Cats’ run comes to abrupt end
WASHINGTON — Going against Wisconsin’s defense is a challenge under almost any circumstance. When the opposition is playing its third game in three days, it’s a mismatch.
And so it was Saturday, when the No. 24 Badgers harassed and hounded weary Northwestern in a 76- 48 victory that thrust them into the championship game of the Big Ten tournament for the third time in the last five years.
Nigel Hayes scored 18 points and Ethan Happ 16 for secondseeded Wisconsin. The Badgers never trailed en route to their third consecutive victory after a run of five losses in a six- game stretch.
Wisconsin ( 25- 8) will vie for its fourth Big Ten title Sunday against eighth- seeded Michigan, which will be playing its fourth game in four days. It will be the seventh appearance in the championship game for the Badgers, trailing only the eight by Ohio State.
The sixth- seeded Wildcats ( 23- 11) were playing for the second time in less than 24 hours, and it showed. Coming off victories Thursday against Rutgers and Friday against Maryland, NU missed 20 of its 27 shots in the first half, had only one assist and trailed 38- 21.
The Wildcats’ poor shooting could be attributed in part to Wisconsin’s defense, which allowed a Big Ten- low 61.5 points per game during the regular season. It was the 18th time in 33 games the Badgers yielded 60 points or fewer.
‘‘ This team takes pride in what they do defensively and how consistent and good they can be,’’ Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said.
Scottie Lindsey scored 16 points for NU, which shot 18- for- 52 ( 35 percent) from the field, was outrebounded 37- 27 and didn’t get its second assist until eight minutes into the second half.
‘‘ They guarded us pretty well,’’ said Wildcats guard Bryant McIntosh, who shot 4- for- 12 and finished with eight points. ‘‘ They took a lot of our stuff away, pushed us out on the floor.’’
NU brought no momentum from its victory against Maryland into the game, missing its first seven shots and falling behind 15- 3 after seven minutes.
It was 19- 13 before the Badgers’ Zak Showalter popped two three- pointers to start a 15- 6 spurt that widened the gap to 15 points.
After what the Wildcats already had gone through this week, they simply didn’t have the strength to make a comeback.
‘‘ It’s about energy; it’s about effort,’’ McIntosh said. ‘‘ We didn’t have enough of either. Didn’t even deserve to be on the floor with them at some points.’’
The second half was much like the first. After NU closed to 48- 33, D’Mitrik Trice and Vitto Brown each made two three- pointers in a 16- 4 run that gave Wisconsin a 64- 37 lead with 7: 44 left.
A complete performance like this would seem to indicate that the Badgers are peaking at just the right time.
‘‘ We finally came together both offensively and defensively, and we’re playing better team defense as a whole,’’ Wisconsin guard Bronson Koenig said.