Big Ten Tops ACC

The Big Ten won the Big Ten - ACC Challenge for the first time since its induction 11 years ago. The tournament was full of upsets and excellent match-ups, including a surprise Illinois victory over 19th ranked Clemson and an Ohio State victory over Florida State. The most exciting game in the tournament, in my opinion, took place at the Kohl Center in Madison.

#5 Duke came to Madison and was expected to easily handle the unranked Wisconsin Badgers. However, the Badgers came out strong and never trailed the entire game. Trevon Hughes led the way for the Badgers with a career high 26 points. John Leuer added 17 more, with Jason Bohannon scoring 10. The Badgers struggled to guard Duke star Kyle Singler, who scored his own career high of 28 points, but the overall effort of the Badgers was too much for Duke to overcome. "Their offense just beat our defense," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. Wisconsin also only turned the ball over five times the entire game, compared to Duke's eleven turnovers, which head coach Bo Ryan said was a huge key to the win. "That's five opportunities you didn't get a shot at the basket," Ryan said. "They had eleven opportunities that they didn't have to score. That might have been the difference in the game."

This game marks the first time Duke has lost in the Big Ten - ACC Challenge, and also ended the twelve game winning streak Duke had against unranked opponents. This was Wisconsin's fourth straight win against an ACC opponent.