
54 - Final16
25LSU
MSST75
8475
84
Final
(8) Wisconsin 65
(26-4, 16-2 Big Ten)
Northwestern 52
(8-21, 1-17 Big Ten)
3:00 PM ET, March 8, 2008
Welsh-Ryan Arena, Evanston, IL
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) -- No sharing, thank you. Wisconsin finished all alone atop the Big Ten at the end of the regular season. Just the way coach Bo Ryan likes it.
Brian Butch scored 20 points and matched a career high with 14 rebounds as the Badgers (No. 8 ESPN/USA Today, No. 10 AP) used a strong second half to beat Northwestern 65-52 on Saturday and clinch the championship outright.Wisconsin heads into next week's Big Ten tournament as the top seed."To win it outright is nice. It eliminates some of the conversation this part of the season," Ryan said. "There's one that stands alone and that's the team in that locker room. And that feels pretty good."Jason Bohannon added 15 points, and Marcus Landry scored eight straight during a 10-0 second-half run to help Wisconsin (26-4, 16-2) pull away.It was the second outright regular-season title in Ryan's seven seasons at Wisconsin. The Badgers shared it one other time during his highly successful run."I never compare teams, but as far as satisfying and a group coming a ways, this group has come as far as any team I've ever had," Ryan said.Welsh-Ryan Arena was jammed to the rafters, many of the fans noisy, red-clad Badgers boosters who made the relatively short trip to Chicago's north suburbs.The Badgers entered the game with the nation's toughest scoring defense, allowing only 54.4 points per outing and they made sure the Wildcats -- who played a nice first half -- didn't get there."To see as many fans as were here today, it was almost like a home game for us," Butch said. "And to celebrate an outright championship in that way was pretty cool."And they also made sure that Indiana and Purdue, which entered the final weekend with three conference losses, didn't get a share.With the 6-foot-11 Butch leading the way, the Badgers dominated the boards 38-21 against the smaller Wildcats."It's nice to put up numbers but you know what? When it comes down to it, it's having a title. Having a championship to look back at," Butch said."You kind of get greedy this time of the season because you realize that as much basketball as you have left to play is up to you. Everyone is buying in and we've got a lot of basketball hopefully left to play."Kevin Coble had 17 points for Northwestern (8-21, 1-17).Northwestern bothered the Badgers for most of the first half with a tight defense and used its deliberate pick-and-cut offense to stay close with several backdoor baskets.But Bohannon banked in a shot at the first-half buzzer -- Northwestern coach Bill Carmody pleaded for traveling -- to cap an 8-0 run and put the Badgers up 29-20. Northwestern went scoreless over the final 5:27 of the half.Butch had 11 points and Bohannon added nine in the first half and Butch's eight rebounds helped Wisconsin dominate the boards 21-9."We just weren't able to stop the strength of their team," Carmody said. "[Joe] Krabbenhoft, Butch and Landry. They just seemed to be too powerful for us inside."Ryan railed at numerous calls in the first half and showed early he was in no mood for mistakes. When Trevon Hughes turned the ball over on Wisconsin's first possession, Ryan yanked his starting guard 13 seconds into the game.In the second half, moments after he took exception to a hard foul from Northwestern's Ivan Peljusic, Butch took a nifty pass from Krabbenhoft for a layup, was fouled and converted the three-point play. That put the Badgers up 10 with about 15 minutes to go.Landry hit a 3-pointer and then took a high pass for a layup. He was fouled after the basket and when the Badgers retained possession, Landry hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key. His personal eight-point run put Wisconsin up 45-29.Bohannon set a Wisconsin record by going 6-for-6 at the line to run his stretch of consecutive free throws made to 39, breaking the mark of 35 set by Wes Matthews in 1980.Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
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Team Stat Comparison
WIS | NW | |
---|---|---|
Points | 65 | 52 |
FG Made-Attempted | 23-47 (.489) | 20-49 (.408) |
3P Made-Attempted | 4-16 (.250) | 6-17 (.353) |
FT Made-Attempted | 15-22 (.682) | 6-8 (.750) |
Fouls (Tech/Flagrant) | 14 (0/0) | 20 (1/0) |
Largest Lead | 19 | 0 |
Game Leaders
WIS | NW | |
---|---|---|
Points | ||
Rebounds | ||
Assists | ||
Steals | ||
Blocks | ||
Team Stats: Wisconsin | Northwestern |
Next 5 Games
WIS | NW |
---|---|
03/14 MICH 12:00pm 03/15 MSU 1:40pm 03/16 ILL 3:30pm 03/20 CSF 9:50pm 03/22 KSU 4:20pm |
03/13 @MINN 5:00pm 11/16 CARK 2:00pm 11/19 AMCC 8:00pm 11/22 @BRWN 7:00pm 11/26 @BUT 7:00pm |
Complete Schedule: Wisconsin | Northwestern |
Big Ten Conference Standings
TEAM | CONF W-L | TOTAL W-L |
---|---|---|
#8 Wisconsin | 16-2 | 29-4 |
#17 Indiana | 14-4 | 25-7 |
#18 Michigan State | 12-6 | 25-8 |
#15 Purdue | 15-3 | 24-8 |
Minnesota | 8-10 | 20-13 |
Ohio State | 10-8 | 19-13 |
Penn State | 7-11 | 15-16 |
Illinois | 5-13 | 16-19 |
Iowa | 6-12 | 13-19 |
Michigan | 5-13 | 10-22 |
Northwestern | 1-17 | 8-22 |
View expanded standings » |