Great players make great plays. Smart players make smart plays.@braddavi34 takes a charge & hits a late free throw for the @BadgerMBB victory!! #Badgers pic.twitter.com/l7rtQCXGCl
— FOX Sports Wisconsin (@fswisconsin) December 14, 2017
Wisconsin and Western Kentucky played an entertaining, back-and-forth game Thursday night at the Kohl Center. Unfortunately, the referees decided the outcome with a questionable call when the game seemed destined for overtime.
After Western Kentucky tied the score, 80-80, on a bucket from Darius Thompson, Wisconsin was inbounding the ball under its own basket with two seconds left. The Badgers had their inbounder running the baseline, and WKU put a defender on him.
Knowing this, Wisconsin freshman Brad Davison stepped in front of the Hilltoppers’ defender as he was running with the inbounds passer. The refs called a charge, and Davison hit the front end of a one-and-one free throw to give Wisconsin the win.
Was it a smart play from the Wisconsin freshman? You could say that. But the refs never should have called it. It goes against the very spirit of the game. Wisconsin didn’t send a screener over for any other reason than to pick up a cheap whistle. That’s exactly what happened and they took home the win because of it.
Be better, refs. We don’t need every team trying this garbage at the end of exciting games.