Northwestern got more than a stunning win over No. 7 Wisconsin in Madison on Sunday night. The Wildcats may have also punched their ticket to the Big Dance.
Bryant McIntosh put up 25 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists to lead the Wildcats to a 66-59 road upset of the Badgers. The victory was Northwestern’s first over a Top 10 team since 2010 and just the type of signature win that the Wildcats needed to push them over the hump and into the NCAA tournament.
The fact that Northwestern notched the win without leading scorer Scottie Lindsey, who missed his third straight game with mono, makes it even that much more impressive.
Vic Law hit just 3 of 12 shots in the game but they were all 3s as he pitched in 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals. Dererk Pardon contributed 11 points, a team-high 8 rebounds and 2 steals.
Nigel Hayes finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds to lead Wisconsin in both categories.
The Wildcats had some tense moments down the stretch as Wisconsin erased a double-digit lead to close to within 60-55 with 46 seconds left. But McIntosh made all four of his free throws and Sanjay Lumpkin threw down a dunk with four seconds left to seal the win.
The win improved Northwestern’s record to 19-6 (8-4 Big Ten) with six games to go. Two more Ws will likely earn the Wildcats their first tournament berth in school history. The Wildcats were an eighth seed going into the game according to ESPN’s Joe Lundardi and CBS’ Jerry Palm.
Here are our three pointers on Northwestern’s monumental victory:
What a run! The Wildcats were cold early, hitting just 2 of their first 9 shots from the floor. But Northwestern’s stellar defense kept the team in the game until the shots started falling. And once they did, the Wildcats left Wisconsin in their dust with an epic 16-0 run to take control of the contest. Law hit two 3-pointers and McIntosh hit one, while Taphorn hit triples on consecutive possessions to cap the Wildcats’ outburst. In all, the Wildcats scored 19 of the final 22 points to turn a 19-12 deficit into a 31-22 halftime lead.
The defense got it done: The offense came and went -- the Cats shot poorly at the start of both halves – but the defensive effort was always there. The Wildcats constantly switched their defense on Wisconsin’s leading scorer Ethan Happ, doubling him in the post at times, and not others, to keep him guessing. Happ scored 7 points in the first half and just 2 in the second as he sat on the bench for a long stretch. More than that, however, Northwestern was able to force the Badgers to take the shots that the Wildcats wanted them to take. Those shots fell early, but eventually it caught up to the Badgers, who committed 12 turnovers. Many of those turnovers wound up as easy baskets for Northwestern on the other end.
The biggest win since…ever? Northwestern has beaten Top 10 teams before, but with so much riding on this season and the quest to make the Big Dance, it’s difficult to think of a bigger victory. The Wildcats were 12-point underdogs at tip, playing without their leading scorer against a team on an eight-game winning streak in a building where they were just 1-14 all-time. To say the odds were stacked against them is an understatement. The win halted the Wildcats’ two-game losing streak and gave them five wins in seven Big Ten road games. Northwestern now needs just two more wins to ensure its first winning season in conference play since 1968.
