On Tuesday night, the No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team (15-2 overall, 6-1 Big Ten) came into Evanston looking to win their seventh game in a row this season by beating the Northwestern Wildcats.
Even with Northwestern leading scorer Pete Nance back in the lineup after missing the Michigan State game, their last, due to an ankle injury, the Badgers would take care of business to win by six.
Game over. #Badgers escape Evanston with the win, 82-76
— Bucky’s 5th Quarter (@B5Q) January 19, 2022
Johnny Davis finishes with 27 pts, 8 reb
Northwestern would grab an early lead thanks to a 7-0 run and five consecutive makes. By the first media timeout, the Wildcats would hold an 11-9 advantage with Boo Buie and Chase Audige doing the heavy lifting offensively. Wisconsin would go ice cold over the next few minutes, and as a result, Northwestern was able to push their lead to four with 11:55 remaining in the first half.
The Badgers would string together five straight points on a Johnny Davis three and a Tyler Wahl layup to take the lead shortly thereafter though. With Steven Crowl on the bench with two fouls, Chris Vogt would hammer home a put-back dunk and by the next media timeout Wisconsin found themselves up by two.
The Badgers would continue to settle into a rhythm on the offensive end from there. A deep three by Chucky Hepburn and some nifty moves inside by Tyler Wahl would give Wisconsin a 30-24 edge with just under four minutes left in the first half.
Northwestern would rally back late, but a buzzer-beater from the opposite three-point line by Chucky Hepburn would give the Badgers a six-point lead at halftime.
CHUCKY BABAY!!!!
— Bucky’s 5th Quarter (@B5Q) January 19, 2022
Halftime in Evanston.#Badgers up 41-35 after a 3/4 court heave to remember.
Wisconsin would come out of the intermission playing well once again. A Johnny Davis three and a contested layup by Hepburn would push the Badgers lead to nine points with just under 16 minutes left in the game.
Davis would slow down a mini-run by Northwestern coming out of the timeout with a pretty layup. Both teams would go on to make their next three shot attempts, and by the next media timeout, the Badgers lead was 61-54.
A four-minute scoring drought by Wisconsin would allow Northwestern to cut into the deficit slightly by the next media timeout. Davis would respond though, bloody nose and all, to keep the Badgers ahead by five with 2:41 on the clock.
Northwestern would not relent in a wild final couple of minutes. The Wildcats went on a 6-0 run to make it only a four-point game late, and there were some questionable foul calls on both ends, but Wisconsin escaped with a six-point win.
We are now a blog that reports on the FIRST PLACE IN THE BIG TEN WISCONSIN BADGERS MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM
— Bucky’s 5th Quarter (@B5Q) January 19, 2022
Notable stat lines:
- Johnny Davis —> 27 points (8-of-15 from the floor), eight rebounds, two assists
- Chucky Hepburn —> 14 points (6-of-10 from the floor), one rebound, one assist
- Tyler Wahl —> 14 points (5-of-12 from the floor), 11 rebounds, four assists
- Chase Audige (NU) —> 23 points (10-of-17 from the floor), four rebounds, three assists
Up next: The Badgers will look to knock off Michigan State on Friday night at the Kohl Center. Tip time is set for 8 p.m. CT, and the game will be aired on FS1.