Wisconsin’s Kammron Taylor accepted the pass from Marcus Landry and dribbled right, moving purposefully just outside the three-point circle. Then teammate Alando Tucker picked off Michigan State’s Maurice Joseph with a perfect screen and now Taylor was open with his team down one as the clock rushed toward zero.
Taylor did not hesitate. He simply rose and offered up a three that nestled gently into the net. He hopped away from this dagger, his mother, Blondell, covered her mouth in disbelief and 3.9 seconds later, after Drew Neitzel’s 25-footer fell short, the Badgers had a 52-50 victory over the Spartans to close out their regular season.
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“It was nice to see him find the bottom of the net,” Badgers coach Bo Ryan said.
“He hasn’t made many lately,” Spartans coach Tom Izzo said. “But I guess that’s the way it’s written in Hollywood when you’re a senior.”
It was indeed a Hollywood ending fit for the last day at their Kohl Center for Taylor and Tucker. It also left Wisconsin (27-4, 13-3 Big Ten) feeling good heading into the postseason and, most significantly, kept alive its hopes for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Yet, in the end, it was still a victory that was flawed and far from compelling.
Take, for one example, the Badgers’ final point total. It was 20 points below their season average and it followed the 48 they put up Sunday against Ohio State and the 55 they had in their Feb. 20 meeting with the Spartans. Take, for another example, the two droughts they endured Saturday. They got no field goals from 14:30 to 8:39 and from 7:57 to 2:42 in the first half.
“With Ohio State, it was basically one guy (7-foot Greg Oden). With Michigan State, it’s three, four guys who make it very difficult for us to get anything going at the rim from our post screens,” Ryan said, trying to explain his team’s anemic offense.
But their problems have been deeper than that and often self-inflicted.
Their offense, lyrically called the Swing, depends on screens, cutting and constant movement without the ball. But against both the Buckeyes and the Spartans, the Badgers often were stagnant, flat-footed, rooted to spots and in love with the long-distance jump shot. Their offense, when swinging on well-oiled hinges, delivers open looks down low. But in these games it seemingly moved on rusty hinges.
In their first game with Michigan State, 28 of their 53 field-goal attempts were three-pointers. In Columbus against Ohio State, they settled for so many perimeter jumpers that they drew few fouls and went to the line just six times. In Saturday’s game they again took more threes (20) than twos (19) and, alarmingly, missed the vast majority of both.
Taylor, despite his heroics, did not get his first field goal until 8:15 remained in the game. He ended it with just eight points while going 2 of 9 overall and 2 of 6 on his threes. That left him 6 of 29 overall and 4 of 12 on threes in his last three games.
Michael Flowers, the other starting guard, did even worse. He ended with just five points while going 1 of 4 overall, 1 of 3 on his threes. Trevon Hughes and Jason Bohannon, off the bench, each missed a three, which meant the Wisconsin guards finished 3 of 15 overall and 3 of 11 on threes.
Tucker saved the day with 26 points and the Badgers were helped because the Spartans (21-10, 8-8) sent them to the line, where they made 17 of 22 free throws. Taylor then stepped up and authored the dramatic ending, which produced a raucous celebration. Yet, in the end, it was a victory that was flawed and far from compelling, which was why Izzo said what should be heeded most.
“They’re a very good team,” he said. “I said at the beginning of the year, I thought they were the best team in the league. When we beat them at our place, I still thought they were the best and had the best chance to make a tournament run. I like Ohio State a lot, but I still think Wisconsin has the best chance.
“I don’t think there are any secrets, just like we went through in our championship runs. Your best players, you know, Taylor has to play better. I think he will because he has. If he does, this team has a chance to make a good run.”
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