Dec. 9, 2008
Final Stats
Madison, WI --- Idaho State proved the win over Utah was no fluke, nearly accomplishing the near impossible, as ISU lost 60-58 to the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison, as ISU was not able to get off a shot to win it at the buzzer.
Down seven in the final two minutes, ISU slowly worked their way back, getting a big three in the final seconds from Matt Stucki to make it 59-58 with 2.9 left. After a quick foul, Wisconsin hit a free throw by Trevon Hughes, who then tried to miss since ISU was out of timeouts, but a line violation gave ISU one last improbable chance. Demetrius Monroe threw it deep, and Devidias Busma got the deflection, but his final shot never got away with a lot of contact on all sides.
Jason Bohannon was a thorn in ISU's side, draining four first half three-pointers on the way to a team-high 18 points. The Bengals led 31-29 after Felix Caspari hit two early second half baskets, but Wisconsin used an 8-0 run to take the lead for good, although ISU never let them get to far.
The Bengals stayed in to with solid shooting, going 25-for-47, a .532 clip for the game, and they had just 10 turnovers for the game. ISU's myriad of defenses kept Wisconsin ay bat all night, forcing the Badgers to shoot just 38% for the night at 20-of-53. Wisconsin did lead the rebounding battle 33-26, and ISU was whistled for 21 fouls to just nine for the Badgers, and Wisconsin made ISU pay for that, hitting 15-of-22 free throws, while ISU was just 4-for-8.
"These close losses are getting old," said Joe O'Brien in the official postgame press conference. "Our kids played hard, and I'm proud of them coming into a Big Ten arena, and taking a great, well-coached team to the final buzzer like that."
O'Brien also felt that he would have liked to see ISU get a final shot off, but that wasn't what won or lost the game. "That final play doesn't win or lose the game, it's giving up 15 offensive rebounds, and allowing them to get the ball in spots where we had to foul them, and that's what really what hurt us."
The Bengals, along with Monroe, got 10 points from Matt Stucki, including six more assists. ISU for the game had 16 assists to just 10 turnovers.
Notes --- The Bengals dropped to 0-7 against the Big Ten all-time ... the Bengals stay on the road to take on Wisconsin-Green Bay on Thursday ... Wisconsin had 15 second chance points, which accounted for 15 points, compared to six for ISU.
