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March Madness 2016: Top 5 moments of the NCAA Tournament second round

By Connor Muldowney

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Mar 20, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard Bronson Koenig (24) shoots and makes the game-winning shot during the second half in the second round against the Xavier Musketeers of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Scottrade Center. Wisconsin won 66-63. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 20, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard Bronson Koenig (24) shoots and makes the game-winning shot during the second half in the second round against the Xavier Musketeers of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Scottrade Center. Wisconsin won 66-63. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Bronson Koenig saves Wisconsin

Just one year after making it all the way to the national title game before losing to the Duke Blue Devils, the Wisconsin Badgers are providing magic to March Madness once again. No one thought the seventh-seeded Badgers would make much noise in this year’s tourney, let alone get past Pittsburgh in the first round, but they did it.

It has been a turbulent season for the Badgers, starting the year just 9-9 and watching legendary head coach Bo Ryan retire, but the team has regrouped under new head coach Greg Gard to make the tourney easily and defy all odds.

The first round matchup against the Panthers wasn’t pretty, but the Badgers got the job done and Gard earned his first NCAA Tournament win as a head coach.

Against an extremely talented second-seeded Xavier team in the round of 32, it looked like the Badgers may be a one-and-done team, but the second half heroics of Bronson Koenig saved the day for Wisconsin.

Koenig finished with 20 points, six of which came in the last minutes, but none was bigger than the three-pointer at the buzzer to send the Badgers to the Sweet 16:

"KOENIG SENDS WISCONSIN TO THE #SWEET16!!!! https://t.co/6MnfXu2T0D — NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 21, 2016"

The ball didn’t even graze the rim despite Koeneig being slightly off-balance. Right before he drained this game-winner, Bronson drilled a game-tying three, giving the Badgers life with under 30 seconds left.

Koenig did what every kid dreams of as a young basketball player: hit a winning shot in the NCAA Tournament.

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