The Badgers edged past the Wildcats to move on in the Big Ten Tournament.
The Wisconsin Badgers kicked off their Big Ten Tournament with a 70-63 victory over the Northwestern Wildcats, overcoming a slow start to advance past the second round to the quarterfinals.
Wisconsin didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, hitting only 41.5 percent of their shots and 32 percent of their threes, but the Badgers got to the free throw line often, hitting 18/23 of their shots at the charity stripe to push forward to a victory.
Defensively, they limited Northwestern to just 63 points, holding them under 40 percent shooting and to 25 percent from deep in the win.
Now, the Badgers will move forward to Friday, where they take on the No. 4 seeded UCLA Bruins, with tip-off scheduled approximately for 1:30 p.m. central.
Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s 70-63 win over Northwestern.
Slow start + turnaround
It was another slow start for the Badgers on Thursday, which set a dim mood to begin the game. Wisconsin trailed 14-9 after the first eight minutes of the game, really struggling to get any offense going.
They weren’t aggressive enough, settling for threes at too high a rate. Wisconsin shot 2/9 to begin the game, going 1/6 from three during that stretch and having four early turnovers.
Guards weren’t aggressive enough driving downhill, instead settling for threes that weren’t poor, but weren’t the best quality shots, especially when starting off slow like the Badgers did. Additionally, there were only two post touches over that first 8:30, raising in question the team’s shot selection.
Defensively, Wisconsin gave up a pair of early threes and was poor defensively with rotations, leaving open Northwestern shooters. The Wildcats just weren’t hitting shots after eight early points, keeping the game close.
But, after the second media timeout, things started to shift for the Badgers, who were noticeably more aggressive, as guards were driving downhill, creating open shots and more opportunities at the rim. Even when Wisconsin wasn’t getting shots in the paint to go, there were second-chance opportunities, with Nolan Winter making an impact on the offensive glass.
That changed the tone for the Badgers, as they took the lead and were able to control the remainder of the first half, even with another slump where they were held scoreless for a two-and-a-half-minute period.
Wisconsin closed the half well on a 6-0 run, extending their lead to 37-30 at halftime, giving them momentum heading into the break.
The Badgers need to clean up the lack of aggressiveness early on, which has hurt them recently. But, they overcame that, turned up the aggressiveness, and flipped the page over the second half of the period, pulling away to a seven-point lead at halftime.
Free throws galore
Usually, when a team is aggressive, they’re able to get to the free throw line at a high rate. That was the case for the Badgers on Thursday, as they overcame their sluggish start with 15 first half free throws, sinking 12 of them.
Seven different players shot a free throw in the first half, with Nolan Winter leading the way, going 4/4 at the line in the period. Ultimately, with Wisconsin shooting a poor 39.3 percent from the field and 25 percent from three, the Badgers still managed to average 1.15 points per possession thanks to their success at the free throw line.
In the second half, the team kept up the aggressiveness, hitting a higher field goal percentage, but they made it a mission to draw fouls early and often, getting in the bonus for the final 12:51.
Wisconsin got five Northwestern players with three fouls over those first 32 minutes of the game, looking to be aggressive and absorb contact off dribble drives, which led to a better-flowing offense overall.
After a lack of aggressiveness early, Wisconsin really changed the tone over the final 30 minutes, drawing 20 fouls on Northwestern in the game and shooting 23 free throws, hitting 18 of them.
In March, free throws become one of the most important elements of the game. The Badgers have been one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the country this year, and they get there at a high rate.
That happened on Thursday, leading to a comfortable win for the Badgers.
Improvements on defense
Wisconsin struggled to begin the game defensively, allowing Northwestern to score 10 quick points on 4/5 from the field. They especially struggled with ball screens, leading to open shots for the Wildcats, which they sunk early on.
Rotations continued to struggle over the beginning of the first half after Northwestern’s hot start, but the Wildcats weren’t hitting open shots, keeping it a lower-scoring affair.
Then, Wisconsin started to bottle things up, as Northwestern finished the half 7/23 (30.4 percent) from the field following their strong start, resulting in only 30 first-half points.
But, the defensive improvements were really seen in the second half, where the Wildcats couldn’t seem to buy a bucket. Northwestern had just eight points over the first eight and a half minutes of the period, with four coming off free throws.
That was paired with Wisconsin’s solid start offensively, as the Badgers began to grow their lead into the double digits, keeping Northwestern at a distance for the remainder of the game.
The Wildcats went on a short run within the final five minutes, but the Badgers had already extended their lead to 18 points, making it too little too late for Northwestern.
In the end, Wisconsin held the Wildcats to 20/54 (37 percent) on the game, including 5/20 (25 percent) from deep, clamping up well enough to begin the second half, which was when the game really started to go in the Badgers’ favor.
Nick Martinelli was a matchup problem, especially on switches where he could feast in the paint against smaller defenders, but the Badgers essentially just needed to limit the help.
Outside of Martinelli, the Wildcats shot 13/40 (32.5 percent) from the field, struggling to get high-quality shots for the final 30 minutes of the game.
With the win, Wisconsin will now move on to the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, where they’ll take on the No. 4-seeded UCLA Bruins on Friday. Tip-off is set for approximately 1:30 p.m. central.