No. 8 Wisconsin stuns Villanova as the first No. 1 seed to fall

BUFFALO — Nigel Hayes wasn’t sure what he was going to do when the ball came to him in the closing seconds Saturday with the game knotted at 62. That’s OK. If the Wisconsin forward didn’t know, how could Villanova?

Hayes drove the baseline and put home a twisting reverse layup to give the Badgers a two-point lead with 11.4 seconds left. Then they played stellar defense in the lane to thwart Josh Hart’s drive to the basket. Vitto Brown added a free throw with 3 seconds left and, just like that, the overall No. 1 seed was done — 65-62.

And the Badgers were moving on to the round of 16 for a remarkable fourth consecutive season. Heck, they’re the only team that had made it to the last three Sweet 16s.

Hayes said on the clinching sequence he got a screen from Ethan Happ on a side isolation, a play Wisconsin runs a lot. The pick gave him “a little traffic to try the baseline,” he said. “Went down there to --- I didn’t know what move I was going to do before I caught the ball. Just went, did a fake spin, got to my left hand and fortunately the layup went in.”

BOX SCORE: Badgers 65, Wildcats 62

Still, Villanova had those 11.4 seconds left, not to mention Hart, the big-play Big East player of the year, who drove the left side of the lane. But when he got there he found much of the state of Wisconsin in his way. Hayes had him, then Happ took him on a switch and then Brown got his hand on the ball. Turnover.

“I know he likes to go to his left and spin back,” Happ said, “but he just stuck to his left hand the whole time and then Vitto came over with great help and I walled him up and Vitto came over and got the almost tie-up, but ended up blocking it.”

Brown felt he’d gotten the ball cleanly but worried about a whistle. “The way some of the calls were going,” he said, “we weren’t sure if there would be a foul at the end.”

Some calls had gone against the Badgers, including a fourth foul on Bronson Koenig, their big-time big-shot artist, on a charge that looked like a block. He played only 27 minutes and Happ only 23 because of foul difficulties. But one big call went the Badgers’ way.

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Wisconsin had the ball and a 62-61 lead in the final minute when Koenig turned the ball over under pressure at midcourt. Villanova’s Donte DiVincenzo made the steal and began a dash down the sideline only to be fouled by Hayes. The officials conferred. If they ruled it an intentional foul, Villanova would have two free throws plus possession. But they decided Hayes had made a play on the ball. DiVincenzo made one free throw and missed the second, tying the game and setting the stage for Hayes’ baseline drive.

“Thank the lucky stars that wasn’t an intentional foul on me,” Hayes said. “I did make a play for the ball. I’m glad the ref saw that.”

Villanova held a 57-50 lead with a bit more than five minutes to play — and got outscored 15-5 down the stretch. Koenig canned a key three to forge a 62-59 lead with 2 minutes left. That’s nothing new. He’s made a career of knocking down three-pointers, including 11 for 23 from deep in the two games Wisconsin won in Buffalo.

“I felt terrible, to say the least, when I got my fourth foul and I was just sitting on the bench” like a coach, Koenig said. “I knew that when coach gave me the opportunity to get back in there, I was going to make something happen.”

Hayes had joked on Friday about how Koenig is the poster child for spectacular shots. Now Hayes has his own film clip for the montage, though he objected to that notion, pointing out that Koenig’s big plays had gotten Wisconsin back into a game that had looked to be slipping away.

“I just made a layup,” Hayes said. “Layups are easy. He made the tough jump shots.”

Wait, a reverse layup in the crucible of a tie game against the No. 1 seed and defending champ in the din of KeyBank Center is easy?

No, Hayes admitted, it wasn’t easy. Then he offered a small confession.

“I actually thought I missed it,” he said. “I threw it a little too hard. Luckily, it went in.”

NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND HIGHLIGHTS