MILWAUKEE — After briefly accelerating toward the rim with a lengthy stride, giving the fans, players and pearl-clutchers something to imagine (and to be sure, up 10 points on Texas, a vicious breakaway dunk just might have been unnecessary), Jaden Ivey and his better angels dribbled out the clock instead. He glanced over at a raucous Purdue team with a grin as time expired: His highlight reel needed no last-minute insertions.
On the other end of the same Fiserv Forum court some two-plus hours earlier, Ivey’s Wisconsin counterpart, Johnny Davis, took a minute to compose himself before joining the handshake line, his chin nestled in his left palm as he soaked in the moment.