Offense was at a premium in this first round matchup between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Pitt Panthers, but it was ultimately the Badgers who made the plays they needed to down the stretch to pull out the 47-43 win.
Both teams played extremely stingy defense from start to finish, and that played a major factor in what turned out to be very poor shooting from both sides. Pitt was a scorching 37.5 percent from the field - Wisconsin shot just 32.1 percent.
As you could imagine, no one was able to hold a commanding lead at any point in this game. Pittsburgh did hold a nine-point advantage late in the first half, but Wisconsin went on a 12-2 run to give themselves a 25-24 lead early in the second half. Neither team led by more than five as they traded the lead back and forth until Ethan Happ's layup gave the Badgers a 44-40 lead with less than two minutes remaining.
The score stayed that way until Pitt's Jamel Artis drained his third three-pointer of the game with 40 seconds left, cutting Wisconsin's lead to one. After the Panthers missed a floater with less than 10 seconds remaining, Happ drained a free throw and Nigel Hayes hit a pair to preserve the victory.
Artis led Pitt with 13 points and five rebounds, and was the only player to score in double figures for the Panthers.
Happ was Wisconsin's most consistent offensive weapon, scoring a team-high 15 points. Nigel Hayes also scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds.
Wisconsin advances to the second round and will play the winner of (2) Xavier and (15) Weber State on Sunday night.
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