Wisconsin Basketball: Badgers Grit Out NCAA Tournament Win Over Pittsburgh, 47-43

The Wisconsin basketball team pulled out a gritty win over Pittsburgh

In the lowest scoring NCAA Tournament game since 2000, the Wisconsin basketball team pulled out a tough victory despite a poor offensive performance, defeating the Pittsburgh Panthers 47-43 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Nigel Hayes and Ethan Happ led the Badgers offensively down the stretch, helping the Badgers come back after Wisconsin again faced bitter struggles on the offensive end.

The Badgers were led by 15 points from the freshman Happ, with Hayes adding 12 and Vitto Brown knocking down three 3-pointers on the way to 11 points.

Bronson Koenig scored just two points in the win as he and the Badgers were ice-cold much of the game. Hayes finished with a 3-of-17 shooting performance, including going 0-for-6 from the three-point line.

Koenig went 1-for-8 from the field and Zak Showalter was 2-of-8 and scored five points. Charlie Thomas scored two points off of the bench.

Jamel Artis led Pitt with 13 points, while James Robinson scored seven points and Chris Jones and Michael Young scored six each. Sheldon Jeter scored nine off of the bench for the Panthers.

Wisconsin’s struggles seemed to carry over from their last time out, a poor offensive showing against Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament. The Badgers managed just 16 points in the first half against Pitt, the fewest points in the first half of an NCAA Tournament game ever.

More from Badger of Honor

The Badgers shot just 25 percent from the field (6-of-24) and just 22 percent from three-point range (2-of-9) in the first half. Wisconsin was also just 2-of-4 from the free throw line, with Hayes and Happ each going 1-of-2 from the charity stripe in the opening 20 minutes.

Wisconsin saw a spark in the first 20 minutes from Zak Showalter, who led the team with five points at the half. He knocked down a three for the Badgers first bucket, and had a steal and breakaway layup to inject a little life into Wisconsin.

Luckily, Pittsburgh didn’t shoot much better, shooting 37 percent from the field (10-of-27) and 20 percent from three-point range (1-of-5). Wisconsin only trailed 22-16 at the break.

The Badgers found some life early in the second half, and on a Happ dunk took their first lead of the game lead at 25-24 just under the 16-minute mark.

The Badgers were quickly in the bonus in the second half as well, as Pitt sent the Badgers to the charity stripe with more than 15 minutes to play. Pitt, though, opened up a five-point lead with just under 12 minutes to play at 34-29.

Koenig knocked down a late-shot clock jumper with under nine minutes to play to make it a 34-31 game, and the shot sparked the Badgers offense. Wisconsin pulled within one point at 36-35 at the seven-minute mark, but a pair of empty possessions kept Pitt on top.

The Badgers defense kept Pitt off the board and Brown knocked down a three with 5:14 on the clock to put Wisconsin up 38-36.

Pitt took the lead right back as Artis knocked down a three, but Hayes hit one of two free throws to tie game at 39-all as the 4-minute mark approached.