Wisconsin beats No. 3 Purdue in overtime to advance to Big Ten tournament title game

Purdue won’t double up on Big Ten titles this season,

The regular season Big Ten champions lost 76-75 in overtime to Wisconsin in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament on Saturday. Max Klesmit hit a shot in the lane with less than five seconds to go in the extra period for the win before Lance Jones’ long pull-up 3-pointer missed everything before the buzzer.

Purdue led at the end of regulation as well before Wisconsin forced overtime. The Boilermakers had star center Zach Edey guarding the inbounds pass as Wisconsin had the ball and Chucky Hepburn hit a game-tying layup.

The loss drops Purdue to 29-4 overall and likely won’t hurt the Boilermakers’ chances of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Thanks to Arizona’s loss in the Pac-12 tournament on Friday, the Boilermakers should be safely on the No 1 seed line Sunday despite the loss.

The trick will be avoiding the upset loss that stunned college basketball a season ago. Purdue became the second No. 1 seed to lose to a No.16 seed in 2023 when Fairleigh Dickinson upset the Boilermakers.

The victory should also solidify Wisconsin's status as a top-six seed in the tournament. The Badgers finished fifth in the Big Ten after losing three of their final four regular season games but took down Maryland and Northwestern to open the Big Ten tournament. The three-game tournament win streak is a heck of a rebound for the Badgers as they lost eight of their final 11 games before the postseason.