STATPACK: Early Miscues Costly as Wisconsin Falls to No.1 Baylor, 76-63

Minutes after a No.1 seed fell in the second round of the NCAA tournament, No.9-seeded Wisconsin was hoping the upset vibes carried them to its fourth victory over a No.1 seed in the last seven tournaments. Baylor made sure to dampen those aspirations early.

Breaking up a close game at the midpoint of the first half and never looking back, the top-seeded Bears were too much on offense and defense for the veteran Badgers in a methodical 76-63 victory in the NCAA tournament second round in Indianapolis.

Reserve guard Matthew Mayer had 17 points to lead the Bears (24-2), who look every bit the Final Four contenders they were pegged as at the tournament’s onset. The Badgers were riding high following their obliteration of North Carolina just up the road in West Lafayette two days earlier, but Wisconsin (18-13) saw its season end under a flurry of early turnovers at the hands of Baylor’s pressure defense and missed shots late that prevented them from pressuring the top seed in the South Region.

We take a closer look at the game in the BadgerBlitz Stat Pack.

- Wisconsin shot 45.5 percent from the floor and 38.1 percent from 3-point range. UW and Baylor shot the same percentage (25-for-55), but the Bears went 18-for-23 from the line compared to UW going 5-for-7

- The Badgers outrebounded the Bears, 32-30, but the Bears scored 11 points off their seven offensive rebounds while the Badgers only had nine off their seven.

- The Badgers committed 14 turnovers that led to 16 Baylor points. UW only scored two points off four Baylor turnovers.

- The Badgers put four players in double figures and were led by senior D’Mitrik Trice, who couldn’t replicate his 21-point performance against the Tar Heels by finishing with 12 points on 5-for-16 shooting (2-for-7 on threes).

- Nate Reuvers delivered one of his best all-around performance of the season with 11 points, four rebounds and a block, while Jonathan Davis and Micah Potter each added 10 points.

- After scoring 29 points against North Carolina, Brad Davison was cold throughout his 38 minutes and scored just eight points on 3-for-11 shooting.

- Wisconsin kick started the game on a 7-2 run, but the Bears clawed back to tie it at seven for the first media timeout at 14:28. The reason was Baylor doing what it does best – second-chance opportunities, forcing turnovers and hitting a perimeter shot.

- The Badgers started 5-for-10 from the field but saw slow starts from both Davison and Trice. After combining for 50 points on Friday, the duo each missed their first two shots that included one 3-pointer.

- A 9-0 run by Baylor built a 20-11 lead, as the Badgers were plagued by a pair of turnovers and the inability to generate clean looks. What shots the Badgers did get up near the rim rolled tantalizing around the rim without dropping.

- For one of the few times this season, Reuvers was the sole offensive presence for the Badgers. From 13:01 to 5:20, Reuvers’ five points were the only scoring for UW.

- Wisconsin entered the game averaging an NCAA-best 8.9 turnovers per game, but the Badgers surpassed that total with 3:51 remaining. UW committed 10 turnovers in the half that resulted in 12 Baylor points. On the flip side, the Bears committed only one turnover. Wisconsin shot 47.8 percent from the floor and 55.6 percent from 3-point range, but the Badgers trailed 42-29 at halftime because of those miscues.

- After starting the game 3-9 shooting, he Bears went 13 of 21 the rest of the half, including 4-for-9 from three, 6-for-8 on layups and 3-for-3 on dunks. One of those three-pointers came with one second left on the clock, erasing a UW 3-pointer from seven seconds earlier.

- Two days after having its largest halftime lead in a NCAA tournament game in the school’s history, UW’s halftime deficit was its largest in a NCAA tournament game for the program. Worst yet, Baylor was 20-0 when leading at halftime this season.

- The start of the second half buried the Badgers deeper into the hole. Baylor secured an offensive rebound to hit a second chance three pointer, UW committed a shot-clock violation on its first possession and Baylor eventually extended its lead to 18.

- The Badgers’ 6-0 run following the 18-point deficit ejected some life back to the visitors and forced the Bears to call a timeout. The first four points came from attacking the paint, something UW went away from during the latter part of the first half.

- The run got better for the Badgers entering the second media timeout, as Davis’s three-pointer cut the deficit to eight points and push the run to 15-5.

- UW could have tightened the screws more following the timeout, but Trice missed a 3-pointer, Meyer hit a pullup jumper at the foul line and UW committed its 11th turnover on the next trip down the floor.

- UW cut the deficit to seven three times over the next five minutes, but the Badgers couldn’t scratch closer because UW would allow a bucket on the other end or UW would get a stop and then commit a turnover.

- After one of Baylor’s responses to boost the lead back up, the Badgers went cold with no points over the next 4:04 leading into the final media timeout. Those five possessions including four missed shots with no offensive rebounds and a 13th turnover.

- By the time Davis hit a jumper, improving to 4-for-4 from the field, Wisconsin had gone nearly five minutes without a field goal and were down 10 with 2:28 remaining. UW would get no closer than nine the rest of the way.