No.13 Northwestern (17-15, 7-13 Big Ten) vs. No.5 Wisconsin (23-8, 13-7 Big Ten)

Date/Time – Thursday, March 13, 1:30 p.m.

Arena – Gainbridge Fieldhouse (18,345)

Watch – Big Ten Network (Guy Haberman, Stephen Bardo, Rick Pizzo)

Radio – Badgers Radio Network (Matt Lepay and Brian Butch), Sirius 106 or 195, stream online on iHeartRadio.

Series – Wisconsin leads 125-67 (Wisconsin leads 10-3 in neutral sites)

Last Meeting - Wisconsin won, 75-69, on February 1, 2025, in Evanston, Ill.

Follow Online: The Badgers' Den

Twitter: @Badger_Blitz

Betting line: Wisconsin – 7.5

Player to Watch: Surging late in the season, Blackwell is averaging 21.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg over the last four games, scoring 15+ in each.

Player to watch: In Northwestern's 72-64 victory over Minnesota in Wednesday's opening round of the Big Ten Tournament, Martinelli netted a game-high 28 points — without the benefit of a 3-point basket — and extended his streak of double-figure games to 25 games, the longest streak at NU since 2000.

Wisconsin has won the last three meetings with Northwestern and 25 of the last 32 dating back to 2007.

The Badgers are 3-0 against the Wildcats in the Big Ten Tournament, including a 70-61 victory against the Wildcats last season in Minneapolis.

Under head coach Greg Gard, Wisconsin owns an 11-5 record against the Wildcats, including the Badgers' road win last month. In that game, Tonje scored 27 points, and reserve Carter Gilmore added a career-high 15 (three 3FGs)

Northwestern has reached 70 points just once in its last 49 meetings with Wisconsin (UW's 82-76 win at NU in 2022). That stretch of defensive efforts dates back to 1997.

Wisconsin is 29-23 (.558) overall in 26 Big Ten Tournament appearances, claiming titles in 2004, 2008 and 2015. The Badgers have advanced to the tournament finals an additional five times, including last season. (2005, 2007, 2013, 2017 and 2024).

The Badgers are 8-9 all-time in Big Ten tournament games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, winning the 2004 and 2008 titles in the building.

Wisconsin’s three tournament titles trail only Michigan State (6), Ohio State (4), and Illinois (4). The Badgers’ eight championship game appearances trails only Ohio State’s nine trips to the finals.

Wisconsin is 8-8 in the Big Ten tournament under Greg Gard, making four semifinal appearances and reaching the title game in 2017 and 2024.

The Badgers have earned a 5 seed or better in 20 of the 27 all-time Big Ten Tournaments.

Over the last four seasons from 2021-25, Northwestern has won 38 Big Ten games, equaling the stretch from 1930-34 (38) as the most of a four-season period in school history.

The Wildcats forced an average of 13.5 turnovers per game during the regular season, which ranked fourth in the conference. The Wildcats ranked fifth in the Big Ten in steals, averaging 7.1 per game. NU has averaged over 7+ steals per game in each of the last three seasons (first time since 2006-09)

Martinelli, named Second Team All-Big Ten, was the Big Ten's regular season leading scorer, averaging 20.2 points per game, which ranks 13th nationally. He leads all high-major players playing 37.5 minutes per game, the most by a high-major player since Buddy Boeheim (Syracuse, 2021-22) played 38.0 minutes per game. Martinelli's 20.2 points per game are the most by a Northwestern player since Evan Eschmeyer averaged 21.7 in the 1997-98 season.

Martinelli ranks second in the country in scoring by high-major forwards, trailing only the nation's scoring leader Eric Dixon (23.6, Villanova). Martinelli leads the Big Ten with 28 games of 15+ points and has scored 15+ points in 16 straight contests, the longest by a Northwestern player since at least 1996.

Over the final seven games of the regular season, Berry averaged 15.7 points and 4.4 rebounds per game on 49.3 percent shooting from the field and 42.6 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

It is what it is for John Blackwell.

Expecting to get some form of recognition from the Big Ten during its postseason honors show Tuesday, Blackwell was relegated to honorable mention status despite ranking second on the Badgers in points and third in assists and rebounds in his first season as a starter.

He's been even better in Big Ten play (16.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg and 2.0 apg) and been the key offensive figure over the final four games of the season when he averaged 21 points and eight rebounds. That still wasn't enough in the eyes of the league's coaches and media voters to put him higher on the list.

"All I can do is go out there and play. I can't vote for myself or can't encourage someone to vote," Blackwell said. "It's just fuel to the fire … I'm fine with it. I'm just going to keep working and getting better. I've been underrated and doubted my whole life, so it's nothing new."

Blackwell has been disappointed by Big Ten awards before. Last year, he became the ninth player in program history to make the Big Ten All-Freshman Team, but he felt he should have been the conference's freshman of the year. That award was shared between Indiana's Mackenzie Mgbako and Iowa's Owen Freeman.

If it's any consolation, Blackwell's numbers were superior to both players this past season.

"We had a point guard who left last year that was ball-dominant for us and ran most of the show for us," Klesmit said, referring to Chucky Hepburn, who earned first-team ACC honors and was the league's defensive player of the year. "That was big shoes for JB to fill. I think he did everything and then some.

"I think he impacts winning at a right high level, too. It goes beyond the stat sheet … We know what it is down in the locker room."

The problem Blackwell and many other talented guards face is that the league has expanded by four teams, and the number of spots on the first, second, and third teams have mostly stayed the same (seven players made the cut for the third team this season).

But Blackwell finished at 15.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game, shooting 45.6 percent from the field. Of the guards on the third team, Illinois' Kasparas Jakucionis, Maryland's Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Oregon's Jackson Shelsted, and Michigan State's Jaden Atkins and Jase Richardson, only Jakucionis surpassed Blackwell in multiple categories.

The only thing working against Blackwell is three of those players - Atkins, Gillespie, and Richardson - were on teams that finished higher than the Badgers in the regular season.

"When I am casting my vote, winning is important to me," Gard said. "Who impacts winning and how has their team done? There were so many people on the list, especially the all-conference list. You name it, they were on it in terms of nominations. It is what it is.

"I think for all these guys, they understand they want to be the team of the year, and we're not. We're not right now. We have a chance over the next four days to chase another championship."

Wisconsin hopes to catch fire for the second straight season as a No.5 seed. Last year, the Badgers went in slumping to the conference tournament, having lost eight of 11 and put together four solid offensive games on the way to the title game. A year later, the Badgers have lost three of five and are looking to regain their grit after Saturday's ugly home loss to Penn State.

The good news is both Klesmit and Winter are expected to be healthy and ready for the Wildcats, who scored 32 points in the paint and went 21-for-35 (60.0 percent) on twos. Martinelli has elevated his game since UW last saw him to compensate for Brooks Barnhizer's injury absence, and the pieces around him have picked up some of the scoring. However, putting up gaudy scoring numbers isn't in the cards for the Wildcats, who haven't surpassed 75 points since Barnhizer's injury.

A rested Wisconsin that is back to full strength should be able to win on Thursday, as long as they don't let Martinelli get comfortable and have an explosive day offensively.

Worgull’s Prediction: Wisconsin by 13

Record: 24-7 (23-8 ATS)

Points off Prediction: 261 (8.4 per game)

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