White Suburban Punk

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

Unranked Wisconsin upset #5 Duke, 73-69 last night in Madison, giving Duke their first loss of the season and first loss in the ten years of the Big 10/ACC Challenge.

Duke played their typical game.  They bitched.  They moaned.  They flopped.  They delivered cheap shots.  They are the Thierry Henry of college basketball.  But this time, THEY LOST.

Wisconsin played with unbelievable passion and intensity for the entire 40 minutes.  Every player made big shots, fought for rebounds, and played stellar defense.  I was worried about an emotional letdown after the Badgers started the game with incredible intensity, but that’s the great thing about college basketball.  These guys can actually keep it up for an entire game.

Uncle Brent and Bobby Knight called the game on the four letter network, with Holly Rowe interviewing Badger coach Bo Ryan both at halftime and at the conclusion of the game.  Coach K?  Didn’t hear from him.  Frankly, I don’t blame her for preferring to interview the interesting, charismatic, humorous guy rather than the automotron.  Of course, any game called by Uncle Brent is a BIG GAME, and he didn’t disappoint.  And Knight is always interesting, even though he confused Trevon Hughes and Jordan Taylor several times.

Hughes led the Badgers with 26 points, including 19 in the second half.  It seemed like every basket he made was huge.  He also had zero turnovers.  Jon Leuer had 17 points and 7 rebounds, while redshirt freshman Ryan Evans was the energy guy and defensive stalwart and finished with 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Kyle Singler led Duke with 28 points, including a couple of ridiculous heaves in the first half, but he scored only 11 in the second half.  Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer came in averaging 18.5 and 16.8 points per game, but finished with 13 and 10.

Wisconsin finished with 17 assists and 5 turnovers, while Duke had 11 of each.  Wisconsin is now 2-0 this season vs. the ACC, having defeated Maryland in Hawaii last week.

The Big 10 finally won the Challenge, so maybe now they can get a little respect, and maybe even a ranking for the Badgers.  All the preseason prognosticators had Wisconsin failing to make the tournament in March, but Bo Ryan is the man.  Best damn coach in the country.

This Is Why Duke Sucks video

Tags: Badgers, College Basketball, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Badgers

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 at 11:39 am and is filed under College Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.