MADISON, Wis. (AP) – After a couple of bad shooting nights against ranked opponents, No. 9 Wisconsin suddenly is on a two-game losing streak.
The Badgers’ 23-game home winning streak is gone, too, in particularly painful fashion – a 61-54 loss to in-state archrival No. 16 Marquette on Saturday.
That loss, coupled with Wednesday’s setback at North Carolina, is making the Badgers look a little more like a work in progress than a team that’s ready to challenge for the Big Ten title.
“That’s two pretty good teams this week,” Badgers coach Bo Ryan said. “We shoot a little higher percentage, have two more shots go down – two, three more shots – and it’s a different story. But this is how these games went, now we’ll see how the next game goes. But we’re not going to change anything that we’re doing. We’ve got some guys that are streaky offensively, we really do. I think everybody’s seen that.”
The Badgers (6-2) shot 5 for 19 from 3-point range Saturday after hitting only 8 of 28 3-point attempts in their loss to the Tar Heels.
“We know our weaknesses, we know our flaws,” Ryan said. “We know where they are. And we’ve always said we’ve got to hit shots, especially from the perimeter, in order to free up some stuff coming to the basket.”
Wisconsin’s Jordan Taylor scored 13 and tried to lead a late comeback charge. But Taylor wasn’t at his best, either, turning the ball over five times.
Taylor said the Badgers just had a bad night.
“Those are the same guys we played last year, I’m pretty sure we shot the ball just fine (then),” Taylor said. “We just didn’t make shots.”
Marquette outrebounded Wisconsin 44-32, outscored them by 16 in the paint and had 17 second-chance points to Wisconsin’s five.
“When it’s a rivalry, it just makes it a little worse, I guess,” guard Josh Gasser said. “Especially when we know we didn’t play our best game.”
Darius Johnson-Odom scored 17 points and Todd Mayo added 14 points for Marquette (7-0). Mayo, the younger brother of NBA player O.J. Mayo, had a critical late layup and an emphatic game-clinching dunk.
The Golden Eagles were without starting point guard Junior Cadougan, who was suspended for Saturday’s game for a violation of team rules.
Marquette coach Buzz Williams did not give a specific reason for Cadougan’s suspension, saying only that it did not involve a legal issue. Cadougan will return against Washington on Tuesday night.
“He made a mistake yesterday, and my decision was to suspend him from this game,” Williams said. “That’s the end of it. He made a mistake that was not intelligent in nature. It did not hurt anyone, but it was not how his mom raised him.”
Even without their floor leader, the Golden Eagles seemed comfortable playing at Wisconsin’s deliberate tempo and generally didn’t lose their focus on defense. Then they fended off a late charge by the Badgers.
With Marquette leading 51-42, Taylor – who appeared to hurt his right ankle on the previous possession – hit a jumper with just over four minutes left, then cut the deficit to five with a pair of free throws.
Taylor then hit a driving layup to get the Badgers within three.
But Mayo scored on a high-arching layup, and Davante Gardner scored inside to give the Golden Eagles a 55-48 lead.
Ben Brust hit a 3-pointer for Wisconsin with about a minute left, cutting the lead to four, but the Golden Eagles hit their free throws down the stretch and Mayo added a dunk for a big finish.
Forward Ryan Evans credited Marquette for its physical play.
“I think they did a good job playing physical,” Evans said. “I think they were even more physical than (North Carolina). They were playing more Big Ten ball out there. I think that showed on their rebounds.”
It was a particularly sweet victory for Marquette’s Vander Blue.
The Madison native originally appeared to be headed to Wisconsin before changing his mind and committing to Marquette. The crowd booed Blue virtually every time he touched the ball, but Blue walked away with the win.
“I knew what to expect coming in with the fans, the crowd and coming back here,” Blue said. “I’m just happy we got the win. Last year, I really wanted to win but we couldn’t. Finally, we got the chance to win and we took it to them.”
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