March 5, 2003

Box Score

By ARNIE STAPLETON
AP Sports Writer

MADISON, Wis. - Devin Harris had two free throws coming with four-tenths of a second left. One would give Wisconsin the Big Ten title outright.

He missed the first.

"No doubt in my mind, the second one was going in," said Harris, who calmly swished that one to give the 24th-ranked Badgers a 60-59 victory over No. 14 Illinois on Wednesday night and its first outright conference title since 1947.

After a timeout, Brian Cook of the Illini caught Sean Harrington's long inbounds pass but couldn't get off a shot in time, then couldn't avoid the wave of students rushing from the stands to celebrate the Badgers' first consecutive conference crowns since 1923-24.

Harris was fouled by Dee Brown as he drove to the basket with under a second left.

"I'm still kind of mad I didn't get the shot off," said Harris, who figured the game was headed for overtime at that moment. "I'm just glad they called the foul. I wasn't expecting a foul call."

After his first free throw rattled in and out, Harris stepped back as the crowd groaned, then composed himself and made the second.

"I knew he was going to knock down the second one," teammate Alando Tucker said. "I had so much confidence."

So did Badgers coach Bo Ryan - about Harris's first free throw.

"I think everybody in the building knows if he makes the first one, we're going to miss the second," Ryan said. "I had already told the officials we're calling a timeout after he makes the first one. Oops!"

But Ryan said with just four-tenths of a second left, he knew the Illini would be hard-pressed to get off a game-winning shot in time, especially with Cook coming so far out of the paint for the pass.

The Badgers (22-6, 12-4) led 59-55 with a minute remaining but Brown stole an inbounds pass and scored on a layup and Cook tied it with a 10-foot jumper with 9 seconds left, completing a comeback from a 10-point deficit with under six minutes left.

Illinois (20-6, 10-5) was seeking a share of its fourth Big Ten title in six years, but the Illini never led after the 6:15 mark of the first half.

That nearly changed on the final play of the game, when Cook was off-target after the buzzer went off.

"That would have been real interesting had it gone in because it may not have been off in time, but the horn blew way too fast," Illinois coach Bill Self said. "But that's the sign of a good homecourt timer."

Actually, Self said he thoroughly enjoyed every bit of the game, including the ending.

"This was better than any NCAA (tournament) atmosphere," he said. "This was as good an atmosphere as I've ever been a part of.

"The wrong team won. Other than that, it was a great game."

Cook led the Illini with 25 points and Brown had 20.

Senior Kirk Penney led the Badgers, who finished in a four-way tie for first last season, with 14 points, while Harris had 13, Tucker 12 and Mike Wilkinson 11.

This was the last home game for Penney, a native of New Zealand and one of the school's all-time best players.

In the postgame celebration, fans and teammates hoisted Penney onto their shoulders and fans posted a banner that read, "Thanks, Mate!"

"We worked for so long and always said, 'We haven't won anything yet. We haven't won anything yet,"' Penney said. "Now, we have."

Wisconsin athletic director Pat Richter presented Ryan with the Big Ten trophy after the game when a conference official failed to show up on the podium to present it on behalf of the league.

"This is a dynasty!" Richter said as he handed the trophy to Ryan, only the third coach in league history to win titles in his first two seasons.

Harris had three 3-pointers in the first half, including one where he picked up a loose ball, stepped behind the arc and swished the shot to give the Badgers a 32-26 halftime lead.

Penney opened the second half with another 3 for a nine-point lead. The Badgers built their lead to 53-43 with 5:50 left on two free throws by Freddie Owens before Illinois' furious comeback.

"To be back 10 late, with that crowd and then come back and tie, I think that showed a lot of guts," Self said. "We can take some positives out of this, although they won't want to hear that for a few days."