The Wisconsin Badgers' offense has pulled a disappearing act or two this season, and they couldn't have picked a worse possible time to pull another one than in Thursday's Sweet 16 match-up against the Butler Bulldogs.
Yes, Cinderella is continuing to dance in this year's NCAA Tournament, as the eighth-seeded Bulldogs knocked off the fourth-seeded Badgers in Southeast Regional play on Thursday night, winning by a score of 61-54.
Matt Howard led the way for the Bulldogs, registering a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Shelvin Mack, who dodged a bullet against Pittsburgh in the second round, scored 13 points for Butler on the night.
For the Badgers, Jordan Taylor showed up, leading all scorers with 22 points. Jon Leuer, on the other hand, had an awful night for the Badgers, hitting just one of 12 shots from the field and finishing with three points. The Badgers as a team shot an anemic 30.2% from the floor. . .even Jordan's 22 points came with him hitting six of 19 shots from the floor.
Wisconsin made a furious comeback, as they were down 47-27 with just over 11 minutes left in the game, and got the deficit to as little as four, but they just ran out of time in their efforts to catch the Bulldogs.
Butler will move on to the Elite Eight, where they'll battle against the Florida Gators for a trip to Houston and the Final Four. The Gators defeated the BYU Cougars earlier in the evening in the Southeast Regional.
Wisconsin's loss means they finish their season with an overall record of 25-9. Congratulations to the Badgers on their tournament run and on a successful season.
The loss also means that there is only one team from the Big Ten Conference remaining in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, that being the Ohio State Buckeyes. They'll take on the Kentucky Wildcats tomorrow night in East Regional play.