There was an eerie feeling in the Kohl Center Wednesday night as the Badgers attempted to begin a new streak. After having the longest current home winning streak in the nation broken last week by No. 1 Illinois, the Wisconsin men's basketball team was out to prove that coming to Madison was as intimidating as ever. The visiting Northwestern Wildcats know something about losing their last home game-coming off a complete meltdown-that ended the game with a 22-1 run in Ohio State's favor.
\I think they have to realize now that they are vulnerable at home,"" NU coach Bill Carmody said before the game.
The Badgers did not agree, however, winning the opening tip and promptly going 5-5 from the field, including a 3-pointer by senior guard Clayton Hanson and a tough drive by senior guard Sharif Chambliss resulting in a left-handed finger-roll. The Badgers used this run to open up an 11-2 lead and never looked back on their way to a 73-58 victory.
The No. 19 Badgers improved to 15-4 overall and 6-2 in the Big Ten, while Northwestern fell to 9-11 overall and 2-6 in Big Ten play.
Although under-sized against NU junior Vedran Vukusic, the 6'8' forward from Croatia, Hanson shut down the Wildcat's leading scorer, holding him to only nine points. The rest of the Badger squad played phenomenal defense, intercepting several entry passes and not allowing any open looks at the basket. The Badgers had five steals and only four fouls as they closed out their stifling first-half defense allowing only 26 points while scoring 42.
One may have confused the Kohl Center for an outdoor court Wednesday, as it was raining 3-point shots all night. Sophomore guard Kammron Taylor and Hanson both went three of six from downtown, and even freshman center Brian Butch got in the act, hitting two long-distance shots within one minute during the first half.
Junior guard T.J. Parker led a futile effort at a NU comeback late in the second half, but it was immediately crushed with several drives from Chambliss and senior forward Zach Morley.
The Wildcats could not stop the Badgers with any consistency and any points they scored came from what seemed like broken plays rather than an offensive set. The Badgers out-hustled NU and were quick to get every loose ball. Northwestern had absolutely no go-to guy for points, while the Badgers had an arsenal of scoring machines. Though the Badgers were without their leading scorer, sophomore forward Alando Tucker, the slack was picked up effectively. By the end of the game there were five Badgers in double digits and Taylor led all scorers with 18 points.
The Wildcats made it a very physical game underneath the basket, but Wisconsin's big men did not back down and won the battle in the trenches, taking away NU's game. Toughness was also demonstrated by the guards wearing cardinal and white as they drove to the hoop during the second half once NU stepped up to prevent the 3-point shot.
""Everyone can contribute on this team and that's what we need,"" senior forward Mike Wilkinson said.
As long as the Badgers bring their defense to accompany their recent surge of offense, there is no telling how far this team can go.
Minnesota sure does not want to find out the hard way though, as they host the Badgers in Williams Arena this Saturday at 11 am.
