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 Since then, the Wildcats lost their next 12 in the building. They
finally put that dubious streak to rest Wednesday night with a 65-56
upset of the 14th-ranked Badgers.
"Obviously, this is a tremendous, tremendous win for our program,"
Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. "I have so much respect for
the Wisconsin program, and I know how tough it is to play in this
building. A few years ago, I brought a (Duke) team in here that won
the national championship, and we got our tails kicked, so for us to
be able to come in here and get a win is special."
Fifth-year senior guard Drew Crawford led the way for Northwestern
(11-11, 4-5 Big Ten). He scored 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting while
knocking down three 3-pointers. Due in large part to Crawford's
marksmanship, Northwestern shot 48 percent from the field.
"Drew just put us on his back," Collins said. "He was a man tonight,
and I'm so very proud of the player he's becoming."
Northwestern was down by one at halftime, but Crawford's 3-pointer
with 11:41 remaining tied the game at 34. The basket kicked off an
18-3 run for the Wildcats, who hit three more from long range and
went ahead 44-37 on Crawford's jumper with 8:22 remaining.
The Badgers' only points during that stretch came on a free throw
from forward Nigel Hayes and two by guard John Gasser. Wisconsin
missed five shots from the field during that sequence — three of
them from beyond the arc.
"It just seemed like if they bounced it off the floor, it was going
to go in," Badgers coach Bo Ryan said.
A late surge saw the Badgers (17-4, 4-4) get within six during the
final minute, but Northwestern made three of four free throws in the
final 30 seconds to close it out.
"We played this team a month ago, and it was 40-14 (Wisconsin) at
halftime," Collins said. "In one month's time, we've become a very
tough group, and we've had to become tough because we've had a hard
time scoring, we've had a hard time with certain things, so we've
had to win with our defense."
After letting Wisconsin shoot 32-for-58 (55.2 percent) in the first
meeting this season — the Badgers' 76-49 victory on Jan. 2 in
Evanston, Ill. — Northwestern clamped down and held the Badgers to
a season-low 26.3 percent from the field and 14 points in the paint.
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"I don't even know what to say," said guard Ben Brust, who led the
Badgers with 21 points. "We got a lot of wide-open looks, but to
throw the ball into the post and get a wide-open kick-out only to
get an airball is ridiculous. It's just unacceptable.
Much had been made of Wisconsin's more explosive offense this season — the Badgers were averaging 75.2 points per game entering play
Wednesday — but against Northwestern, the Badgers looked like the
offensively challenged squad that struggled to generate points in
years past.
After hitting two 3-pointers to open the game, the Badgers got cold
quick, missing their next 10 attempts, but they still held a 23-22
lead at halftime. They entered a deep freeze, though, after the
break. After going ahead by six on Brust's 3-pointer with 16:04 to
play, they went 1-for-3 from the field and missed three of five free
throws before Crawford's game-tying 3-pointer.
"When he starts knocking those down, he can be deadly," Brust said.
Wisconsin got within single digits twice in the final minutes and
cut the lead to six late, but the Wildcats closed out their first
victory in Madison since Feb. 21, 1996.
"Since I've been here, we never won," Crawford said. "I knew it had
been awhile, so it feels great. Wisconsin is an unbelievable team,
and they embarrassed us last time, so it feels good."
The Badgers lost for the fourth time in five games after starting
the season 16-0. Wisconsin plays host to No. 24 Ohio State on
Saturday.
"We have to take it one game at a time still and try to knock 'em
out," Wisconsin point guard Josh Gasser said. "You have to go into
each game preparing to win."
NOTES: Wisconsin's 23 first-half points and 15 total field goals
were season lows. ... Wildcats F Drew Crawford has 1,759 career
points, the most among active Big Ten players. ... The Badgers began
the night averaging 8.3 turnovers per game, the fewest among all
Division I teams this season. They gave the ball away nine times
Wednesday. ... Northwestern plays at Minnesota on Saturday.
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