If Northwestern’s NCAA Tournament hopes took a hit when the Wildcats blew a six-point halftime lead last weekend at Michigan State, the dancing dreams are on life support after Sunday’s 32-point thrashing at the hands of Wisconsin.
The Badgers broke, battered and bombarded the Cats in a 78-46 beatdown. It was NU’s worst Big Ten loss in three years.
“This is rough,” coach Bill Carmody said. “Especially because it’s (at Welsh-Ryan Arena). It’s just the competitiveness I didn’t see.”
On Sunday, Wisconsin did what it does best – hardly turning the ball over while playing stout defense. It didn’t hurt that the Badgers nearly set a Division I season-high points-per-possession mark on offense. In the first 27 minutes of the game, Wisconsin – who ranks third in the country with 1.2 points-per-possession – scored 65 points on 37 possessions, a 1.76 ratio.
“We just never stopped them,” Carmody said. “They got the shots they wanted. No matter what defense we were playing. We never made them feel uncomfortable.”
Wisconsin (15-4, 5-2 Big Ten), who leads the league with the fewest turnovers and fewest points allowed, handled NU in all facets of the game. The Badgers only coughed up the ball three times while holding the Cats (13-6, 3-5) to a season-low 48 points. In the second half NU never came within 19.
“We didn’t put any pressure on them,” Carmody said. “We always talk about making them have their back to the basket, we were never able to get them to turn, they were just always facing the court and making the passes they wanted to make. We were really on defense on defense, we weren’t the aggressor.”
Following a back-and-forth opening seven minutes, the Badgers pulled away when senior guard Michael Thompson made a rare trip to the bench thanks to two fouls. Thompson left the game with the Cats losing 14-12, and when he returned five minutes later, NU was down 26-16. Thompson’s 15 first-half minutes were his fewest since NU beat Minnesota on Valentine’s Day last year.
Thompson finished with a measly six points, but his underwhelming performance may be overshadowed by that of fellow starter Drew Crawford. The sophomore forward has been streaky of late, and Sunday he hit rock bottom. Crawford shot 0-for-6 from the field, recording no points while pulling down a lone rebound.
Without much production from Thompson and Crawford, NU’s offense fell flat late in the first half. In the final five minutes of play, the Cats notched just two points on a pair of Luka Mirkovic free throws. Part of the problem was that NU couldn’t grab rebounds on defense. After Mirkovic’s free throws cut Wisconsin’s lead to 14, the Cats transitioned into their 1-3-1 defense. But the Badgers broke it, pulling down a pair of offensive rebounds and finally getting a three from guard Tim Jarmusz.
“It seemed as though every time we played good defense and when they did miss, they always came up with the rebound, getting second and third and fourth opportunities at the basket,” Thompson said. “That killed us.”
While the Cats’ offense was centered around Mirkovic and junior forward John Shurna – both of whom notched 13 points – the Badgers retaliated with a balanced attack. Five Wisconsin players finished the day in double figures, including senior stars Jon Leuer and Keaton Nankivil. But it was a freshman who posted the most impressive numbers. Guard Josh Gasser, who chose Wisconsin over Northwestern last year, tallied 10 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. It was the first triple-double in Wisconsin history and the first by a Big Ten newcomer since Magic Johnson in 1977.
“He’s been doing little things all season,” guard Jordan Taylor said. “He’s been getting rebounds and not necessarily putting up a lot of points, but really helping us out. Tonight his shot just really started falling.”
The loss is another in NU’s feast-or-famine Big Ten campaign. In five conference defeats, the Cats have lost by an average of 15 points. And that includes two losses to Michigan State by a combined seven points. Meanwhile NU’s three conference victories have come courtesy of that same margin.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Cats, as they travel to The Barn in Minneapolis to square off against No. 15 Minnesota Wednesday.
