NCAA makes it’s money on upsets. NBA careers are made on outstanding performances throughout the tourney. And last night, #4 Wisconsin was doned in by #12 Cornell, 87-69. Bleh.  This loss just leaves a bad taste in your mouth considering almost every analyst who talked about the game actually picked Cornell to upset the Badgers.  The Badgers let the upset occur by not taking care of business on defense. Having seen the Badgers barely take care of Wofford, 53-49, defense should have been a high priority coming into yesterday’s game.Cornell’s Louis Dale and Ryan Wittman combined for 50 of Cornell’s 86 points. Cornell as a team shot 61.1% from the field and 53.3% from behind the arch. They say the best defense is a good offense, but unfortunately the Badgers were as productive as usual against the stingy Cornell defense. The Badgers 49% from the field lead by junior forward Jon Leuer with 23 points. Senior Trevon Hughes, who averaged 15.3 points all season, only finished with 10 points. The Badgers’ other senior Jason Bohannon had a big offensive game with 18 points. The Badgers weren’t able to make stops on defense, allowing Cornell the opportunities needed to win the game. With 3:29 left in the game, Cornell went up 23 points taking the game just too far out of reach for the Badgers. Cornell will advance to the Sweet 16 to take on #1 Kentucky. If the Wildcats aren’t careful, they too may end up like the Badgers.

The Bucks may not have started the home season off with a victory (who can ever remember to way back then?), but then sure as heck did finish it off with a 98 – 80 victory over the Orlando Magic.  Richard Jefferson lead all scorers with 24 points going 9 – 17 from the field and 5 – 8 from behind the 3 point line.  Raymond Sessions finished with 19 points thanks in part to him going 11-12 from the free throw line.  Charlie Villanueva and Joe Alexander both finished in double digits for points.  As a team the Bucks shot  44% from the field and 38% from behind the arch.  The Bucks had a major 2nd quarter outscoring the Magic 32 – 19 points.  This win brought the teams season record to 34-47.  Yea, just about 6.5 away from behind .500!  With Dwight Howard on the bench due to a sore left knee, the Bucks were able to pick up W and hopefully some momentum as they head to the 35 – 46 Indiana Pacers for the final game of the season.  Both teams are playing for a paycheck, so this maybe interesting.

Next game: @ Indiana Pacers, 7:05 pm – FSN

April 3, 2009
And it was only just last week that the Milwaukee Bucks were still in contention for the the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Now at 32 – 45, 4 games behind the 8th seeded Chicago Bulls, the Bucks might have a better shot of playing for a lottery pick or finishing close to .500 as possible. The Bucks are an amazing 30 game behind the #1 seeded team in the East, the Cleveland Cavs (61 – 14). With a winning record at home, 20-17, it’s on the road once again the Bucks have had their downfall, at just winning 42.8% on the road. In the last 10 games, the Buckas have only won 2-8 and are on a 2 game losing streak.
All though it is a long shot, the Bucks would have to win out the rest of the season, including against Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic, plus hope that Indiana, Charlotte and Chicago all lose at least 2 games. The Pacers are playing the San Antonio Spurs plus the Bucks final game so there is a high prob it might come down to the last game. The Bulls will have the Philadelphia 76ers and their final game against the Charlotte Bobcats, which if Charlotte wins will work out for the Bucks and probably be the clincher for them to make the final spot into the playoffs. However, the Bobcats do still have a couple of hard teams to beat, but if they only catch on win it has to be against the Bulls.
The end to the 08-09 season maybe just as exciting as last year for the Brewers, who knows? Either way it would hurt supporting the Bucks all the way.