BLACKSBURG, Va. -- It was just like at Texas last season.

How the lead guard wanted the ball with the game on the line and made something happen with it.

How the game-winning shot hung in the air for what seemed to be an eternity before it fell through the hoop and, in a nanosecond, sucked the collective breath out of a frenzied crowd rooting hard and loud for the talented home team.

And, most of all, how the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team seemed to grow by leaps and bounds with almost every possession.

"It reminds me of Texas. We battled all game, they were hitting tough shots, and we were hitting tough shots, too,"' said UW senior Joe Krabbenhoft after junior guard Trevon Hughes finished off a thriller Monday night by making a 12-foot off-balance shot from the paint with 0.9 seconds left that gave the Badgers a 74-72 victory over Virginia Tech at Cassell Coliseum here.

Hughes' game-winner in the opening contest of this year's Big Ten/ACC Challenge was shorter than the 3-pointer Michael Flowers made to give the Badgers a 67-66 victory at Texas in their final nonconference game of last season.

But there was hope among the Badgers (6-1) that their win over the Hokies (4-3) will provide the same kind of boost to this season that the Texas victory provided last year when they went on to win a school-record 31 games.

"You can just feel it. Everybody collectively is growing,'' said sophomore forward Jon Leuer, who was one of four Badgers to score in double figures with 17 points.

"That game was about the best situation you can be in to grow as a team,'' Leuer added confidently. "I thought we responded to adversity several times really well. That will pay off down the road.''

It was a major-league shootout in front of a national television audience despite the fact that both teams played solid defense. The Badgers, who never trailed, made 12 of 18 3-pointers (66.7 percent) but the Hokies made 11 of 16 (68.8), including four in the final minute when they erased a 9-point deficit.

Hughes' shot helped the Badgers overcome a 30-point effort by senior forward A.D. Vassallo, whose sixth 3-pointer of the game tied the score at 72-72 with 7 seconds left. It was one of two Vassallo 3-pointers in the final 18 seconds that helped the Hokies rally from a 67-58 deficit with 1:14 left.

"You saw everything in that game,'' gushed UW coach Bo Ryan after the Badgers earned their first Big Ten/ACC Challenge road victory and improved to 4-6 overall in the series.
 
"The one thing you didn't see was anybody taking it easy on any possessions,'' Ryan added. "Those were as hard-fought possessions of any game I can remember for a long time.''

The Badgers won with lots of help from their upperclassmen. Senior Marcus Landry led the Badgers with 18 points; Krabbenhoft hit three key free throws in the final minute; Hughes finished with 12 points, three assists, no turnovers and a steal; and junior guard Jason Bohannon hit two key free throws late and finished with 11 points.

They also won with the help of their kids. Besides Leuer's production, the Badgers got 5 points from freshman guard Rob Wilson and solid ball-handling and defense from freshman guard Jordan Taylor. The savvy Wilson and Taylor also combined to help foul out Tech leading scorer Jeff Allen. The Hokies' 6-7 sophomore forward finished with just 2 points.