Wisconsin Badgers
LAS VEGAS, NV (WSAU) — Wisconsin failed to put away the University of North Texas as the Mean Green came away with a 56-54 win in the semifinals of the NIT on Tuesday at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
Chucky Hepburn led the scoring with 15 points. Connor Essegian and Tyler Wahl each scored 12. Steven Crowl added 10 points.
The wide majority of Wisconsin’s scoring came from their starting five. Isaac Lindsey provided three points off the bench in six minutes of action.
Wisconsin led by double digits at halftime but scored just 13 points in the second half.
Both teams made 21 field goals in the contest. UNT hit seven free throws compared to the Badgers’ 4-8 mark from the stripe.
Wisconsin led the game from the opening tap through the 2:48 mark of the second half when UNT tied the game at 54. The Mean Green took the lead for good about 30 seconds later as neither team scored in the final two minutes.
The Mean Green will meet one of their Conference USA rivals in the final on Thursday after Alabama-Birmingham topped Utah Valley University 88-86 in Tuesday’s other semifinal. The tip-off for the NIT Championship game is 8:30 PM.
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