– The Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. – Nobody’s perfect.

Jordan Taylor and Wisconsin found themselves in a huge hole against top-ranked Ohio State, but the Badgers only needed about 13 minutes to shatter the Buckeyes’ chase at an undefeated season.

“We knew we had a run in us,” Taylor said.

Taylor scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half, rallying No. 13 Wisconsin from a 15-point deficit to beat the Buckeyes 71-67 on Saturday and keep Division I without a perfect team since Indiana in 1975-76.

Taylor was the catalyst, sparking a 15-0 run with eight straight points, then keeping the Badgers calm down the stretch with his poise.

Advertisement

“(He) made all the difference in the world. He came down and hit those back-to-back 3s and got us right back into it, and from there you could just see we had some momentum,” Wisconsin’s Jon Leuer said. “It was unbelievable what he was able to do in such a short period of time when we were battling adversity.”

Wisconsin (19-5, 9-3 Big Ten) topped a No. 1 opponent for the first time since 1962, when it was also Ohio State. The Badgers joined Florida as the only programs to knock off the same No. 1 school in both football and men’s basketball in the same academic year. The Gators also beat Ohio State in both sports in 2006-07.

Fans at the sold-out Kohl Center stormed the court, just like when they rushed the field at Camp Randall Stadium following the Badgers’ 31-18 win there over then-No. 1 Ohio State on Oct. 16.

“I kind of like ours because it just happened,” Coach Bo Ryan said. “I loved football because I was there at the game. It’s just all good for the school.”

William Buford scored 21 points for Ohio State (24-1, 11-1). Freshman Jared Sullinger made an easy layup to push the Buckeyes’ lead to 47-32 with 13:21 left, setting the stage for the comeback.

“We got a good, old piece of humble pie, so we’re back hungry,” Sullinger said. “This team wants to get back and practice tonight — unfortunately, we can’t due to NCAA rules.”

Advertisement

(2) KANSAS 89, IOWA STATE 66: Twin brothers Marcus and Markieff Morris keyed a 23-4 first-half run that helped Kansas (24-1, 9-1 Big 12) get past Iowa State (14-11, 1-9) at Lawrence, Kan.

Marcus had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Markieff had 14 and 11 for his conference-leading ninth double-double.

(3) TEXAS 69, BAYLOR 60: Freshman Tristan Thompson had 17 points and 13 rebounds and Texas (22-3, 10-0 Big 12) held off a furious rally by Baylor (16-8, 6-5) led by LaceDarius Dunn to win at Austin, Texas.

Dunn scored 22 points in the second half as Baylor cut an 18-point deficit to three in the final 2 minutes. Texas led 65-60 when Dunn’s 3-pointer rattled in and out with about 25 seconds left, and Texas’ Gary Johnson made two free throws to put away the game.

(4) PITTSBURGH 57, (9) VILLANOVA 54: Brad Wanamaker scored 21 points, Nasir Robinson had 15 and visiting Pittsburgh (23-2, 11-1 Big East) escaped with a win over Villanova (19-6, 7-5).

(6) SAN DIEGO STATE 63, UNLV 57: D.J. Gay scored 20 points and Kawhi Leonard had 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead visiting San Diego State (25-1, 10-1 Mountain West) over UNLV (18-7, 6-5).

Advertisement

(7) BYU 72, UTAH 59: Jimmer Fredette scored 23 points, Charles Abouo added 22 and BYU (24-2, 10-1 Mountain West) pulled away from Utah (10-15, 3-8) at Provo, Utah.

Fredette scored 17 points in the final 9 minutes and 12 in a row to help the Cougars take control after the game was tied at 48.

(8) NOTRE DAME 78, SOUTH FLORIDA 55: Jack Cooley came off the bench during an early 22-0 run and finished with a career-high 18 points to lead Notre Dame (21-4, 10-3 Big East) past South Florida (8-18, 2-11) at Tampa, Fla.

(16) LOUISVILLE 73, (12) SYRACUSE: Kyle Kuric scored 23 points, Preston Knowles added 22 and Peyton Siva hit the clinching free throws in the final moments to lead Louisville (19-6, 8-4 Big East) past visiting Syracuse (20-6, 7-6).

Brandon Triche led the Orange with a season-high 21 points and Scoop Jardine had 20 points and four assists, but Syracuse couldn’t quite erase a 20-point second-half deficit.

(17) FLORIDA 61, TENNESSEE 60: Erving Walker hit a go-ahead layup with 14 seconds left and Florida (20-5, 9-2 SEC) overcame a six-point halftime deficit to beat Tennessee (15-10, 5-5) at Gainesville, Fla.

Advertisement

(21) UTAH STATE 71, FRESNO STATE 55: Nate Bendall scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Utah State (23-3, 12-1 WAC) ran past visiting Fresno State (11-14, 5-8).

(23) VANDERBILT 81, (18) KENTUCKY 77: John Jenkins scored a career-high 32 points, including six 3-pointers, to lead Vanderbilt (18-6, 6-4 SEC) past Kentucky (17-7, 5-5) at Nashville, Tenn.

(19) MISSOURI 84, OKLAHOMA 61: Missouri (19-6, 5-5 Big 12) got help from its bench with 16 points from Michael Dixon and 11 from Justin Safford to overwhelm Oklahoma (12-12, 4-6) at Columbia, Mo.

Marcus Denmon, Missouri’s leading scorer with a 16.5 point average, was struck in the face under the Oklahoma basket with just under 18 minutes remaining and did not return.

(20) NORTH CAROLINA 64, CLEMSON 62: Freshman Harrison Barnes scored 20 points and John Henson had 14 points and 12 rebounds as visiting North Carolina (18-6, 8-2 ACC) bounced back from a loss at Duke to edge Clemson (17-8, 6-5).

(22) TEXAS A&M 70, TEXAS TECH 67: Khris Middleton scored 16 points and Texas A&M (19-5, 6-4 Big 12) overcame a 10-point first-half deficit to win at Lubbock, Texas, and hand Texas Tech (11-14, 3-7) its third straight loss.

(24) TEMPLE 75, DAYTON 63: Ramone Moore scored 26 points, Scottie Randall added 17 and visiting Temple (19-5, 9-2 Atlantic 10) beat Dayton (17-9, 5-6) for its sixth straight win.

(25) WEST VIRGINIA 82, DEPAUL 71: John Flower had 15 points as West Virginia (16-8, 7-5 Big East) beat DePaul (6-18, 0-12) at Morgantown, W.Va.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.