staff/sppsForward Lewis Witcher (left) and guard Malcolm Delaney (right), gave strong efforts but came up short.
The game looked bound overtime for a few seconds before Hughes drove the court and knocked down an off-balance two-point shot to break the tie as the clock sunk under one second.
"It's a disappointing loss," Tech head coach Seth Greenberg said. "No one makes the NCAA tournament on December 1st though, and no one gets eliminated. We're probably going to play fourteen games against top-50 teams so we'll get those wins eventually."
The Hokies stayed within manageable reach of the Badgers but never took the lead at any point in the game. Tech crawled back from an eight-point deficit at the half to cut it to three with less than four minutes remaining in the second half.
Tech then inched closer in the final minutes, eventually tying the game up in the last seconds. But it was not enough.
With eighteen seconds remaining, senior forward A.D. Vassallo hit his fifth three pointer of the night and brought the Hokies within one.
Wisconsin forward Joe Krabbenhoft was then subsequently fouled by sophomore guard Malcolm Delaney and made both shots from the charity stripe.
Tech managed to tie the game for the first time with six seconds left on yet another Vassallo three-pointer.
"(Hughes) drove it right down our throats. That's going to happen sometimes," Greenberg said "It was a random play and he just made a good shot. We didn't contain the ball well enough."
A desperate half-court shot with time expiring by sophomore guard Dorenzo Hudson fell just short.
In what was his best game statistically thus far this season and one of the best in his collegiate career, Vassallo hit 12 for 17 from the field including 6 for 9 from beyond the arc.
In all, he totaled a team-leading and career-high 30 points. He also led the Hokies in rebounds with five.
Neither team appeared able to miss at times but -- although the Hokies shot a season-best 51.0% from the field – Tech was skimmed by the Wisconsin's at 51.1 percent.
As a team, the Hokies out-rebounded the Badgers 21-17 on the night. Behind Vassallo were four players who contributed three boards each.
Sophomore forward Jeff Allen, who fouled out with just over a minute and a half remaining in the game, was kept in check for much of the night by the Badgers, registering just two points while obtaining his fourth foul with more than thirteen minutes remaining in the second half.
Esteemed Wisconsin forward Marcus Landry went 4-for-4 from beyond the arc and led the Badgers in points with 18, while forward Jon Leuercontributed 17 and Hughes added 12.
The game was televised on ESPN2 and kicked off the annual ACC-Big Ten Challenge, an eleven-game series played between teams of the two major conferences over a three-day period. The loss against Wisconsin brings the Hokies' record to 1-3 all-time in the event.
Tech will next travel to the Verizon Center in Washington, DC, to face Navy at 5 p.m. on Sunday.
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