Badgers toughen up, avoid huge upset

CHICAGO – Wisconsin seemed in a daze, almost like jittery rookies playing in their first NCAA tournament.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the newcomer to college basketball’s biggest event, looked like the veterans – at least at the start.

Flustered for most of the first half, Wisconsin overcame an 18-point deficit to beat the 15th-seeded Islanders 76-63 Friday in the opening round of the Midwest Regional.

“We don’t fall apart when things aren’t going our way,” Kammron Taylor said after scoring all 24 of his points in the second half.

Second-seeded Wisconsin (30-5), making its ninth straight NCAA tournament appearance, advanced to Sunday’s second round at the United Center against UNLV, which earlier beat Georgia Tech 67-63.

The Islanders (26-7) came out strongly, scoring the game’s first 10 points and later leading 25-7 against the stunned Badgers.

“We didn’t finish it. You can’t let up against a team like that when you get them down,” Islanders coach Ronnie Arrow said.

Badgers star Alando Tucker also shook off a slow start to finish with 23 points.

“We played bad the first half. Probably as bad as we’ve played altogether as a unit. So it can’t get worse,” Tucker said. “I asked someone to take the lids off the basket because nothing would drop. Seemed like our shot selection got better and defensively our energy picked up.”

With the defense finally stopping the Islanders, holding them without a basket for nearly 9 minutes during the second half, Taylor supplied the offense. He scored 14 straight points at one stretch.

Taylor made his last seven shots to finish 7 of 15 from the field after missing all six of his first-half attempts.

“I hit my first shot of the game and everything just started to feel good from there,” he said.

Seven-foot center Chris Daniels led A&M-Corpus Christi with 20 points. The Islanders, who began playing basketball in the 1999-2000 season, were bidding to become just the fifth No. 15 seed to upend a No. 2.

But they were hurt greatly by struggles at the free-throw line in the second half. They missed eight from the line in the final 10 minutes.

“I wish the game had been over at halftime,” Arrow said.