WISCONSIN

After two relatively routine days, madness returned to the NCAA Tournament on Saturday as top-seeded Villanova was bounced from the brackets and 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 never found its traction in snowy Buffalo.

"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." Mission accomplished. 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 then couldn't get off a final shot.

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 then couldn’t get off a final shot.

It was a bitter ending for the Wildcats, who were trying to be the first team to repeat as champions since Florida in 2007. But starting with an unimpressive performance against 16th-seeded Mount St. Mary’s in its opener on Thursday, Villanova looked vulnerable and became the first No. 1 seed to be sent home.

“To me, there is no dishonor in losing in this tournament,” said coach Jay Wright, whose team lost as a No. 2 in Buffalo three years ago. “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.”

The Badgers took down a No. 1 seed for the third time in four years. Wisconsin beat Arizona in 2014, Kentucky in 2015 and now can add Villanova to its list. Hayes has been part of all those upsets.

“All of those games we’ve been the underdog,” he 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.”

Wright was concerned about Wisconsin, calling them a “great No. 8” seed and compared them to Butler, which beat Villanova twice during the season. Savvy seniors Koenig and Hayes made several key plays in the closing minutes as Wisconsin overcame a 57-50 deficit.

The Wildcats got little from Jenkins, the hero of last year’s title game when he drained a three-pointer to beat North Carolina. Jenkins couldn’t shake a prolonged shooting slump and went just 2 of 9, running his total to 4 of 22 in two games.