About Last NITe: Wisconsin Wanted It

We have two more quarterfinals toNITe, so don’t turn off your television just yet (do make sure it’s on ESPN2, though, instead of ESPN like yesterday). Our previews from yesterday include those two games.

Now…

WHAT A FREAKIN NITE YOU GUYS!!!!!!

Two games, one to overtime, one decided by three points. Defense everywhere. Road warriors doing work. Teams headed to Las Vegas who are excited to be headed to Las Vegas. Chronologically:

North Texas 65, Oklahoma State 59 (OT)

What happened:

In just our second overtime game of the tournament, Tylor Perry got hot enough late to push the Mean Green past Oklahoma State in front of a furious Stillwater crowd.

Great scorers are not great scorers every single time they take the floor. That’s part of the deal with basketball, and with sport more broadly. One thing that makes the great ones great, though, is how they perform when things aren’t clicking, and for Tylor Perry, things were not clicking. The man missed eleven threes. North Texas committed at least four shot clock violations. Oklahoma State stifled North Texas, and they stifled Tylor Perry specifically.

He still dropped 23.

A lot of this was volume, but compared to what else UNT had going offensively, that’s what it needed to be. This team looks to Perry when they’re in trouble, and down the stretch, he delivered, with an outrageous jump stop flip-in late in regulation to start a three-point play and a *deep* three to give the Mean Green their eventually decisive lead. Was Perry the best player on the floor? No, that would be Moulaye Sissoko, who scored 12 and pulled down 15 boards and demonstrated a gentle knack for being where the ball was going to be, or possibly Moussa Cissé, who was a quiet non-factor late despite being the best thing Oklahoma State had going for much of the game. But when it counted, UNT looked to their guy, and their guy delivered.

What it means for the NIT:

North Texas is going to its first Final Four, and the school is celebrating it, which is what everybody wants. Everyone—besides the haters, of course—wants teams in Las Vegas this year who are fired up to be there. So far, we’re two for two on that count, which brings us to our next victor, though first…

One additional thought:

Oklahoma State got hot for a stretch there in the second half, but even with a few major scoring droughts, North Texas hung on. I wonder how much of that is the Mean Green successfully pausing the game with their half-court sets. Far too often, they broke down and took too long, but they did the trick in stopping an aggressive charge.

Wisconsin 61, Oregon 58

What happened:

Wisconsin was not a good free-throw shooting team this year. Oregon was not a bad defensive rebounding team this year. Chucky Hepburn was not an efficient scorer this game.

Thankfully for the Badgers, the script flipped on all of those things. Bucky made 12 of 13 at the stripe (compared to 4 of 12 from the Ducks), Bucky pulled down 14 offensive boards (compared to 29 defensive for the Ducks), and Hepburn made his second three of the night on his tenth attempt, Dana Altman’s 1–3–1 leaving him open at the worst possible time for the home team. It was dicey from there, but despite the best Wisconsin efforts (Max Klesmit missed a contested fast break layup he should not have taken), the Badgers navigated ten seconds of Oregon needing to foul four times and came away with two made free throws. Quincy Guerrier’s desperation heave hit the back of the rim. Greg Gard emptied the water bottles on his team in the locker room (in the celebratory way).

What it means for the NIT:

Much to Altman’s envy (more on that in Stu’s Notes, later), Wisconsin sent cheerleaders, its mascot, and a band more than halfway across the country for a Tuesday night game in the NIT quarterfinals. This school gets it. It supports its athletes, and it invites its fans to do the same. I have no idea how many Wisconsin fans will or won’t show up in Las Vegas, but I know they’re going to send a pep band, and I know they’re going to make a big deal out of it, which is one hundred percent what these kids deserve. They’ve been playing hard, they’ve been taking this seriously, and now they get a chance to be one of exceptionally few teams in the country to finish their season with a victory. Also? Could be the Badgers’ first national championship. Never made a real Final Four before.

One additional thought:

Wisconsin could bring every single player on the roster back next year. Big storyline heading into next week. Is this a dynasty in the making?

**

One extra thought here: I don’t mean to imply that Oregon or Oklahoma State’s basketball programs didn’t want this. I thought both played hard and played well throughout the tournament, and I think a lot of both Altman and Mike Boynton as coaches. We’re just impressed by how much North Texas and Wisconsin have gotten behind their teams. Especially Wisconsin, as a school.