Hughes comes up big in Badgers’ 61-59 win over FSU

By EDDIE PELLS, AP National Writer Mar 21, 1:40 am EDT

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BOISE, Idaho (AP)—Trevon Hughes had no problem getting his nose dirty, especially with a payoff like this.

After spending all night doing the grunt work on defense, the Wisconsin guard got to play a more glamorous role at the end. He got to take the crazy, spinning, highlight-reel bank shot with 2 seconds left in overtime and the season on the line.

The shot went in over a bunch of Florida State’s outstretched arms and the Badgers won, 61-59 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“I’m just glad the coach had trust in me,” Hughes said.

Next up for 12th-seeded Wisconsin (20-12) is a meeting with Xavier in the East Regional.

It’s doubtful the Badgers or Hughes will face a tougher test than what they had in Seminoles star Toney Douglas, the under-appreciated guard who averages 21 points and led fifth-seeded Florida State (25-10) to its first tournament appearance in 11 years.

Douglas finished with 26 points, not a single one of them easy, thanks to Hughes’ huge defensive effort.

“Douglas is so tough defensively on Hughes, he really kind of took Trevon out of a lot of things,” Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. “Fortunately at the end, he had at least one good one in him. But defensively, that’s how we try to play all the time.”

That tough defense put Wisconsin in position to win, even after shooting only 40 percent and going through a couple of long, ugly scoring droughts that almost made this game unwinnable.

Wisconsin held Douglas without a single shot attempt for the first 11 minutes of the game, in part because Hughes kept smothering and denying him the ball.

But it couldn’t last forever. He wound up 8-for-16 from the floor. His 3-pointer with 1:16 left gave the Seminoles a 59-56 lead but, hounded by the Wisconsin defense, he missed another one that would have put it away with less than 10 seconds to go.

That set the stage for Hughes, who had the ball all the way after a timeout, trailing by one with 8.3 seconds left.

He dribbled left, spun right into the lane, then flipped the game-winner over Douglas and Chris Singleton. Drew contact, too, and made the free throw for a three-point play to make it 61-59.

“Basically, I came off the screen, they left me open and they let me make a play,” Hughes said. “I got in the lane and did what I had to do to get the `W.”’

For cappers, Hughes batted away Florida State’s desperation pass at the end and the Badgers mobbed him at halfcourt to celebrate the victory.

Jason Bohannon led Wisconsin with 16 points, including a 3-pointer with the shot clock going off for 52-50 lead with 55 seconds left in regulation.

Keaton Nankivil had 14 and Hughes and Marcus Landry had 10 each for Wisconsin, which endured a six-game losing streak in January that put Bucky on the bubble for the last six weeks of the season. The Badgers stressed on Selection Sunday when it took a while for their name to pop up. Hearts were surely beating faster at the end of this one.

Florida State, meanwhile, has an NCAA tournament resume you could fit on the back of a business card—a grand total of 11 appearances. And though it won’t grow much after this one, the Seminoles were certainly part of a memorable game.

“I think we got beat by a team tonight that stuck to their game plan,” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. “With the game on the line, they executed.”

Douglas only took over the game once, midway through the second half when scored nine of his team’s 11 points during a stretch that turned a one-point defecit into a 44-37 lead.

But Wisconsin, down as much as 12 at halftime, wouldn’t quit.

“Coach said, `20 minutes is guaranteed to us and nothing after that,”’ Joe Krabbenhoft said. “He said let’s take advantage of those 20 minutes on both ends. Every loose ball has got to be ours. Smile. Have fun. Just go out there and have a ball.”

They did.

Bohannon hit a 3-pointer with 2:24 left to put the Badgers ahead 49-48. Later came his heave from about 25 feet that made it 52-50. Douglas, however, answered with two free throws and the game was headed to overtime.

Wisconsin joined Western Kentucky and Arizona as the third vaunted No. 12 seed to pull an upset over a 5. But was this really an upset? The Badgers have certainly been here before. Eleven straight times, in fact, and have made it out of the first round all but once since 2002.

Updated Mar 21, 1:40 am EDT
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35 Comments

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  1. <i>dmille6690</i>
    35. Posted by dmille6690 Sat Mar 21 11:33pm EDT

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    you badger fans, enjoy it for now. the X factor will blow them out by 20 on sunday. farve wont save the day . the team is just too slow
  2. shotgun
    34. Posted by shotgun Sat Mar 21 5:26pm EDT

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    It just came down to which team had the most heart at the end,and in the end it proved to be the Badgers.Watch out Xavier! GO BUCKY GO!!!
  3. just wonderful
    33. Posted by just wonderful Sat Mar 21 4:49pm EDT

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    The BADgeers will fail like always...this way they can waste millions more of tax dollars LOSING
  4. Phil B
    32. Posted by Phil B Sat Mar 21 3:29pm EDT

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    Soon they'll be chanting --- "Break up the Badgers" ...... Xavier's toast!
  5. Eileen S
    31. Posted by Eileen S Sat Mar 21 1:48pm EDT

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    just goes to show that all those whiners who questioned arizona and wisconsin should stick to their day jobs, oh that's right , it is their day jobs............. they're as good at their guesses as AIG and bank executives are at their's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  6. Eileen S
    30. Posted by Eileen S Sat Mar 21 1:46pm EDT

