Big Red belongs to Cornell as they blitz Badgers in second round

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For the second year in a row, the Wisconsin men's basketball season ended in the second round of the N-C-A-A Tournament. The Badgers closed out at 24-and-9 after getting crushed by 12th-seeded Cornell 87-69 in an East Regional contest yesterday in Jacksonville.

Fourth-seeded Wisconsin got behind 8-0 and trailed by double-digits less than four minutes in. The Badgers made a charge midway through the first half. But Cornell rolled after that. And the Badgers never got closer than 13 in the final 16 minutes. The Big Red played its up-tempo style, as they shot 61-percent from the floor, a season-high for a Badger opponent. And it was only the second time a Wisconsin challenger had 80-or-more points since the Badgers fell at UW-Green Bay in early December. Louis Dale scored 26 and Ryan Wittman -- son of former NBA pro Randy Wittman -- had 24 for Cornell.

Jon Leuer had 23 for Wisconsin, but senior Jason Bohannon was his only real help with 18. Senior Trevon Hughes had 10 points and six turnovers in his final game for the UW, and he fouled out with just over two-and-a-half minutes left. Cornell improved to 29-4, and will play top-seeded Kentucky on Thursday night in Syracuse.

In Milwaukee, Xavier up-ended third-seeded Pittsburgh 71-68. Jordan Crawford scored 27 points for the Musketeers, who made the Sweet-16 for the third straight year after beating Wisconsin in the second round in 2009. Xavier will play Kansas State on Thursday night in the West Regional in Salt Lake City. In yesterday’s other game at the Bradley Center, second-seeded Ohio State moved on with a 75-66 win over Georgia Tech. Jon Diebler had 20 points for the Buckeyes, who will play former UW-Milwaukee coach Bruce Pearl’s Tennessee Volunteers at the Midwest Regional in Saint Louis.

Tags: wi sports, proam, basketball, badgers