Northwestern's upset bid of No. 15 Wisconsin comes up short
MADISON-As a blizzard swirled across the Midwest, Northwestern went into No. 15 Wisconsin's house and pushed them to the brink.
The Badgers ended up escaping with a 71-63 win by going on an 8-0 run in the final 2:50, with six of those eight points off intentional-foul free throws.
Wisconsin was led by a breakout performance from Max Klesmit, who scored 24 points and hit 5-of-7 3-pointers.
"Disappointed in the loss, for sure," head coach Chris Collins said. "Wisconsin is a really good team, filled with veterans, well-coached playing at a high level. To be in that game with all the foul trouble and to be inside three minutes and have a tie game, we're in a really good spot. We showed a lot of fight."
The Wildcats were led, yet again, by Boo Buie, who scored 22 points. The First Team All-Big Ten guard spent much of the day looking for help from his teammates, as he scored 13 of the the Wildcats' first 19 points and briefly outscored Wisconsin on his own.
Here are our takeaways from Northwestern's chilly trip up north that dropped their record to 12-4 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten:
Gritty loss: It was heartbreaking down the stretch as Northwestern's final push was staved off by two Wisconsin offensive rebounds in the final minute. The Badgers went from a four-point deficit with 1:19 to go to a six-point lead with 29 seconds left before the Wildcats were able to recapture possession.
A loss is a loss, and there's no such thing as a moral victory at this level. But there's no doubt the Wildcats proved their mettle on Saturday. Even as Klesmit did everything but breathe fire, the Wildcats went into a ranked team's building and pushed them wire to wire.
Going into halftime down seven, the Wildcats rallied to tie the game twice, with 4:16 and 2:51 to go. But they just couldn't get over the hump.
Wildcats won't blame whistle: The Kohl Center made its presence known as the referees whistled Northwestern far more times than they did the home team.
The Wildcats racked up 24 personal fouls, with five different players collecting at least three. The Badgers had 16 fouls, with only Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl reaching three. No Badger had four.
Some of that disparity came from the two intentional fouls late, but the Badgers still took 21 free throws to Northwestern's 15.
Collins wasn't buying that narrative, though.
"Look, you have to just keep playing," he said. "I'm not going to say [it was uneven], these guys are great officials. When you play Wisconsin, you have to play with physicality. They're a very physical team and I say that in a complimentary way."
Big man rotation composition hasn't changed; just the order has: The Wildcat center position has evoked a ball-in-cup game on the Jumbotron, shuffling starters, order and situations over the past few games.
Luke Hunger once again got the start, but played just seven minutes as he struggled with foul trouble. Blake Preston played 10 minutes and didn't score.
Matt Nicholson got the bulk of the work by the end of the day, with 23 minutes, and he played well down the stretch. His best possession of the season came when he was switched onto a red-hot Klesmit defensively. He denied him the ball, rotated over to affect two Crowl shots at the rim, hauled in the board, drew a foul and sunk both bonus free throws to tie the game with 2:51 to play.
That's the Nicholson this team needs, and the one Collins recognized postgame.
"Matt is still getting the same minutes," he said. "He's doing a good jo of coming in and bringing that energy and playing to caliber. Today, he did some things that he hasn't been doing, I thought his physicality, his ability to protect the basket...he got five defensive rebounds today, he hand't been doing that...we need him to be an anchor and I thought he did a better job today."
Blizzard, early start, road game didn't faze the Wildcats: Snow blanketed the Midwest on Friday. An 11 a.m. tipoff made for an odd game day at one of the most difficult places to play in the Big Ten. It was a second road game for Northwestern in a week. The officiating was a constant challenge.
Some teams would get thrown for a loop by those circumstances, but not the Wildcats.
"We did a really good job preparing yesterday, and the coaches gave us a really good scout," Buie said. "I think we came out here and had them on the ropes here at the end...
"I don't think a lot of teams will be able to come in here and do what we did. Even though we didn't get the win, we had them in a tight game within the last four minutes."
Buie, Collins and the Cats obviously took the loss to heart, as they do anytime they come up short, but it's hard not to see this loss as a potentially good sign of things to come. The Wildcats' only losses this month have come on the road against ranked conference opponents (Illinois and Wisconsin).
They came back from a double-digit deficit to beat Penn State, and then they challenged a first-place Wisconsin team in back-to-back road games in the same week. The Wildcats are still in a strong spot as they prepare to host Maryland (10-6, 2-3 Big Ten) at Welsh-Ryan on Wednesday.