by MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Jordan Johnson scored 22 points as Milwaukee beat Wisconsin 68-67 Wednesday night, snapping a 22-game losing streak to the Badgers.
Nigel Hayes led Wisconsin (6-4) with a career-high 32 points. But he missed a pair of free throws that could have tied the game with less than 25 seconds left.
Akeem Springs hit a pair of free throws on the other end for Milwaukee (7-3). But Bronson Koenig (Ho Chunk Nation) answered with a 3 that pulled Wisconsin within 68-67 with 13.4 seconds left.
Wisconsin got one last chance after Milwaukee’s J.J. Panoske was called for traveling as the Badgers went to a full-court press. But Koenig’s 3-point attempt was off, and Milwaukee players rushed the court after the buzzer sounded.
Wisconsin led by as many as 15 in the first half. But Milwaukee cut the lead to four early in the second half with a 10-0 run that started with Johnson’s 3-pointer just before the first-half buzzer.
Wisconsin quickly built the lead back to 12 only to see it evaporate again thanks to a 13-3 Panthers run. Milwaukee finally tied the game at 60 with just more than 3 minutes left on a pair of free throws from Matt Tiby.
Tiby scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Milwaukee, which last beat the Badgers on Dec. 12, 1992.
Koenig finished with 16 points for Wisconsin, while Ethan Happ added 10 points and 15 rebounds. But while Hayes and Happ combined to shoot 12 of 24 from the field, the rest of the Badgers hit just 8 of 31. That includes 5 of 16 for Koenig.
