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Disputed call on cleverly designed play helps Wisconsin survive Western Kentucky

Greg Gard and Brad Davison combined to win Wednesday night’s game for Wisconsin in controversial fashion. (Getty)
Greg Gard and Brad Davison combined to win Wednesday night’s game for Wisconsin in controversial fashion. (Getty)

Having already thrown its 19-year NCAA tournament streak into severe jeopardy by dropping seven of its first 11 games so far this season, Wisconsin desperately needed a win by any means necessary Wednesday night against Western Kentucky.

It took a cleverly designed play from coach Greg Gard, an act of bravery from freshman Brad Davison and a disputed call from the referees for the Badgers to secure the 81-80 victory they craved.

The play in question occurred immediately after Western Kentucky’s Darius Thompson sank a tear-drop jumper to tie the score at 80 with two seconds left in the game. Gard instructed Davison to set a baseline screen for the inbound passer if the Hilltoppers decided to have a player guard the ball.

Worst-case scenario, Gard figured Davison’s screen would make it easier for teammate Brevin Pritzl to get a length-of-the-floor baseball pass off cleanly. Best-case scenario, Gard thought Davison might be able to draw a foul on an unsuspecting defender.

Sure enough, when Davison set his screen, Western Kentucky forward Marek Nelson was focused only on the inbound passer and blindly plowed into Davison. The rare defensive charging foul sent Davison to the foul line, where he sank the first free throw and intentionally missed the second to clinch a dramatic one-point victory.

“My job was just to let him run me over and it would be a foul on them,” Davison told reporters in Madison. “Really good play call by coach and it worked perfectly, so we’ll take it.”

Western Kentucky coach Rick Stansbury was less thrilled about the outcome in his postgame news conference with reporters in Madison. Stansbury felt that Davison was out of bounds when he set the screen even though replays appeared to show otherwise.

Stansbury is correct the referee mistakenly signaled block instead of charge on the floor, but it appears the crew still made the right decision. Former NCAA coordinator of officials John Adams tweeted Thursday morning that it was the “right call, wrong signal,” citing Rule 4, 1, 7, which says that a defensive player can commit a charge.

Given that Wisconsin had lost two key guards to injury over the weekend and was coming off a 19-point drubbing against rival Marquette, the Badgers will take any victory they can get.

A one-point home win over Western Kentucky won’t change the trajectory of Wisconsin’s season, but it sure beats the alternative.

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Jeff Eisenberg is a college basketball writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!