Wisconsin looks to avoid a third consecutive Big Ten road loss when the 17th-ranked Badgers face Northwestern on Saturday in Evanston, Ill.
Wisconsin (16-5, 6-4) lost at Maryland 76-68 on Wednesday. Prior to that, the Badgers trounced Nebraska 83-55 at home last Sunday, coming off an 85-83 loss on the road at UCLA on Jan. 21.
Northwestern (12-9, 3-7) lost to Rutgers 79-72 on Wednesday, only its second loss in 12 home games this season.
“I’m a little bit of a loss for words,” Northwestern coach Chris Collins said afterward. “I can live with losing, but I just didn’t love our energy, our fight and defensive intensity in the first half.”
Wisconsin shot just 37.3 percent against Maryland, missing 18 of its 27 attempts from behind the arc. John Tonje led with 23 points, but no one else contributed more than 10.
The Badgers went into the game as the No. 1 free-throw shooting team in the nation but were just 15 of 21 vs. the Terrapins. Wisconsin also turned it over 10 times.
“Against a really good team on the road, you obviously have to take care of the ball, which I thought we did a must better job the second half, “Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. “Not as well the first half, and then you’ve got to be able to make some plays and make shots.”
Tonje averages 18.2 points along with a team-high 44 3-pointers and John Blackwell contributes 16.0 points. The inside tandem of Nolan Winter and Steven Crowl average 10.1 and 10.0 points, respectively, and 5.7 boards apiece.
Badgers senior guard Max Klesmit continues to struggle with his shooting. Klesmit shot 43.7 percent last season, including 39.8 percent from 3-point range. This season, those clips are down to 33.3 and 28.3, respectively.
Klesmit was just 1 of 8 from the field against Maryland, including 1 of 6 from long distance.
Wisconsin averages 81.8 points, while allowing 70.6. Dating back to last season, the Badgers are 28-1 when holding opponents to 70 points or fewer.
Northwestern failed to clamp down defensively against Rutgers, which shot 57.1 percent, including 8 of 14 from 3-point range.
Jalen Leach led the Wildcats with 23 points and Nick Martinelli had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, playing all 40 minutes.
Martinelli averages a team-high 19.6 points, Brooks Barnhizer adds 17.1 points and team-leading 8.8 rebounds, and Leach averages 14.3 points.
The Wildcats average 74.1 points, 16th in the 18-team conference, and allowing 69.4.
“We’re not going to be a team that’s going to score 85, 90, 95 points in a game,” Collins said. “We’re going to work hard to get into the 70s and we’ve got to keep teams in the 60s. When teams are constantly 80, 80-plus, it’s going to be really hard for us.”
Wisconsin has won eight of the last 10 games in the series, including both meetings last season.
“On to the next game,” Gard said. “We’ve got to get ready for Northwestern and they’re going to be a handful. So, it’s making sure we keep getting better.”
–Field Level Media
