North Carolina vs Wisconsin
North Carolina vs Wisconsin, They joke a lot. The Wisconsin Badgers, who defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels 79-72 Thursday in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, have become the blue-collar team that has, lately, cracked up the Internet.They can't walk down the street without making us chuckle.
Earlier this week, Frank Kaminsky interviewed Will Ferrell, the creator of the "Frank the Tank" nickname. Nigel Hayes got a shout-out from Kobe Bryant, whose locker he is occupying this week at the Staples Center. Then Hayes made a comment about a woman's appearance -- he thought she was attractive -- at a news conference without realizing the entire room heard him.
Everybody laugh at and with the Wisconsin Badgers, right?
Right.
Until North Carolina had its foot on Wisconsin's neck Thursday night and threatened to ruin the Badgers' pursuit of a second consecutive trip to the Final Four, of course. There were no laughs then. No tweetable hijinks and "Don't you just love Wisconsin?" moments -- only the reality that the NCAA would put the favored Badgers on the first plane back to Madison, Wisconsin, if they couldn't find their way.
"I just told them to not give up, keep going and get to the free throw line and just keep going to the basket because they really like to pressure us," Bronson Koenig said after the game. "It was in a much louder tone."
That was the moment. With 12:16 to play, Marcus Paige's jumper gave North Carolina -- fervent, fiery and furious throughout the matchup -- a 51-44 advantage.
"Guys were hitting huge 3s for Carolina," Koenig said, "but I knew they would have to miss eventually, and I knew we had a run left in us."
Until that juncture, North Carolina had been the better team.
Yet after the game, the Badgers all claimed they weren't worried or concerned about the situation. They were too focused on their goals.
Lucas Oil Stadium. Indianapolis. A chance to wash their mouths of the lingering aftertaste from Aaron Harrison's clutch 3-pointer and Kentucky's win in the previous season's Final Four. The Badgers want another shot.
They need it.
That's the difference. That 51-44 margin wasn't a deficit. It was just a minor setback offset by a 9-0 run that killed UNC's vibe.
After the game, the Badgers spoke about that make-or-break scenario the way a man talks about a fruitless fishing trip: unfortunate but not overly upsetting.
"It's one step closer to what we want to accomplish this season," Duje Dukan said.
Advancing isn't everything to Wisconsin and Bo Ryan. It is just a step.
A deficit isn't a reason to worry or turn into a pessimist. The Badgers refused to allow a rocky stretch to halt their plans.
Sam Dekker finished with 23 points and looked like a lottery pick. But he sounded like a guy who'd just won a game of Scrabble on family night as he discussed the victory and his effort.
"I thought I played a pretty good game," he said.
From Ryan: "We're certainly proud to represent the Big Ten and advance."
He didn't bring any pompoms with him, though. That's not his style, not their style.
Nonchalant on the biggest stage in college basketball. That's Wisconsin.
Earlier this week, Frank Kaminsky interviewed Will Ferrell, the creator of the "Frank the Tank" nickname. Nigel Hayes got a shout-out from Kobe Bryant, whose locker he is occupying this week at the Staples Center. Then Hayes made a comment about a woman's appearance -- he thought she was attractive -- at a news conference without realizing the entire room heard him.
Everybody laugh at and with the Wisconsin Badgers, right?
Right.
Until North Carolina had its foot on Wisconsin's neck Thursday night and threatened to ruin the Badgers' pursuit of a second consecutive trip to the Final Four, of course. There were no laughs then. No tweetable hijinks and "Don't you just love Wisconsin?" moments -- only the reality that the NCAA would put the favored Badgers on the first plane back to Madison, Wisconsin, if they couldn't find their way.
"I just told them to not give up, keep going and get to the free throw line and just keep going to the basket because they really like to pressure us," Bronson Koenig said after the game. "It was in a much louder tone."
That was the moment. With 12:16 to play, Marcus Paige's jumper gave North Carolina -- fervent, fiery and furious throughout the matchup -- a 51-44 advantage.
"Guys were hitting huge 3s for Carolina," Koenig said, "but I knew they would have to miss eventually, and I knew we had a run left in us."
Until that juncture, North Carolina had been the better team.
Yet after the game, the Badgers all claimed they weren't worried or concerned about the situation. They were too focused on their goals.
Lucas Oil Stadium. Indianapolis. A chance to wash their mouths of the lingering aftertaste from Aaron Harrison's clutch 3-pointer and Kentucky's win in the previous season's Final Four. The Badgers want another shot.
They need it.
That's the difference. That 51-44 margin wasn't a deficit. It was just a minor setback offset by a 9-0 run that killed UNC's vibe.
After the game, the Badgers spoke about that make-or-break scenario the way a man talks about a fruitless fishing trip: unfortunate but not overly upsetting.
"It's one step closer to what we want to accomplish this season," Duje Dukan said.
Advancing isn't everything to Wisconsin and Bo Ryan. It is just a step.
A deficit isn't a reason to worry or turn into a pessimist. The Badgers refused to allow a rocky stretch to halt their plans.
Sam Dekker finished with 23 points and looked like a lottery pick. But he sounded like a guy who'd just won a game of Scrabble on family night as he discussed the victory and his effort.
"I thought I played a pretty good game," he said.
From Ryan: "We're certainly proud to represent the Big Ten and advance."
He didn't bring any pompoms with him, though. That's not his style, not their style.
Nonchalant on the biggest stage in college basketball. That's Wisconsin.
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North Carolina vs Wisconsin
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