Panthers beat Badgers and their fans

MILWAUKEE — Fighting a heavily Wisconsin Badgers-favoring crowd, the Pitt men’s basketball… MILWAUKEE — Fighting a heavily Wisconsin Badgers-favoring crowd, the Pitt men’s basketball team was able to use timely rebounds, steals and converted free throws to stage a late comeback

Pitt defeated the Badgers, 59-55, to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament before a sellout crowd at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

Despite being seeded lower than Pitt, at No. 6, Wisconsin (25-7) essentially played a home game, since its home court is approximately an hour away from Milwaukee.

But the No. 3-seeded Panthers did not allow the deafening crowd to spoil their comeback.

“We knew coming into the tournament that we would be playing on the road,” forward Jaron Brown said. “We just stuck together.”

Pitt (31-4) out-rebounded the Badgers, 40-31, in the game, while knocking down seven out of nine foul shots from the charity stripe down the stretch. The Panthers came up with seven steals, compared to Wisconsin’s four.

“[Rebounding] is a big strength of ours,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said. “Our guards rebounded well; it was a great team effort.”

With 5:46 left in the game, Wisconsin guard Clayton Hanson nailed a three-pointer to put the Badgers ahead 48-44. After Hanson’s basket, the Panthers went on to finish the game on a 15-7 run.

The run began on a missed jump shot by Pitt guard Julius Page, but Panther center Chris Taft was able to grab the rebound and slam-dunk the ball to bring the Panthers within two. Page, who finished with 12 points and two steals, followed with a steal on the ensuing possession and threw down a wide-open dunk to tie the game at 48.

“We were not just going to break down because we were behind,” Page said. “I think they ran the same play three times, and I anticipated.”

On Pitt’s next possession, forward Chevon Troutman, who brought down 14 rebounds, made a layup and was fouled to give Pitt a 50-48 lead. Troutman then made his free throw, which gave the Panthers a three-point advantage.

On the ensuing possession, Wisconsin guard Boo Wade was fouled by Pitt guard Carl Krauser and made both shots, which made the score 51-50.

Krauser, Pitt’s leading scorer with 16 points, went to the foul line on Pitt’s next possession, but he only converted one of his two free throws, giving the Panthers a two-point margin at 52-50.

Badger forward Mike Wilkinson was the next contestant at the free-throw line and knotted the game at 52 by converting both free throws. With four fouls, Krauser drove toward the basket and nailed a field goal to put the Panthers ahead 54-52.

“We needed that basket,” Krauser said. “I didn’t have any fear of picking up my fifth foul.”

Pitt followed with a defensive stand, and Brown was sent to the foul line with 42 seconds left on the clock. Brown knocked down both foul shots and put the Panthers ahead 56-52.

Wade answered at the other end with a basket from beyond the arc to cut Pitt’s lead to one with 21 seconds left in the contest.

Krauser was intentionally fouled and was able to convert on both free throws, which put Pitt ahead 58-55. Badger forward Zach Morley missed a field goal, and Pitt was able to secure the defensive rebound. Brown was fouled to stop the clock with three seconds left and made his second free throw.

The Panther defense forced Morley to turn the ball over, securing the victory.

But it had been a different story in the first half of play. In the final seven minutes of the first half, the Panthers were able to extend their lead to four before Wisconsin guard Devin Harris scored 12 of the Badgers’ final 17 points of the half.

“There were shots that I was hitting in the first half that were not falling in the second half,” Harris said.

With the Panthers leading 15-14, Harris scored a bucket, which he followed with a field goal from downtown on Wisconsin’s next possession, giving them a 17-16 lead.

A basket from Page allowed Pitt to regain the lead at 18-17, but the Badgers put four unanswered points on the scoreboard with both Harris and Wilkinson going 2-for-2 from the foul line, which gave them a 20-17 lead.

Troutman was able to slice the deficit to one with a layup. Krauser put Pitt back on top after Brown came up with a steal on the Badgers’ next possession. After a missed shot, the ball was deflected to the top of the key to Page during the scramble for the rebound. The Panther lead moved up to three after Krauser hit two of two free throws.

With the score 23-20 in favor of Pitt, Morley was only able to make one of two shots from the charity stripe. Page put Pitt up 26-21 with a three pointer with 1:28 left in the first half.

As quickly as the Panthers jumped in front, they found themselves tied with Wisconsin at half time. Wilkinson came up with a steal, which Harris converted into a lay up. Harris followed on the Badgers’ next possession with a three-pointer as the half expired to knot the game at 26.

Harris, the game’s leading scorer with 21 points, scored 15 first-half points, but only scored six in the second half, as he was defended by Brown for the bulk of the final half.

“He’s a good player, but I wanted to force him to take tough shots,” Brown said. “Actually, I was wearing down because he was running around.”