It’s happened before, where the Wisconsin Badgers couldn’t throw the ball in the lake if they were standing right next to it. They simply picked
Sam Dekker
the worst time of the year to do it again.
The Badgers, who made the Sweet 16 in each of the last two seasons, were knocked out of the 2013 tournament in the opening round, falling to Mississippi 57-46.
Many thought the Badgers had a favorable bracket and were headed for a deep run in the NCAA’s post-season, but the Rebels had other ideas. Bo Ryan’s Badgers lost in their first tournament game for just the second time in his 12-seasons as head coach at Wisconsin.
Marshall Henderson scored 19 points and Murphy Holloway added 10 for Ole Miss.
Freshman Sam Dekker scored 14 points for Wisconsin, which hit just 8 of their 36 three-pointers (22.2%) and 15 of 59 shots overall (25.4%).
The Badgers got plenty of open looks, but they just couldn’t convert. Wisconsin led 25-22 at halftime, but they were uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball. Their 9-turnovers in the half matched their average for a game.
The scouting report said Wisconsin would have the upper hand in the paint, but it wound up going the other way. Ole Miss outplayed the Badgers in the paint and started to hit enough shots in the second half to pull out the win.
Wisconsin saw its season end at 23-12. Seniors Jared Berggren (2 for 12 FG), Ryan Evans (2 for 8 shots) and Mike Bruesewitz (3 points), all struggled in their final game.
