BRAD DAVISON

Tenth-ranked Wisconsin lost leading scorer Johnny Davis when he was injured on a flagrant foul early in the second half, and the Badgers also missed a chance to clinch the Big Ten title outright by falling to Nebraska 74-73.

While they weren't the preseason favorite to win the Big Ten Conference, Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said that's been his team's goal since the start of the season. Win the next game, and the No. 13 Badgers (23-5, 14-4) will have the regular-season title. “This group has had a Big Ten championship in their sights since we started in the offseason,” Gard said Saturday night after Wisconsin took over first place with a hard-fought 66-61 road win over Rutgers.

(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)The Latest on the second round of the NCAA Tournament (all times Eastern):___7:45 p.m.Florida guard Tyree Appleby has been cleared to play and was in the starting lineup for No. 1 seed in the second round for a third time, joining the 2000 team against Arizona and the 2017 squad against Villanova. Sister Jean Delores Schmidt gave an inspirational pregame prayer to her Loyola Chicago team before the eighth-seeded Ramblers met top-seeded Illinois in Sunday’s second round. UCLA and Abilene Christian face off Monday, assuring that at least one double-digit seed will reach the Sweet 16. This is the first time four teams seeded 13th or worse made it to the second round.

– North Carolina coach Roy Williams lost his first opening-round NCAA Tournament game in 30 tries as ninth-seeded Wisconsin blew out his eighth-seeded Tar Heels 85-62 on Friday night. Brad Davison scored 29 points for the Badgers, who negated North Carolina's size advantage by draining 13 of 27 3-pointers. North Carolina came in on a three-game winning streak but did not win four in a row all season. Davison hit another 3 with 34 seconds left in the half to make it 40-24 and bring the boisterous Wisconsin fans to their feet. That score held until halftime, and the Wisconsin fans stood and cheered throughout the final seconds.

Iowa center Luka Garza walks off the court after an NCAA college basketball game against Wisconsin, Sunday, March 7, 2021, in Iowa City, Iowa. All rights reservedIOWA CITY, Iowa – It was Senior Day, but Luka Garza didn’t know he was going to have to give a speech. Minutes after the 6-foot-11 star scored 21 points and had 16 rebounds to lead the fifth-ranked Hawkeyes over No. 25 Wisconsin 77-73 Sunday, Iowa athletic director Gary Barta announced Garza’s jersey No. “Those two guys (Garza and Bohannon) were going to make sure we didn’t lose the game,” McCaffery said.

Michigan's Franz Wagner had 10 of his 14 points in the second half. But the Badgers shot 7 of 28 in the second half and missed their last 11 3-point attempts. “What we did in the first half is what we wanted to do in the second half,” Ford said. Michigan beat Wisconsin 77-54 on Jan. 12 and became the first team to sweep a regular-season series from the Badgers since 2017-18, when Michigan State and Nebraska both did it. AdWisconsin: The Badgers needed more from their starting five, who combined to score 10 points and shoot 2 of 16 in the second half.

Trice scored a season-high 29 points, lifting No. Wisconsin scored 14 of the last 21 points over the final 4:03 to turn a closely contested game into a lopsided result. The Spartans turned over the ball 14 times and Wisconsin scored 24 points off those giveaways. SCORING NOTESWisconsin had its highest total against Michigan State since 1994 and scored more than any other game at Michigan State since an 86-82 win in 1976. “They will be a top-five team all season," Izzo said.

Micah Potter scored 20 points and Aleem Ford added 12 to lead the Badgers an 85-48 non-conference victory over short-handed No. Louisville (4-1), playing its first road game, originally had been scheduled to play at Wisconsin on Dec. 9. Trevor Anderson added 11 points and Brad Davison 10 for Wisconsin (6-1), which rolled to a 44-18 halftime lead. “Obviously really pleased with the way we played,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. Wisconsin finished the half 10 of 17 beyond the arc, including three each by Trice and Davison.