Wisconsin Badgers suffered a heartbreak on Saturday when they allowed the lower seeded Oregon Ducks to come back for a 77-73 victory. The loss hurts but big man Steven Crowl is not dwelling on it.
The victory was almost within the Badgers’ reach with 38 seconds left in the regulation but a turnover by John Blackwell and defensive lapse allowed the Ducks to Jackson Shelstad get a clear shot from beyond the arc to tie the game at 66-66 with 12 seconds left.
The hosts had ample time to execute a game-winner but guard Max Klesmit did not have enough good angle to convert it.
Star John Tonje started their scoring in the overtime period with a jumper and it was toe-to-toe from there between the two teams.
Nate Bittle, who had a game-high 23 points, kept the Oregons afloat until they finally had control of the game. He made a jumper by the 0:55 mark to give his team a 74-71 lead.
The Badgers were still knocking on the doors with a Blackwell lay-up to close the gap to 74-73 with 19 seconds left.
However, the shot clock dead, all the hosts can do is send the opponents to the foul line. Keeshawn Barthelemy happy obliged and made two to stretch their lead to 3 points with 17 seconds remaining.
Tonje missed a game-tying attempt and they were forced to foul Jadrian Tracey who made one out of two tries from the line. Game over, 77-73.
Steven Crowl would rather Wisconsin Badgers lose now
The Oregon loss saw Badgers’ five-game winning streak end.
It was a heartbreaker for Wisconsin because they could have had the W in just one correct decision.
However, they are not dwelling on it, if Steven Crowl is going to be listened to.
The team knows where they went wrong and for the senior big man, they will take this loss rather than in March.
“The pressure maybe gets to us against those teams that want to get out and deny us, make our lives a little bit more difficult,” Crowl said after the game.
“It was a good learning experience for us. I’d rather take this on the chin now than in March.”
Crowl and company will have chance to get back to winning ways when they take on conference’s worst team Washington Huskies.
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