BOISE, Idaho – Taco Bell Arena has been kind to schools from Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament thus far.
Mere hours after No. 6 seed Marquette outlasted No. 11 Utah State 58-57, No. 12 Wisconsin pulled off an improbable upset of No. 5 Florida State on the same court. The Badgers earned a 61-59 win in overtime, thanks to a spinning layup by guard Trevon Hughes with 2.0 seconds left.
"Throughout the whole game, I wasn't myself. I was making bonehead plays," Hughes said. "I just thought to myself 'Just attack'.I got the foul and the" basket.
That the Badgers were even in position to force overtime – let alone score a win – was a miracle in itself. Florida State led 31-19 at halftime, and shot 50.0 percent from the field compared to 28.0 percent for Wisconsin.
But the Badgers managed to flip the script after the break, and shot 50.0 percent from the field in the second half as Florida State shot just 31.6 percent. No shot was bigger than Hughes layup, on top of which he tacked a free throw for an old fashioned 3-point play.
"We were actually surprised that we had that many open looks (in the first half). You're not in a panic mode," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. "We were trying to get good looks.my motivation at halftime was 'John Leuer you've got to hit some shots'."
Leuer ended the game without scoring, going 0-of-7 from the field. "I guess my halftime speech failed," Ryan said with a laugh.
Hughes finished with 10 points and four assists for Wisconsin, which will face Xavier Sunday afternoon in the NCAA Tournament's second round. Guard Jason Bohannon led the badgers with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
Xavier 77 – Portland State 59
No. 13 seed Portland State shot 47.8 percent from the floor against No. 4 Xavier and hit 8-of-21 3-pointers. Unfortunately for the Vikings, the Musketeers shot the ball better.
Xavier shot 53.7 percent from the floor (8-of-19 from three) and pulled away late for the 18-point win. The Musketeers were efficient in all aspects of the game Friday, committing just seven turnovers and scoring 34 points in the paint.
"We were able to move the ball," guard Dante Jackson said. "Coach (Miller) always talks about moving the ball and moving yourself and I think we did a really good job of that."
Portland State had three players score in double figures, with Jamie Jones leading the way with 16 points. Andre Murray (14 points) and Jeremiah Dominguez (13 points) also factored for the Vikings.
Missouri 78 – Cornell 59
No. 13 Cornell stayed close in the first half – trailing just 29-25 at the break – but didn't have enough athleticism to run with No. 4 Missouri, falling 78-59.
Missouri's full court press only forced nine turnovers (and the Tigers held just a 13-5 advantage on points off turnovers) but didn't need charity from Cornell as forwards Leo Lyons and DeMarre Carroll combined to score 36 points.
Forward Ryan Whittman led Cornell with 18 points on 7-of-17 shooting.