Cold-shooting Pittsburgh gets badgered by Wisconsin defense

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS

Nigel Hayes has been to back-to-back Final Fours with Wisconsin, so he was the obvious choice when freshman forward Ethan Happ asked for some advice before his own NCAA Tournament debut.

“I said, ‘It’s probably going to be the easiest game of the year for you,”’ Hayes recalled later, “‘because this is the game you look forward to as a kid. You’re on the big stage and you go out there and you do great if you just have fun playing.”’

Happ took the advice to heart, scoring 15 points and pulling down nine rebounds — none bigger than the one he grabbed in the closing seconds — to help the seventh-seeded Badgers edge No. 10 seed Pittsburgh 47-43 in their first-round matchup Friday night.

“Defense won the game for us,” said the Badgers’ Bronson Koenig. “We got a couple different guys who had some really big rebounds for us and we got the ball inside and they converted.”

Hayes finished with 12 points and Vitto Brown had 11 for the Badgers (21-12), who advanced despite an abhorrent shooting night. Hayes was just 3 for 17 from the field, Koenig failed to hit a 3-pointer for the first time in 44 games and Wisconsin finished 4 of 19 from beyond the arc.

It was still enough to reach the next round against No. 2 seed Xavier or No. 15 seed Weber State.

Pittsburgh (21-12) had a chance to take the lead in the closing seconds when Hayes missed a 3 and James Robinson took the rebound the other way. But his wild layup surrounded by defenders bounced off the rim, Happ corralled the loose ball and the Badgers put the game away with three free throws.

“Got the rebound. It was about 2 seconds on the clock. Just tried to get a good shot,” Robinson said, “and I just ran into my own teammate.”

Jamel Artis led the Panthers with 13 points. Leading scorer Michael Young was held to six.

“A lot of teams lost today. A lot of good teams had great seasons and they won’t be in Sweet 16,” Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon said. “You can be as good as you want but you’ve got to win two in the first weekend and you’ve got to make some plays. But certainly we were in position.”

Wisconsin scored the fewest points by a winning team in an NCAA Tournament game since Butler beat Mississippi State 47-46 in 2003, according to STATS. And the teams combined for the fewest points in a game since Southwest Missouri State beat — surprise! — the Badgers 43-32 in the 1999 tournament.