The 2012 Wisconsin Badgers did what the 2011 team also did: They made the Sweet 16. This marked the first time ever that Wisconsin reached the Sweet 16 in consecutive NCAA Tournaments, a definite forward movement for Bo Ryan’s program.
In order for Wisconsin to reach the Sweet 16 in 2012, it first had to get through the opening round against the Montana Grizzlies. This was an East Region game under the (then-) new pod system which had various teams playing in geographically proximate areas on the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Teams would then be funneled to the regionals in their proper geographic locations.
Therefore, even though this was an “East” Region game, it was played in Albuquerque at The Pit. Other teams from the Midwestern United States were higher up on the 1-68 seed list, which meant that Wisconsin had to be relegated to Albuquerque as the No. 4 seed. Vanderbilt was the No. 5 seed, so the Badgers — while not having home-court advantage — did not get placed in a site where the crowd would be heavily against them, either.
The complexity attached to this assignment, though, is that the Badgers played a first-round opponent which was, in fact, closer to the tournament site than UW. Montana had a shorter commute to New Mexico than Wisconsin. Given that Montana had won 14 straight games entering this contest, UW fans had reason to think this game could get tricky.
Jordan Taylor said, “Nope. I got this.”
Taylor was brilliant against Montana. Not only did he score 17 points, grab eight boards, and hand out six assists; as great as all those numbers were, he committed zero turnovers, perhaps his most eye-popping statistic.
Ryan Evans had 18 points and eight rebounds. Josh Gasser chipped in 12 points, and Rob Wilson added 10, but Taylor’s masterful control of the game at both ends of the floor was the main engine behind Wisconsin’s easy win. The Badgers led by 10 at the half and outscored Montana by 14 in the second half to cruise to the finish line.