Purdue had a two-point lead with six seconds left and a chance to beat Wisconsin in regulation.
It had a three-point lead with 45 seconds left in overtime and a chance to eliminate the Badgers then, too.
But the top-seeded Boilermakers, which entered Saturday as the No. 1 overall seed in Joe Lunardi’s ESPN bracketology and entered the Big Ten tournament No. 3 in the AP Top 25, blew both leads, suffered a stunning exit in the semifinals and — most likely — lost its chance at earning the top seed.
“These guys down the stretch executed to perfection,” Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard said in an on-court interview postgame. “… Players make plays, and these guys have been phenomenal.”
Houston moved into the top spot, according to Lunardi’s latest update, while Connecticut moved up to No. 2.
Purdue, per Lunardi, was still projected to get the third No. 1 seed.
Chucky Hepburn led the Badgers, which weren’t ranked in the AP Top 25 entering the tournament, with 22 points, while AJ Storr — who spent his first collegiate season with St. John’s before transferring — added 20 and contributed four of Wisconsin’s 10 points in overtime.
Purdue star Zach Edey poured in 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, with eight of those points on free throws in overtime.
For Wisconsin, it marked the Badgers’ third consecutive win in the tournament after dropping eight of 11 games to close the regular season, plummeting from No. 13 in the AP Top 25 poll.
In the final game before the conference tournament, they played Purdue closely — and were even within four points at the 11:54 mark — before losing by eight.
It entered Saturday in the “next” category of Lunardi’s bracketology — the collection of teams just outside ESPN’s top 16 seeds — and rose to the top team in that category after the upset at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn.
The Badgers will face the winner of Nebraska and Illinois in the title game Sunday, and that’ll mark their final chance to improve seeding in the NCAA Tournament before the selection show at night.
“We’re playing really well,” Gard said. “We got all our pieces and they’re clicking, they’re picking each other up. … It’s an awesome team.”