Koenig shoots Wisconsin past Virginia Tech 84-74

By TOM WITHERS
Associated Press

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — There's little left for Bronson Koenig to accomplish at Wisconsin. Over four years, he has done it all, seen it all.

He's not ready for his run to end.

Koenig made a school-record eight 3-pointers and scored 28 points and fellow senior Nigel Hayes added 16 as NCAA Tournament-tested Wisconsin advanced in the East Region with an 84-74 victory over Virginia Tech on Thursday night.

With Koenig and Hayes leading the charge, the eighth-seeded Badgers (26-9) made all the big plays in the closing minutes to set up a meeting with top-seeded Villanova on Saturday. The Wildcats shook off a sluggish and strange first half and downed Mount St. Mary's 76-56.

Koenig made five 3-pointers in the second half and the Badgers needed every last one.

"I've seen him do a lot of things," Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. "I've watched him win two state championships. Obviously, I've watched him for four years here with us. He's a heck of a player."

No team understands the survive-and-advance mentality in this tourney better than Wisconsin, the only school in the country to make the Sweet 16 in the last three years. And the Badgers turned to Koenig and Hayes, two of their four senior starters, to get them within one win of another trip to the third round.

"I think it definitely helped a lot for us to have the older guys that we have to have been through some of the runs that we've had in the tournament," said Hayes, who added 10 rebounds. "I think it showed with Bronson, the way he responded to each time they went on a run. Each time they hit a big shot he responded with a big shot. And it's something that you need."

Zach Leday scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half to pace the ninth-seeded Hokies (22-11), whose first NCAA visit since 2007 ended quickly.

Wisconsin has won 12 NCAA games in the past four tournaments, a testament to the Badgers' consistency as Koenig and Hayes have helped push the Big Ten power among the nation's elite programs.

Koenig's seventh 3-pointer — and fourth of the second half — put the Badgers ahead 63-59 with 8:21 remaining, and after Virginia Tech got within one, he dropped another corner 3 — that one hitting the front of the rim and bouncing off the backboard before dropping through the net.

"I was feeling it a little bit," he said with a shrug.

Koenig couldn't miss, but while he did his damage from the outside for Wisconsin, the Hokies attacked inside with Leday muscling for layups off nice feeds from Seth Allen and Justin Robinson.

Virginia Tech was still within 74-73 when Hayes, who leads all active players with 146 career points in the tournament, scored underneath and completed a three-point play to give Wisconsin a little breathing room.

After Allen missed a 3, Koenig was off the mark, but junior center Ethan Happ scored on a putback, giving Wisconsin a 79-73 lead. Virginia Tech missed a few deep shots and Hayes came up with a huge tap-back rebound before Koenig was fouled and dropped both free throws to make it 81-74.

Ty Outlaw scored 16 points and Robinson had 11 for the Hokies. Allen shook off a toe injury and finished with 10, but was only 3 of 10 from the field.

"We fought as hard as we could," Leday said. "At the end of the day, they made more winning plays than us. We gave it our all, we just came up short."

HOBBLED HOKIE

Allen left the court in the first half to get treatment on his toe. He moved well in the second half, but wasn't the same.

"Our team knew he has really bad turf toe," coach Buzz Williams said. "Our team doctor was here. He obviously played less minutes (25) than normal. We've obviously endured a short roster all year long. He wasn't the reason why we lost, but it was a part of the story, for sure."

ON WISCONSIN

The Badgers have played in 19 straight NCAA tournaments and improved to 15-3 in the round of 64 since 2000.

BIG PICTURE

Wisconsin: With Koenig, Hayes and junior Happ, the Badgers have the necessary know how and talent to make another deep run. They made the title game in 2015.

Virginia Tech: Williams has quickly turned around the Hokies program in just three years as they have moved themselves up the ladder in the ACC.

UP NEXT

Wisconsin: A date with the tourney's top-seeded team.

Virginia Tech-Wisconsin Preview

Stats, LLC

Virginia Tech is excited to be back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade. Wisconsin is miffed at its lowest seeding in eight years.

The No. 8 seed in the East Region, Wisconsin will face ninth-seeded Virginia Tech late Thursday night in an East Region first-round game at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y. The winner will advance to likely face reigning national champion and No. 1 overall seed Villanova.

The Badgers have won more NCAA Tournament games over the past three years (11) than any other program and are the only team to reach the Sweet 16 in each of those seasons. This is the lowest they have been seeded since 2009, when they were a No. 12 and upset Florida.

Wisconsin (25-9) was aiming for a higher seed this year with four seniors who were on the roster and two who played in the national title game two years ago (forward Nigel Hayes and guard Koenig). The Badgers were in good position after starting 21-3 but had a stretch of five losses in six games before rallying to reach the Big Ten championship game, where they lost to Michigan 71-56 on Sunday.

“Obviously, we thought we might have a higher seed than that,” senior guard Zak Showalter said. “We’ll have a chip on our shoulder and be ready to go.”

Coach Greg Gard said the Badgers need to put the Selection Sunday snub behind them.

“We’ve got to move on and play the game,” Gard said. “We can’t worry about what was decided in a committee room.”

The Hokies (22-10) had a different reaction to being seeded one line lower than Wisconin. Coach Buzz Williams choked back tears when he told fans on Sunday, “this is just the beginning.”

After the bracket announcement, Williams tweeted out a video of him line dancing to celebrate the school’s return to the Big Dance. The caption noted Virginia Tech’s RPI ranking was 246 when Williams took over the program three years ago after coaching at Marquette.

While Wisconsin is playing in its 19th straight NCAA Tournament, the fourth-longest active streak, this is Virginia Tech’s first appearance since 2007.

“Odds are, no matter who we played, unless it was Northwestern, we were going to have more newbies,” Williams said.

The Hokies have relied on two fifth-year seniors this year, including one who previously played in the NCAA Tournament — Maryland transfer Seth Allen, who is averaging 13.4 points on 54 percent shooting (45 percent from 3-point range).

Zach LeDay, a South Florida transfer, leads the Hokies in scoring (16.3 points) and rebounding (7.4) while shooting 53 percent. Both Allen and LeDay come off the bench.

Virginia Tech was weakened inside by a season-ending knee injury to second-leading rebounder and double-figure scorer Chris Clarke, but has compensated by shooting 40.3 percent from beyond the arc, a school record that ranks ninth nationally.

Despite its lower seeding, Wisconsin remains one of the strongest defensive teams in the country, ranking ninth in the KenPom efficiency rankings. The Badgers rarely foul, give up offensive rebounds or allow easy baskets inside.

Koenig leads the Badgers in scoring at 14.1 points per game. Sophomore center Ethan Happ averages 13.9 points on 58 percent shooting and 9.1 rebounds. Hayes averages 13.5 points and 6.5 rebounds.

This will be the second all-time meeting between the schools. Wisconsin won 74-72 at Virginia Tech in 2008.