It looked like Northwestern simply ran out of gas in the Big Ten semifinals on Saturday.

Playing their third game in three days, the Wildcats started slow and looked a step behind all day in dropping an ugly 76-48 decision to Wisconsin in Washington D.C.

But while their Big Ten run ended, the Wildcats’ NCAA dream will undoubtedly be fulfilled on Sunday, when they are expected to receive the school’s first-ever invitation to the Big Dance.

Sixth-seeded Northwestern missed its first seven shots from the floor to fall behind 15-3 early. The Wildcats got as close as four points a few minutes later but could never reel in the surging No. 2-seed Badgers, who dominated in all phases of the game to avenge their home loss to Northwestern in February.

The second half turned into a laugher as the gap ballooned to as much as 33 points and Wisconsin coasted to the finish.

The Wildcats shot just 35 percent (18 of 52) from the floor and 21 percent (3 for 14) from long distance for the game. Their 48 points was their lowest scoring output of the season.

The most telling statistic of the day? Northwestern had one assist in the first half and just four for the game, a good indicator of how inefficient the Wildcat offense was in the face of the best defense in the Big Ten this season.

Scottie Lindsey scored 16 points to lead Northwestern and was the only Wildcat in double figures. Dererk Pardon had a team-high 7 rebounds.

Wisconsin was led by Nigel Hayes’ 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Ethan Happ 16 points and 8 boards.

Here are our three pointers on the loss that dropped Northwestern’s record to 23-11 – still the most wins in school history:

The Cats got off to a slow start and never recovered: Northwestern beat Maryland in the late game on Friday night and looked like it suffered from heavy legs and a bit of fatigue all day. The Wildcats didn’t score until Bryant McIntosh hit a jumper almost five minutes into the game to make it 10-2. By halftime Northwestern was down 38-21 after shooting just 25.9 percent, including 1 for 6 from beyond the arc. Wisconsin’s lead reached 27 after a D’Mitrik Trice 3-pointer with 7:44 left in the game, the largest deficit Northwestern faced all season. The lead hit its apex with 3:33 left when Brevin Pritzl hit yet another triple to push the lead to 33.

McIntosh couldn’t rescue the Cats this time around: Bryant McIntosh was the hero in Northwestern’s 66-59 win over then-No.6 Wisconsin last month, racking up 25 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. This time, though, the Badgers took him out of the game and he looked like a shell of his former self. The Wildcats’ junior guard hit just 4 of 12 shots from the floor for 8 points. More importantly, he had just 1 assist as Northwestern was forced to go one-on-one against the Badgers’ tenacious half-court defense. Wisconsin also took away Northwestern’s transition game as the Wildcats had just one fast-break basket all day.

What a week it was in DC: Northwestern’s run in the Big Ten tournament came to a wince-inducing end, but consider what the program achieved over the last three days in the nation’s capital. The Wildcats won two games to reach the tournament semifinals, both program first. They also set the school record for wins on consecutive days when they beat Rutgers on Thursday night for win No. 22 and Maryland on Friday night for win No. 23. And the best is yet to come: Greg Gumbel of CBS Sports will undoubtedly call Northwestern’s name during the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Sunday (4:30 p.m. CT), and fans at the first-ever Northwestern Selection Show Watch Party will undoubtedly let out a roar to shake the old barn’s rafters one more time.