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    just goes to show that all those whiners who questioned arizona and wisconsin should stick to their day jobs, oh that's right , it is their day jobs............. they're as good at their guesses as AIG and bank executives are at their's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  7. Brad from da Bronx
    29. Posted by Brad from da Bronx Sat Mar 21 1:16pm EDT

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    Go Bucky, man they are hard to watch sometimes, especially in the first half when they come down and fire up a three with plenty of time still on the clock, the Stinkin Badgers gotta work the clock, wear down their opponents on defense and bang the boards.
    Also, how many times does Krabenhoff have to get elbowed or punched in the face before he gets a call!
    Go you Stinkin' Badgers GO!!!!
    Stinkin' Badger Fan in St Paul
  8. Bror
    28. Posted by Bror Sat Mar 21 1:13pm EDT

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    Always amazed me how Wisconsin, a prestigious university, can do so well in Division 1 athletics. BEST OF LUCK BADGERS!
  9. <i>fishamf17</i>
    27. Posted by fishamf17 Sat Mar 21 1:08pm EDT

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    Go Bucky go!!!!!
  10. Renata
    26. Posted by Renata Sat Mar 21 12:49pm EDT

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    Way to go Badgers!! You always surprise us! GO BIG RED!!!!!!
  11. Richard g
    25. Posted by Richard g Sat Mar 21 12:29pm EDT

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    Bo and "His Boys" did a great job!!! I"ll be waiting to hear what the "Talking Heads" have to say about it!!!
    A Badger Fan who lives Tallahassee in the winter and WI in the summer.
  12. chris
    24. Posted by chris Sat Mar 21 12:20pm EDT

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    haha noles blow....

    Go gators. atleast they are still in their crap tourney.
  13. <i>denardo.pitter</i>
    23. Posted by denardo.pitter Sat Mar 21 10:51am EDT

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    How you doink today
  14. Greg K
    22. Posted by Greg K Sat Mar 21 9:35am EDT

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    I heard about some cheating at FSU. Some players took online classes so they would be academically eligible. Was this related to their basketball team or just football....

    Go Badgers
  15. MickP
    21. Posted by MickP Sat Mar 21 9:29am EDT

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    Noles blew it to a team that had 19 points @ halftime. And Hamilton was sitting on his smelly rear end during time outs... wasn't even coaching.
  16. X-Moon0420
    20. Posted by X-Moon0420 Sat Mar 21 9:09am EDT

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    Go Bucky!

    The Badgers and BIG TEN never get the recognition they deserve! Maybe this WILL OPEN THE EYES of some, and shut there mouths!
  17. veronica
    19. Posted by veronica Sat Mar 21 6:31am EDT

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    A gritty performance! Go Red!
  18. joe
    18. Posted by joe Sat Mar 21 3:23am EDT

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    Go Badgers I hope this will shut up some of the ppl on espn about the big 10 being so weak. $ out of 7 advanced.
  19. <i>brownpower44</i>
    17. Posted by brownpower44 Sat Mar 21 3:13am EDT

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    they had bad calls on both sides. like when douglas slipped and fell down while barely making any contact at all with hughes and hughes getting the blocking foul at the end of the game. they also had pumltiple missed charging calls on fsu where douglas mostly would lower his shoulder into hughes and drive hughes into the floor (did it twice at the end of the game)
  20. Steven C
    16. Posted by Steven C Sat Mar 21 2:57am EDT

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    Good win for Wisconsin, though...ya there were some officiating errors, a little off in balance, but it's more of what they call...it seems all off. Biggest concern is the final chances, where FSU drove, probably should've been called, then go down, good move by HUghes, but foul, which was about the same thing on the other side. I didn't see the whole game, but the tenacity of the Badgers must've kept them in and helped them to this win
  21. <i>calsohan</i>
    15. Posted by calsohan Sat Mar 21 2:25am EDT

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    Take that Seth Davis. I can't stand these media men and coaches overranking ACC. 4 out of 7 down in the first round.
  22. Benny Hanna
    14. Posted by Benny Hanna Sat Mar 21 1:50am EDT

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    go to bet mkubar you are way too young to be up this late
  23. <i>packman799</i>
    13. Posted by packman799 Sat Mar 21 1:31am EDT

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    Enough about the refs mkubar, the two Big Ten-ACC games simply proved that ACC players aren't used to playing a physical style of basketball. Don't get me wrong, I actually enjoy the ACC's style more, but that doesn't mean the refs can't let the teams play when tournament time rolls around.
  24. <i>kaukaunabasketball</i>
    12. Posted by kaukaunabasketball Sat Mar 21 1:20am EDT

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    Go badgers go
  25. michaelk
    11. Posted by michaelk Sat Mar 21 1:12am EDT

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    it was great basketball. i just wish it was the players, not the refs, that won some of these games today.
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Top Performers

 Top Performers
 Wisconsin
Jason Bohannon Jason Bohannon
6-11,  16 Pts
4 Rebs, 1 Assists
 Florida St.
Toney Douglas Toney Douglas
8-16,  26 Pts
5 Rebs, 2 Assists

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