Rapid Reaction: Northwestern suffers deflating 85-73 loss in Big Ten opener

Big Ten play is finally upon us, and Northwestern (5-3, 0-1 Big Ten) had some wrongs to right in its conference opener on Wednesday night.

So did their opponents in the Wisconsin Badgers (6-2, 1-0 Big Ten).

With both squads coming off setbacks over the holiday weekend — the former falling to Oklahoma State, and the ladder getting upset by TCU — offense was on the agenda for the Wildcats, the fourth-best shooting team in the conference heading into the matchup, as well as the Badgers, whose production has been up and down in the early goings of the season.

It was mission accomplished for the Badgers, claiming a resounding 85-73 victory inside the Kohl Center on Wednesday night, handing the ‘Cats their third loss in the past four games. Wednesday night seemed like the continuation of a bad stretch of basketball for NU, as its flaws were exposed by a solid squad that kept its foot on the Wildcats’ necks the entire way.

Much of the story was told through the turnover battle, which Wisconsin won 12-7 on the night. The Badgers’ ball handling was perfect through the first half, not turning the ball over once, while forcing the ‘Cats to cough up the rock seven times.

John Blackwell had a career night on home turf, scoring 23 of his game-high 26 points in the first half. Nick Boyd (20 points) and Nolan Winter (12) also finished with double-digit scores for Wisconsin.

Page led NU in scoring for the first time since the ‘Cats season opener against Mercyhurst, ending the night with 21 and six rebounds. Nick Martinelli failed to reach 15-plus for the second time this season, falling one point short. Tre Singleton led the ‘Cats in rebounding with a season-high of 10.

After Wisconsin won the tip but missed on its opening possession, Jayden Reid’s pull-up jumper from the free-throw line off a double screen got the ‘Cats on the board first.

Aleksas Bieliauskas responded for Wisconsin the very next possession, though, showing off his stretch four ability with a three ball from the left wing.

Arrinten Page continued the hot start by tucking away an alley-oop layup, working off a pass from Angelo Ciaravino. Bieliauskas threw it down on the other end for Wisconsin before Tre Singleton took it to the rim for a layup through contact. John Blackwell found himself with an easy two of his own, being left wide-open by the Northwestern defense as he cut through the middle of the paint.

A lob from Nick Boyd found Nolan Winter for another Badgers dunk, as the home team took a 9-6 lead into the first media timeout. Both teams shot an even 50% through the first four minutes.

Out the timeout, the Badgers immediately exploited the ‘Cats biggest weakness: defensive rebounding. Nolan gave Wisconsin a second-chance opportunity, and Austin Rapp made good of it by nailing a three.

Boyd and Blackwell went a combined 4-of-4 from the line to push the lead out to 10. Singleton drove for another layup for NU, but Jack Janicki canned another Wisconsin three from the corner before Winter tacked on two more from the charity stripe to cap off a 16-2 UW run. Nick Martinelli’s two free throws ended a two-minute NU scoring drought, and he followed up soon after with his trademark left-handed floater.

Not long after, though, Blackwell found a hot hand. He turned two Wildcat turnovers into six Wisconsin points, forcing Chris Collins to burn a timeout. The Badgers 15-point lead was their largest of the game up to that point, with nearly half of their points coming from beyond the arc.

Blackwell’s third three of the contest, sandwiched between four Northwestern free throws, pushed him over 1,000 career points while making the Badgers’ score double that of the ‘Cats.

A Bieliauskas three point play, yet another Blackwell triple, and a Janicki runner put Northwestern in a 23-point hole all of a sudden, down 38-15 with six minutes and change left in the first half. Reid sunk a three in an attempt to start a ‘Cats comeback effort, but Blackwell matched the shot right back, getting roars from the crowd.

Page and Rapp traded buckets before a quick break at the 3:26 mark. Blackwell added another two to bring his first-half total to 21, just one point less than the Wildcats’ team total at that point.

Martinelli logged four points immediately out of the break, but Rapp erased most of his good-doings with Wisconsin’s ninth three of the half. K.J Windham would find three points of his own following a pair of Andrew Rohde foul line shots, but Blackwell continued to torch the ‘Cats with a stone-cold jumper with a hand in his face. Jake West added a second consecutive Northwestern three right before halftime.

The buzzer sounded with Wisconsin dominating, up 55-32 — the most the ‘Cats had given up in a half since the last time both teams faced off in regular season Big Ten play a season ago.

Martinelli led NU with nine points on 2-of-5 shooting, but found himself quite limited in space for much of the first half, with the Badgers clogging the ‘Cats passing lanes and forcing seven turnovers. Page also added six points on 50% shooting. For Wisconsin, Blackwell’s 23 led the way, but 10 from Rapp also helped a scoring onslaught.

The one silver lining for NU was the rebounding — although they fell behind in that department as well, the 18-15 margin was much smaller than what’s been seen in games past.

Nick Martinelli’s gave ‘Cats faithful quite the scare at the start of the second half. The senior went down just 90 seconds in, clutching his thigh mid-court. He was tended to by trainer Jeff Tanaka and seen jogging in the tunnel, and returned just two minutes after coming out.

Winter, Ciaravino and Boyd all each got to the rack for scores at the start of the half. Rhode sunk two free throws to join Blackwell in the Wisconsin 1,000 point club.

Following free throws for both NU and Wisconsin, Reid found the net on a pull-up jumper before dropping a dime to Page. Boyd’s and-one brought Wisconsin to the infamous score of 67 to Northwestern’s 43.

Page was responsible for the next four points of the contest, but Blackwell put in his first and only points of the second half, muscling through contact for an and-one layup.

Following two Tyler Kropp free throws, Jordan Clayton chipped in five consecutive points for NU. However, the ‘Cats continued to struggle in creating a dent in Wisconsin’s lead, still down 74-56 after a Nolan Winter charity stripe shot.

Page continued to rev the Wildcats’ engine, that same engine seemed to give out as Boyd took Northwestern’s ninth turnover right to the rim, up and over Page for the bucket. Boyd would bank another layup a minute later before Page responded on the post, and then again at the line.

Rapp found a three to drop to push the Badgers lead back to 20 with 5:43 to go. Clayton wiped it off the board with a three-point play.

The final four minutes were dominated by Page, Martinelli and Boyd, who both contributed four to the score. Kropp’s floater settled at the bottom of the net to finish things out, giving the Northwestern the final word in a 85-73 loss.

Next up for the ‘Cats is the official open of Big Ten play inside Welsh-Ryan Arena, where they’ll host Ohio State on Dec. 6 at 1 p.m. CT.