EVANSTON, Ill.—Though you wouldn’t have known looking at the sea of red in the stands Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena, the Badgers did indeed pick up a road win in Evanston, defeating the Wildcats (4-10 Big Ten, 13-14 overall) by a final of 69-41. Running out to a 9-0 lead before the first media break, Wisconsin (10-4, 19-8) never looked back, increasing its lead to 28-12 at the half and cruising home to a comfortable victory.
“I said it in the huddle, ‘We’ve got to make sure we step on their throats early and not let them hang around,’” senior forward Mike Bruesewitz said. “If you let teams hang around, that’s when upsets happen.”
While fouls and the score left redshirt senior forward Jared Berggren with limited playing time in the second half, he made his presence known from the opening tip. The Princeton, Minn., native picked up 8 points and 6 rebounds in the first half, finishing with 12 points and 8 rebounds on 5-of-10 shooting for the evening.
Meanwhile, the injury-riddled Wildcats were never able to find a rhythm on either end of the floor. After finally getting on the scoreboard a full 5:29 into the game, Northwestern managed just three more field goals in a first half that left it with just 12 points, 7 below Wisconsin’s previous season-low for points allowed (19 at Nebraska). Though the Cats eventually upped their field goal efficiency to 29 percent in a 29-point second half, they never made a run big enough to put a scare in the visiting Badgers.
“They’ve got some guys missing. But when you prepare, you prepare for a system,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “We just made them work hard to get good looks, and that’s what you have to do against Northwestern to have a chance.”
Given Northwestern’s lack of size and depth, it was no surprise that Wisconsin dominated the interior game. The Badgers outrebounded Northwestern 47-22 for the night and finished with 28 points in the paint, a full 22 more than their opponent.
“We didn’t knock down shots right away,” Bruesewitz said. “But we were persistent on the glass and they had trouble rebounding out of their zone.”
Junior guard Ben Brust, a native of suburban Chicago, erased a slow start in front of the hometown crowd en route to another strong game (12 points, 8 rebounds). Sophomore guard Traevon Jackson also had a solid effort, taking the Badgers into the locker room with a 15-footer at the halftime buzzer for two of his 8 points. Jackson also finished with 7 rebounds as the Badger guards took advantage of Northwestern’s lacking size.
Freshman forward Sam Dekker finished in double digits for a fourth-straight game, picking up 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting in 18 minutes off the bench. In all, six different Badgers finished with multiple field goals, allowing UW to command a 27-9 advantage in points off the bench.
Wisconsin now has six days off before its next game, a home date with Nebraska Feb. 26. After a stretch of hard-fought battles and road tests, the Badgers will no doubt benefit from a bit of time away from the grind. With the final two home dates coming in the week ahead, UW will have plenty of time to prepare to take care of business as it welcomes two relatively weak opponents in Nebraska and Purdue. Still, if the Badgers are to contend for a Big Ten title, they will have to take care of business.
“We approach every game the same,” Berggren said. “Regardless of who we are playing, it’s another chance to play.”
