After having less than 48 hours to prepare and recover for Tuesday's game against Minnesota, No.14 Wisconsin played an ugly first 17 minutes to start the game.
Taylor led Wisconsin with 22 points.
The Badgers rallied in the second half, led by Senior Guard Jordan Taylor who finished with a game-high 22 points, to knock off the Gophers 52-45. Taylor's third 20-point game of the season, moved him past Devin Harris for ninth on the Badgers' all-time scoring list.
With Wisconsin trailing by 10 late in the first half, Head Coach Bo Ryan received a technical foul for arguing what he thought should have been a technical foul on the Gophers.
Ryan's technical foul with just over three minutes to go in the first half ignited the crowd and the Badgers, who went on a 12-2 run to tie the game at 25 early in the second half.
"Generally when he gets a technical, he's not happy about something," Taylor said following Wisconsin's 52-45 win over Minnesota. "It's more of an indirect way of him telling us to get it going.
"It got the crowd into it too. I don't know if he intentionally gets a technical, but it helped a little bit and it helped jump start us."
The call in question occurred after two made free throw's by Minnesota Forward Ralph Sampson III. A Gopher player, then grabbed the ball out of bounds, stopping the Badgers from taking the ball out and running their press break.
Ryan erupted as he felt Minnesota was trying to stop the Badgers from getting the ball in, allowing the Gophers to set up their press.
"They've seen me like that at practice once in a while, depending on if I had a bad meal or not," Ryan joked about his technical foul. "If that's what it takes, coaches would do that all the time.
Both Ryan (pictured) and Smith received technicals Tuesday night.
"We get to the ball, we run our press break. How can you run your press break if the other team is standing out of bounds with the basketball?
"So that was my only question. I said is that a technical? We don't get it in, they get all their guys down. Their guys were not ready to press at that time.
"My feeling was it altered the flow of the game. I had an opinion and evidently I was wrong."
Ryan wasn't alone in receiving a technical foul Tuesday night. Minnesota Head Coach Tubby Smith also received a technical, for arguing a call made a few minutes prior.
Wisconsin Junior Forward Mike Bruesewitz was originally called for a charge on a drive down the lane, in which he finished the lay up.
After a conference by the officials determined Minnesota's Andre Hollins was in the restricted area, Bruesewitz and the Badgers were awarded two points, and the Junior capped off the three-point play.
"Who knows," Smith said in response to why he received a technical foul. "Huddle like that and change a call. Are you kidding me? It's a joke. It really is."
Wisconsin played a sluggish first half against Minnesota, as the Badgers trailed 23-16 heading into the break. Wisconsin shot just 19 percent (4-21) from the field against the Gophers heading into halftime.
Bruesewtiz says fatigue is not an issue for Wisconsin going forward.
"The first half, it was ugly," Junior Forward Ryan Evans said, who chipped in with 12 points. "Coach gave us a good speech at halftime. Just basically don't turn the ball over and that's saying it in a nice way."
"Minnesota played hard, took certain things away, and gave us certain things," Ryan said about the first half. "When you shoot the percentage we did, we weren't getting any put backs, we weren't getting much inside.
"You take what they give you, but you got to hit some shots."
Both coaches were upset with the amount of fouls called throughout the game. Ryan says the Badgers have been prepared for games similar to that of Tuesday night's, which attributed to their success.
Wisconsin found ways to get to the free throw line against Minnesota as the Badgers shot a total of 29 times from the charity stripe, 20 of which came in the second half.
The Badgers hit 22 free throws (75.9%), improving on their Big Ten-best 77.3 percent free throw percentage.
"We've been in games like this," said Ryan. "This is Big Ten basketball. You're trying your best. You're trying to get in position defensively, you're trying to do certain things. But it was difficult to stop the ball both ways.
"Those few three's that we hit early, certainly made a difference with the score. Once we got it to where it was tied and they were playing very physical, we got to the free throw line."
Wisconsin played their second game in three days tonight, but don't expect the Badgers to make excuses about fatigue following the win against Minnesota, or going forward.
"I don't think it was big thing," Taylor said when asked if fatigue played a factor in this game. "At this point in the season, you just got to come ready to play."
"At this point in the season, I think everyone's at the same level," Bruesewitz explained. "You can't say you're tired because everyone has played the same amount of games pretty much.
"Plus tournament time is right around the corner, so you got to get excited for that."
Wisconsin improved to 22-8 overall and 11-6 in conference play, clinching a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament.
- Evan Flood
- Wisconsin Insider - Badger247