Frustration boils over for Badgers

INDIANAPOLIS - Reporters crowded around Sam Dekker as he sat in front of his locker. Then for a fleeting moment, the Wisconsin junior was all alone.

'Ah man,” Dekker shouted as his head fell into his hands and he began to sob. The pain was evident from Dekker's wails to senior Josh Gasser's bloodshot eyes in the aftermath of a 68-63 loss to Duke (35-4) in the NCAA title game Monday night.

Wisconsin (36-4) had this game under control. The Big Ten champions Badgers led 48-39 with 13:23 left. Through a fog of big plays from Duke guard Tyus Jones and questionable officiating calls, Wisconsin's lead quickly dissipated. Duke scored 11 of the next 13 points to slice the Badgers' lead to 51-50.

The opportunities slipped away one possession at a time and ultimate blame goes to the Badgers themselves. They were outscored 29-15 spanning the final 13 minutes. In a crucial stretch they went six possessions lasting 4:13 without a basket. But their frustration wasn't always from their lack of execution.

Wisconsin was called for only two fouls to Duke's seven in the first half. That statistic quickly reversed itself after halftime. The Badgers were hit for 13 fouls in the second half, while Duke was called for six. The players claim their game was the same, but the officiating changed after taking a 48-39 lead. On three consecutive Duke possessions, Wisconsin was called for fouls. Two resulted in traditional three-point plays.

'We knew they were going to go on a run, that's what we said,” Wisconsin forward Nigel Hayes said. 'They were going to just start driving to the rim and running into your bodies and we still felt like, even though we knew it was coming, we were still in position. But the guys who decide whether or not we do a good job on defense thought otherwise.”

Nobody likes officiating excuses, and Wisconsin has benefitted from calls all year long. The Badgers shot nearly 300 more free throws than their opponents and were called for just 501 fouls to their opponents' 723.

But against Duke there were a few second-half calls that were ambiguous, and they all went against Wisconsin. Coach Bo Ryan told CBS immediately after the game that 'there was more body contact in this game than any we played all year.” Considering the Badgers play in the rough-and-tumble Big Ten, that's an interesting statement.

Later, after Ryan cooled off, he wouldn't directly discuss the officiating.

'There were some situations where obviously our guys felt they were in position,” Ryan said. 'I'm sure they felt they were in the rights. Both teams are always going to feel that there's a question or two.”

Wisconsin's players tried to stifle their feelings but the aggravation was too real to hide. When asked if he felt the game was taken from Wisconsin, guard Bronson Koenig said, 'a little bit.”

'We did our best,” he said. 'I know I did my best to drive into them, and I felt like they were putting their hands on me the whole game. I thought we did a great job of staying solid, showing our hands, and moving our feet. The refs didn't see it that way, I guess.

Officiating foul-ups altered the game on two key sequences. With Blue Devils' leading 59-58, Duke forward Justise Winslow stepped out of bounds under the basket. However, it wasn't called, and Jahlil Okafor scored on the possession and was fouled, boosting Duke's lead to 61-58.

With Duke up 63-58, Koenig missed a shot. He and Winslow lunged for the ball under the basket and it went out of bounds. It was ruled Duke's ball, and most video replays showed the ball caroming off Winslow's middle finger. After a video review, possession remained with Duke.

'I didn't see what happened, but I thought it was out on him for sure,” Koenig said. 'So, but I mean, apparently the refs didn't.”

Jones, who was named the tournament's most outstanding player, virtually ended the game 30 seconds later on a 3-pointer to put Duke ahead 66-58 with 1:22 left.

With a chance to win their first NCAA title in 74 years, any loss would hurt for Wisconsin. But the calls just deepened the pain.

'You get so close, you put so much work into it and just like that it's taken away,” Gasser said. 'That's why college basketball is what it is. It's a screwed-up game. That's why only one team's standing out of 300 and some.”

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