The No. 15 Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team defeated the Northwestern Wildcats 71-63 Saturday at the Kohl Center after Max Klesmit scored a team-high 24 points.
Northwestern guard Boo Buie caused trouble for Wisconsin’s defense with his 15 first-half points and efficient shooting. Buie looked unstoppable for the Wildcats in the first 10 minutes of the game — he only missed two of his seven shots, and he got plenty of shot attempts from pick-and-roll plays that led to open free-throw line floaters and 3-point shots.
With Buie scoring 12 of his 15 first-half points in the first 10 minutes of the game, Klesmit responded with two back-to-back 3-point shots with 8:44 left in the first half. His scoring helped the Badgers regain a close lead for the rest of the first half. The Badgers locked down Northwestern’s shooters and only allowed the Wildcats two 3-point attempts in the first half, both by Buie.
Klesmit also led the Badgers in scoring in the second half in tandem with Wisconsin guard AJ Storr, with both scoring 13 points.
Despite the combined 26 points from Storr and Klesmit, Northwestern clawed their way back into the game. The Wildcats tied the game with 4:16 left and traded baskets with the Badgers down the stretch.
However, Storr came up big for Wisconsin in the last three minutes of the game and scored all but two of the Badgers’ last eight points to seal the win.
Wisconsin came into this game on a five-game win streak after an 11-point win at Ohio State behind Klesmit’s 18-point second-half performance.
Wisconsin moves to 13-3 overall on the season and stays undefeated in Big Ten matchups, with their next matchup Tuesday on the road against Penn State.
