Captained by big man Brian Butch, Trevon Hughes and Marcus Landry, Wisconsin clinched its second Big Ten Tournament win in school history on March 16, 2008.
Held at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, the Badgers entered the tournament with a 16-2 conference mark and No. 6 overall in the 2008 AP Poll, four spots higher than their last tournament win in 2004.
Five Badgers averaged eight or more points per game throughout the regular season. NBA veterans John Leuer and Greg Stiemsma, who combined to average 6.4 points per appearance, came off the bench for Bo Ryan’s squad.
As the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, Wisconsin throttled the University of Michigan 51-34 in its quarterfinal game. With three Big Ten All-Defensive Team members scattered throughout the rotation, UW held Michigan to 20% from the field and 18 points per half. Junior forward Joe Krabbenhoft led all scorers with 12 points.
UW followed its explosive opening performance with a two-tally win against Michigan. Harris, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, scored eight of his 21 points in the final 2:56 of action. Wilkinson, Wisconsin’s most dependable big man, dropped 20 and corralled nine boards.
In its following contest, the Badgers orchestrated a 12-point comeback in the second half to steal a win from Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans. Michael Flowers, an excellent two-way guard, nailed a game-winning layup with 28 ticks to spare before the final buzzer.
The Badgers advanced to the championship game and plowed through the tournament’s No. 10 seed, the University of Illinois, by 13 points.
With the win, Wisconsin captured its second Big Ten Tournament victory in program history and automatically clinched a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Junior Marcus Landry was named the Big Ten Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.