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Wisconsin guards come through

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BOISE, IDAHO -- After a long night of watching Florida State's Toney Douglas slash and shoot his way to 26 points, it was the methodical and mindful guards for Wisconsin that provided the winning moments in the Badgers 61-59 overtime upset of the fifth-seeded Seminoles.

Jason Bohannon's desperation three-pointer as the shot clock sounded and less than a minute remained helped No. 12 Wisconsin get into overtime, and he then opened the extra period with another trey. At the end, he turned the ball over to point guard Trevon Hughes, who with the Badgers trailing and eight seconds left in overtime, drove and spun and flipped up the winning shot while being fouled.

"All I thought was attack and attack and attack and if I got stopped I would look for [Bohannon]," Hughes said. "I came off a screen and they let me make a play. I just got in the lane and did what I had to do to get the win."

Bohannon led four players in double figures with 16. Keaton Mankivil added 14 off the bench.

1. Bo Ryan can coach. This isn't new news, but Wisconsin has maybe one player (Hughes) quick enough to consistently create his own shot against the Seminoles athletic defenders and the Badgers were undersized and had no single defender capable of stopping Douglas. Yet they won. That's effort and scheme. Bravo, Bo.

2. Leonard Hamilton has some explaining to do. Wisconsin came out to start the second half and got a series of open looks on the perimeter. Hamilton either didn't adjust to this or his players didn't follow his instructions. It was the reason the Badgers went on a 13-0 run to start the second half that got them back into the game.

3. Toney Douglas is a pro. He can handle the ball well enough to play some point guard and is quick enough to get to the basket and his outside shot is solid. He's not going to be Rip Hamilton, but there's a place in the NBA for Douglas as a sixth man sparkplug.

Bohannon and Hughes were the stars down the stretch, but let's go with hard-working senior forward Marcus Landry. At times he gave six inches to the man he guarded, and nothing he did was pretty, but his 10 points and hustle on defense were vital. He also sports a beard and goggles, a look that has not been en vogue since James Worthy played for the Lakers, and winning makes everything look good.

After Florida State's Xavier Gibson got blood on his jersey in the first half, it was announced that he would be switching jersey numbers. A minute later, the arena announcer said that "after soaking the jersey in cold water" most of the blood had come out. It was a missed opportunity for the NCAA to pimp Vitaminwater, it's big sponsor, as both refreshing and a stain fighter.

It is going to be another case of the athletically challenged (Wisconsin) against a deep and very talented squad (Xavier). The difference might be that Xavier has more scoring options and its players have more experience than what Florida State brought. Xavier's Sean Miller is also a better coach than Hamilton.