Boo Buie scored 20 points and Chase Audige added 16 as Northwestern snapped a seven-game losing streak to Wisconsin with a 66-63 victory on Monday in a rescheduled game in Evanston, Ill.
Tyler Wahl hit the first of two free throws to pull Wisconsin even at 62-62, but Matthew Nicholson countered with two free throws to put the Wildcats up 64-62 with 2:18 left.
Wisconsin missed its next four shots before Robbie Beran’s two free throws made it a two-possession game with 26.5 seconds left. The Badgers missed 3-pointers on their next two possessions before Chucky Hepburn hit only 1 of 3 free throws with 0.6 seconds remaining.
Northwestern (13-5, 4-3 Big Ten) was 16 of 18 from the free-throw line while the Badgers were just 9 of 16, including four misses in the final 5 1/2 minutes. It was the Wildcats’ first win over Wisconsin since a 60-52 victory in Madison, Wis., on Feb. 1, 2018.
Jordan Davis had a career-high 15 points for Wisconsin (12-6, 4-4), which made just one of its final 10 shots. Hepburn added 12 points and Wahl 11 for the Badgers, who dropped to 7-4 in contests decided by five points or fewer.
The game originally was scheduled to be played Saturday but was postponed due to COVID-19 issues within Northwestern’s program.
Wahl worked underneath for a lay-in and Davis followed with a 3-pointer to put the Badgers up 57-54, but Audige hit a turnaround jumper in the lane and Buie scored on a drive to put the Wildcats back in front.
Connor Essegian (10 points) hit two free throws for Wisconsin, but Brooks Barnhizer answered with two free throws to put Northwestern ahead 60-59 with 4:31 left.
Essegian and Hepburn hit 3-pointers as Wisconsin opened the second half with an 8-0 run, erasing a 32-26 halftime deficit.
Northwestern put together a 7-0 run to open a 16-9 lead with 11 1/2 minutes left in the first half. It led for the remainder of the half, with Buie and Audige scoring nine points apiece.
–Field Level Media
