INDIANAPOLIS — If only the game were played in Los Angeles, the movie script might already be commissioned, the actors cast and the latest rags-to-riches tale set to light up Hollywood.
But halfway across the country, Rob Wilson scored 30 points — a career high — as his fourth-seeded Wisconsin Badgers (24-8) clawed their way past the fifth-seeded Indiana Hoosiers (25-8), 79-71, on Friday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Wilson, a Cleveland native and one of Wisconsin's only two seniors, entered the day averaging just 3.1 points in 10.7 minutes of playing time. For his career, Wilson's numbers rested at a mere 2.4 points in 9.2 minutes per game.
So how did this happen? How did a largely unknown bench player counting down his final minutes in a Badgers uniform make 11 of his 16 shots, including 7 of his 10 3-pointers?
"You know, as we grow as human beings, there's just certain times in our lives where maybe things click," Coach Bo Ryan said. "I've seen it happen with so many young people, whether it's on a basketball court, in the classroom or for people socially, they mature a lot. I always think of that cheese that doesn't get passed because it hasn't matured."
Forgive the all-too-apt cheese metaphor by a coach from America's Dairyland, but in a span of time in which Wilson had been playing the most minutes of his career, something surely, finally clicked.
By halftime, at which the Badgers led, 36-31, Wilson had scored 10 points in 14 minutes, sinking 4-of-7 shots and 2-of-3 from 3-point range. Collectively, Wisconsin also came out hot, though a one-time 11-point lead subsided as the Badgers stagnated and the Hoosiers took their turn catching fire.
Wilson's emergence Friday was stunning in its own right, but the 6-foot-4, 200-pound guard/forward had quietly been developing the strongest stretch of his four-year career. Against Iowa on Feb. 23, Wilson scored 11 points — two shy of his previous career high — in 17 minutes on the floor. Three days later, in Wisconsin's electrifying road upset of Ohio State, Wilson contributed 9 points. Over the next two games, he combined for 12 points, including 8 points in Wisconsin's Senior Day victory over Illinois last Sunday.
Once Friday's outburst had concluded, there might have been reason for surprise in the crowd, but not on the court.
"He was the most improved player in our minds since we played them the first time," Indiana Coach Tom Crean said.
In Wisconsin's only regular-season matchup with Indiana, Wilson played just two minutes, missed a pair of free throws and did not take another shot. The Badgers escaped with a 57-50 win on their home court, despite missing 13 of their 17 3-point attempts.
Friday, the Badgers made 13 of their 26 3-point attempts, yet another indicator of how much Wisconsin's offense has rounded into shape late in the season. With Wilson becoming the team's biggest bench contributor, UW scored at least 63 points in four of its final five regular-season games.
Against the Hoosiers, it all came to a head — and then some. For battling his way through a painful hamstring injury most of last season — Ryan admitted after the game that Wilson probably should've been redshirted — and continuing to labor for playing time throughout his four years at Wisconsin, Wilson's become one of the team's most widely respected players.
"I'm so happy, I almost feel like I had 30 [points]," point guard Jordan Taylor said.
Taylor, Wisconsin's bona fide star and typically their offensive facilitator, struggled through one of the worst games of his season Friday. He finished with 12 points, but on a poor 3-for-12 shooting effort that saw him force several poor shots and ill advised passes early in the game.
That, even more so, escalated the magnitude of Wilson's performance.
"It was definitely huge for Rob to step up like that," Taylor said. "That's what [Ryan] talks about a lot; when one teammate's down, you've got to pick him up."
As a star player whose lackluster performance Friday night would've earned him significant criticism had Wisconsin not managed a victory, Taylor's words rang loudly.
But when Wilson nailed his final 3-pointer, putting Wisconsin ahead, 72-65, with only 38 seconds remaining and forcing Indiana to call a timeout, no words were needed to exemplify the Badgers' gratitude.
Instead, the bench cleared as nearly every player and assistant coach leapt to their feet to mob Wilson near halfcourt. The senior, by far one of the most reserved players on the team, let out what seemed like his hundredth celebratory roar of the game.
In a game where Wisconsin's best player floundered — and in a tournament the Badgers hadn't won a game in since 2008 — a formerly unheralded role player carried his team to victory.
Mike Fiammetta covers men's basketball for The Badger Herald, the independent student daily at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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