STAT PACK: Tyler Wahl, No.10 Wisconsin Run Past Northwestern, 68-52
MADISON, Wis. – It appears head coach Greg Gard’s lineup shift may have given the extra pop Wisconsin has been missing.
In the starting lineup for the second straight game, sophomore Tyler Wahl delivered with a career-high 14 points and six rebounds to lead No.10 Wisconsin to a 68-52 victory over Northwestern Wednesday.
Micah Potter (14 points), D’Mitrik Trice (12) and Brad Davison (11) also reached double figures for the Badgers (12-3, 6-2 Big Ten), which found a surge offensively in the middle part of the second half to beat Northwestern (6-7, 3-6) for the 20th time in the last 25 meetings.
We take a closer look at the game in the BadgerBlitz.com StatPack.
- Wisconsin shot 43.6 percent from the floor, 10-for-27 from 3-point range and went 10-for-11 from the line. Northwestern finished at 41.2 percent (21-for-51) but shot just 27.3 percent (6-for-22) after halftime.
- Freshman Jonathan Davis shook off a 3-for-19 stretch to scored eight points, grab six rebounds, dish out two assists, block a shot and added a steal.
- Wisconsin put forth its effort to establish a post presence from the opening tip. Potter touched the post and scored inside on UW’s first two possessions, flexing his right bicep following the second make. He scored UW’s first seven points, as the Badgers led 10-6 at the first media timeout. UW finished with 22 points in the paint.
- Six different Badgers scored in the first 12 minutes, including at least five points from four of them. Davis led that bunch with eight points, scoring six in succession with a pair of impressive individual drives to the rim and another finishing off a pass from Davison with a one-handed slam.
- On Wisconsin’s first 20 possessions, the Badgers went 7-for-11 on two-point shots (63.6 percent) and scored 10 points in the paint.
- Wisconsin built a lead as big as 10 in the first half, but an 8-2 Northwestern scoring run cut the lead to 36-32 with 3:50 remaining in the first half. Chase Audige had six of those points on a pair of 3-pointers. His 16 points led all scorers.
- Even though UW only scored seven points on its final 10 possessions, the Badgers averaged 1.323 points per possession, shot 53.8 percent from the floor and led 41-34 at the break.
- After Wahl muscled his way into the paint for a three-point play to start the second half, the Badgers went cold. UW missed nine straight shots over a 5 minute, 21 second stretch. The Badgers were better defensively, however, as the Wildcats went 2-for-5 from the floor with two turnovers.
- The game turned when Davis out hustled a lackadaisical Robbie Beran going for a rebound. That led to a kickout to Wahl, who buried the open 3-pointer. On the next possession, Trevor Anderson muscled his way to the rim to convert a layup. After a NU timeout, Wahl’s bounce pass through traffic found Anderson at the rim off a give-and-go to tie UW’s biggest lead at 12.
- After scoring three points on its first seven possessions, Wisconsin had 12 points on its next six possessions while holding the Wildcats scoreless for 5:52. By the time the Wildcats finally scratched back into the scoring column, the Badgers had built a 17-point lead.
- NU cut the lead to 11 and started to employ full-court pressure, but Trice hit a 3-pointer from the elbow that proved deflating with it sparking a 10-0 run to put the hosts up 21. Trice has now scored in double figures in seven straight games, tying the longest stretch of his career.
- Wisconsin marked the seventh straight game for Northwestern against a ranked opponent, a program record. The Wildcats beat No.23 Ohio State to start the streak but then lost the next six games.
- The Badgers remain home and will take on No.15 Ohio State Saturday. Tip time is at 3 p.m. CT.