Koenig, just 2-for-10 from deep, nailed a late 3 to help send game to OT
NEW YORK — It sounded like a concession speech from Wisconsin’s Zak Showalter, one of the hardest working players in the Big Ten. But he was more than willing to concede that title to his sophomore teammate Ethan Happ.
“He plays his (bleep) off,” Showalter said.
Many would use the word “relentless” to describe Showalter’s approach to playing basketball, which is what Rutgers’ coach Steve Pikiell was saying about Happ after the Badgers escaped with a 61-54 overtime win over the Scarlet Knights here Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
Showalter agreed with Pikiell on Happ, who scored 32 points in 36 minutes.
“It’s so fun for me to be on the court with a guy like that,” said Showalter, who’s usually the recipient of praise for his work ethic. “I’ve kind of tried to be that guy that plays every possession as hard as I can. But to see him playing the way he is, which is exciting to see, I’m playing off him now.”
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Showalter then uttered something that resonated with anyone who saw the Badgers miss 25 of their first 30 shots while going the final 10:36 of the first half and the first 3:15 of the second half without scoring a basket; an ugly stretch where they couldn’t throw it in the Hudson River.
“He (Happ) might not always start the best but he continues to do what we need him to do down the stretch,” said Showalter, who could have easily applied that observation to the Badgers, who finally found their shooting range late in regulation (6-of-8 FGs) and overtime (5-of-6 FGs).
“We were saying, ‘It’s going to come, it’s going to come.’ It just took a lot longer than we wanted it to. I think we were frustrated for a lot of that game. I was frustrated. But you still have to stay positive and keep encouraging guys and you’ve got to pull it out.”
And that’s what the Badgers did in the end, they found a way to pull it out, thanks to Happ, who was the best player on the World’s Most Famous floor from start to finish. Happ unleashed a variety of spins moves that befuddled Rutgers’ low post defenders, C.J. Gettys, Shaquille Doorson, et al.
“That’s kind of like a staple of mine,” Happ said of his spintastic repertoire of counters. “If they’re going to play it a certain way than I’m going to keep going to it. On a night when you’re not shooting well, you don’t go away from something (that’s working). So, I just kept going back to it.”
Happ was nearly unstoppable with his back to the hoop. He was just as effective facing it and beating his man off the bounce. That was especially true on UW’s final possession of regulation with Rutgers clinging to a 45-43 lead and the Badgers in-bounding under their own basket.
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Bronson Koenig got the ball to Happ, who caught the pass over his right shoulder at the 3-point arc. Since Koenig, who was just 2-for-10 from 3-point range, but one of those did help force OT, and Happ were unable to execute a dribble handoff, Happ used the dribble to attack Gettys and get to the rim for the game-tying basket. Both players had four personal fouls.
“Once I caught it,” said the 6-10 Happ, “I knew there was five or six seconds left, something like that (there were actually seven seconds left), I knew there was plenty of time for me to get to the hole. And once I did, I didn’t want to rush myself, so I pump-faked (Gettys) and took my time.”
Nigel Hayes saved his best for last — the overtime. After failing to score a field goal in regulation (0-of-5), Hayes got the Badgers on the board first with a basket from the paint (where the UW out-scored Rutgers, 10-0 in OT). But the lead was short-lived as Corey Sanders countered with a 3-pointer.
The subsequent offensive possession for the Badgers was critical because it resulted in four points. After Happ scored and was fouled, he missed the free throw. But Showalter muscled his way from the right lane line to the baseline and outwrestled the 7-0, 270-pound Doorson for the ball.
Showalter tapped it back to Hayes to extend the possession. Slashing off the left wing, Showalter lowered his shoulder like a tailback and got inside the Rutgers defense to draw help before dropping a pass to Happ who scored to give the Badgers a three-point lead, 51-48.
But the Scarlet Knights wouldn’t go away. One of the worst free throw shooting teams in the nation (.541 in Big Ten play) got four clutch free throws from Sanders and Mike Williams and trailed 53-52 with 1:33 remaining. That’s when Hayes went to work on the block with an assist from Happ.
Hayes scored, was fouled and completed the three-point play to push the lead to five points. Koenig later closed the door on Rutgers by going 4-for-4 from the line over the last 28 seconds. Koenig also saved his best for last, highlighted by a cold-blooded triple with 32 seconds left in regulation to pull the Badgers within a point.
It was a typical clutch Koenig basket in a 13-4 run that rallied the UW from a 41-32 deficit.
“My biggest takeaway from the game is not to give up when you’re not shooting well,” Happ said. “For Bronson to knock down that 3 late in the game was huge for us. And, then, for Nigel to have that ‘and one’ in overtime and make his free throw was also huge.
“Those guys struggled all night and for them to be leaders and step up at the end like that was great for us. To pull it out was an amazing team win. I never have any doubt (that they’re going to win) until the game is really over. I was ecstatic.”
By now, everyone should be aware that Happ played in the backcourt during his formative years and that accounts for his slick ballhandling and uncanny guard skills for a “big.” Besides utilizing a cross-over dribble in the half-court, he was the triggerman in transition on several fast-break opportunities.
Although Vitto Brown didn’t make a basket (0-for-8), he did make a couple of important free throws at 8:07 of the second half to snap an 8-0 Rutgers run. Brown finished with three blocks and seven rebounds. Jordan Hill, meanwhile, came off the bench to log 23 minutes as a third guard.
Former NBA commissioner David Stern, a Rutgers grad, was in attendance, along with former UW football assistant Chris Ash, now the head coach of the Scarlet Knights. Hanging from the rafters was the retired New York Rangers jersey No. 35 belonging to former Wisconsin goaltender Mike Richter.