Tyler Wahl scored 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting, D'Mitrik Trice contributed 12 points and a team-high four assists, and No. 10 Wisconsin cruised to a 68-52 win over visiting Northwestern on Wednesday night in Madison, Wis.
Wisconsin (12-3, 6-2 Big Ten Conference) improved to 10-1 on its home court. The Badgers moved within one game of No. 7 Michigan for first place in the conference.
Chase Audige led the Wildcats with 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting, including 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. Miller Kopp added 10 points for Northwestern (6-7, 3-6), which lost its sixth game in a row.
Wisconsin won for the fourth time in its past five games.
Northwestern cut the deficit to 44-39 early in the second half when Kopp made a jump shot, but that was as close as the Wildcats would get the rest of the way.
The Badgers responded with a decisive 12-0 run to push their lead to 56-39. Wahl made a 3-pointer to start the run, which included a pair of layups by Trevor Anderson, a jumper by Nate Reuvers and a 3-pointer by Micah Potter.
The Wildcats' deficit grew to 21 points with 4:14 to play. Brad Davison took a pass from Trice and drained a 3-pointer to make it 68-47.
Audige answered with a 3-pointer for Northwestern on the next possession, but by then it was too late.
Northwestern scored only 18 points in the second half, compared with 27 points by the Badgers in the same frame.
Wisconsin led 41-34 at the half.
The Badgers jumped to a 10-4 lead to start the game. Potter made back-to-back baskets after the opening tipoff, and he added a 3-pointer to give him seven points in the first three minutes.
A dunk by Jonathan Davis gave Wisconsin an 11-point lead with 7:52 remaining in the first half.
Northwestern rallied with a 12-5 run to pull within 36-32 with 3:50 to go before the break. Audige punctuated the run with a 3-pointer off an assist by Boo Buie.
--Field Level Media
Northwestern | Wisconsin | |
Chase Audige 16 | Scoring | Tyler Wahl 14 |
Boo Buie 5 | Assists | D'Mitrik Trice 4 |
Pete Nance 12 | Rebounds | Jonathan Davis 6 |
Miller Kopp 2 | Free Throws Made | Jonathan Davis 2 |
Chase Audige 2 | Steals | Nate Reuvers 2 |
Chase Audige 1 | Blocks | Jonathan Davis 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Northwestern | 52 | 41.2 | 7-23 | 3-7 | 10 | 25 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
Wisconsin | 68 | 43.6 | 10-27 | 10-11 | 14 | 29 | 2 | 5 | 8 |