Big Road Win for Bucky

If you look at the record for the Wisconsin men's basketball team you'd notice two things. One they are undefeated at home. The other is that Wisconsin is 2-2 on the road, and has failed to defeat a big name team on the road as well.

After falling to UNLV in a close one, and then blowing a lead in the second half against Notre Dame the Badgers needed a solid road win for their tournament resume. That win came on Saturday at the Bradley Center against Marquette.

The match-up between the Badgers and Golden Eagles was everything you would expect an in-state rivalry to be; close and down to the wire.

Early in the game you the tempo was established by Marquette with suffocating defense. Especially on Wisconsin star forward John Leuer. Holding the senior forward below his season average with 17 points.

Stepping up in the big game was none other than junior point guard Jordan Taylor. Scoring 21 points with three assists made Taylor the best Badger on the floor on Saturday, but there is one more statistic that solidified that claim.

The turnover margin for Taylor this season has been perhaps the most amazing part of his game. Against the Golden Eagles Taylor only turned the ball over once while recording three assists at the same time. Raising his totals to 42 assists, and only 12 turnovers for a margin of 3.5 assists to turnovers.

Also stepping up in the big spot was senior forward Keaton Nankivil. The Madison Memorial product has been missing for much of the early part of the season. Not missing on the floor, but missing in the stat sheet.

Against Marquette Nankivil showed flashes of the player he had been last season in Leuer's absence. Scoring 12 points in 22 minutes, and recording five boards. But it was behind the three point line that Nakivil did most of his damage nailing two of the three shots from downtown.

Between Taylor, Leuer, and Nankivil the Badgers were able to pull away from the Golden Eagles in the second half. That is until Marquette made on last push. Cutting into the lead, and in the final minute cutting it down to just three points.

Then Marquette's Jae Crowder made on final mistake that put the nail in the coffin for Wisconsin. While bringing the ball up the court Crowder succumbed to the pressure of Wisconsin's Josh Gasser. Crowder than dribbled the ball of his foot, and out of bounds.

Wisconsin would go on to make the last trow free throws after Marquette intentionally fouled Jordan Taylor. Giving the Badgers a 69-64 win, and a needed big road victory.