Defending champ Villanova ousted from tournament

Top-seeded Villanova can’t handle rough and ready Wisconsin

BUFFALO, N.Y. — When the season ended suddenly and shockingly, much earlier than Villanova expected, Kris Jenkins bent over in disbelief near midcourt.

There would be no game-winning shot, no confetti-filled celebration, no more games. The defending champion — and No. 1 overall seed — is done.

After two relatively routine days, madness returned to the NCAA Tournament on Saturday as top-seeded Villanova was bounced from the East Region 65-62 by No. 8 seed Wisconsin, which added another major upset to its resume and stormed into the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive year.

Nigel Hayes scored 19 points, dropping a layup in traffic with 11.4 seconds left, and Bronson Koenig shook off foul trouble and added 17 for the tournament-toughened Badgers (27-9), who will play next week at New York’s Madison Square Garden after knocking off a Villanova team that was trying to become the first back-to-back champion since 2007.

“Seeds don’t matter,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. “I told these guys I don’t care where we’re seeded. We have to win six games. Let’s start with these two this weekend.”

Senior Josh Hart scored 19 to lead the Wildcats, but the guard was bottled up and stripped by Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ and Vitto Brown on a drive in the final seconds. Brown then split two free throws with four seconds left, but Villanova struggled to corral the rebound and couldn’t get off a final shot.

“To me, there’s no dishonor in losing in this tournament,” coach Jay Wright said. “We’ve lived through it. You are judged by how you play in this tournament, and that’s the reality of it. So you have to accept it.”

When the horn sounded, Wisconsin’s red-clad fans stormed the court as the Badgers had upset a No. 1 seed for the third time in four years. Wisconsin beat Arizona in 2014 and Kentucky in 2015.

“All of those games we’ve been the underdog,” Hayes said. “You have all types of ranking systems, statistics. The thing with all those algorithms is they can’t calculate heart, will to win, toughness, desire. And that’s the thing we have.”

BILL WIPPERT/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Wisconsin players and coaches rejoice after their 65-62 upset victory as Villanova guard Jalen Brunson seemingly can’t bear to look.