National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Wisconsin 60, Vanderbilt 57
When: 6:10 PM ET, Saturday, March 17, 2012
Where: The Pit Arena, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Officials: # Don Daily, # Leslie Jones, # Anthony Jordan
Attendance: N/A

Wisconsin 60, Vanderbilt 57:
Jordan Taylor led the way with 14 points and hit some big shots down the stretch as the Badgers advanced to the Sweet 16.

No. 4 seed Wisconsin (26-9) will take on top-seeded Syracuse in the East Regional semifinals Thursday in Boston.

Jared Berggren added 12 points and six rebounds, and Ryan Evans and Ben Brust scored 11 apiece for Wisconsin (26-9), which will be making its fifth trip to the Sweet 16 under coach Bo Ryan. The Badgers lost in the regional semifinal last season to Butler.

Vanderbilt (25-11) led only twice in the contest, by one point after the first basket of the second half and again 57-56 when Festus Ezeli capped a 13-3 run with a layup.

The Badgers broke the drought from beyond the arc, with Taylor burying a deep 3-pointer at the 1:45 mark to go back up 59-57.

The Commodores had three chances to tie or take the lead, but John Jenkins missed a pair of 3-point attempts and Ezeli botched the front end of a one-and-one.

Evans split a pair of free throws with 2.1 seconds left and Berggren knocked away the final chance.

Ezeli collected 14 points and 11 rebounds in his final college game.

GAME NOTEBOOK:
Vanderbilt stars Jeffery Taylor and Jenkins combined to shoot 7 for 24 from the floor. … Evans shot 4 for 7 on Saturday and is 10 for 15 in the NCAA tournament. … Wisconsin, which ranks near the top of the country in 3-point defense, held the Commodores to 5 for 19 from beyond the arc. ... The Commodores have not reached a regional semifinal since 2007.
Top Game Performances
 
Vanderbilt   Wisconsin
Festus Ezeli 14 Scoring Jordan Taylor 14
Lance Goulbourne 2 Assists Ryan Evans 4
Festus Ezeli 11 Rebounds Jared Berggren 6
John Jenkins 5 Free Throws Made Ryan Evans 2
Festus Ezeli 1 Steals Mike Bruesewitz 3
Festus Ezeli 1 Blocks Ryan Evans 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Vanderbilt 57 43.5 5-19 12-16 8 32 3 4 12
Wisconsin 60 41.8 10-33 4-8 13 27 1 4 8