Recap: Wisconsin 60 Northwestern 50

Wisconsin (14-3, 4-1 Big Ten) won a battle of wills against Northwestern (12-4, 1-3) down the stretch of last night's game at the Welsh. During a pivotal second half stretch NU failed to capitalize on Wisconsin's cold shooting and stretch a narrow lead. UW's stout defense played a part in that, but even Bo Ryan can't impose his indomitable will when opponents reach the charity stripe. And NU inexplicably failed on several occasions to knock down the freebies that would have netted NU some valuable breathing room. NU made 9-16 FTs which really, really hurt NU's chances at victory.

As predicted this was a slow paced brute of a game -- right up Wisconsin's alley -- that was close until the final two minutes. Northwestern's Jeremy Nash and Luka Mirkovic pace NU early as Wisconsin deployed their defensive forces along the perimeter and in John Shurna's general direction. Jason Bohannon stepped it up for Wisconsin to help keep the Badgers in the game and send the teams knotted at 27 points a piece at halftime.

The second half was a slug fest with neither team able to escape suffocating defenses for any appreciably length of time. Down the stretch Wisconsin was close the gap and then build an insurmountable lead (for this type of game) thanks to the efforts of Trevon "Phoenix" Hughes. Hughes had been held in check for the first three quarters of the game but ignited down the final five minute stretch. Despite scoring one point in the first 33 minutes he finished the game with 16 points including three consecutive bombs that were the collective kill shot.

Neither team substituted much in this game as it seemed neither coach trusted their bench in a game where every possession mattered greatly. There is much consternation about this in Wildcatland but Buckyville doesn't seem nearly as concerned about it. That just goes to prove once again that winning is a great salve.

There is no rest for the weary. Next up for the Wildcats on Saturday are the #6 Purdue Boilermakers who visit the Welsh. Purdue comes to town riding a two game losing streak including a home loss at the hands of Evan Turner and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Expect the Boilers to play with a great sense of urgency since Michigan State has raced out of the gates once again to a 4-0 conference start.

Countdown to Wisconsin @ Northwestern

#13 Bucky (3-1) visits the Welsh tonight to take on a resilient Willy (1-2) squad. Last year the two teams split the season series as both squads defended the home court. The game at the Welsh was close, but Craig Moore's dead eye from distance made the difference.

Bucky has exceeded all expectations so far this season. Their marquee game was a home win over the Dukies as part of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge (hey! no quotes anymore since the Big Ten finally won it this year). Wisconsin has gone back to basics with solid fundamental basketball on both ends of the court and crashing the boards hard. Super guard Trevon Hughes gets most of the pub, but the key to Wisconsin's season has been the emergence of Jon Leuer. He poses a big matchup problem when on offense as he is 6'10" and can knock it down from distance at a 35% clip.

NU finally appears to have caught a break as Leuer will be out for the game due to surgery on his non-shooting hand. This will be Bucky's first game without Leuer, and his absence will require some adjustments that should alter Bucky's chemistry.

What to expect? A low scoring game with tough defense is almost an absolute certainty. Aside from that it is nearly impossible to say who will step up for NU on offense since we don't have access to Bo Ryan's defensive game plan. Will they focus on stopping Shurna? Crawford? Thompson? We are tempted to say that Marcotullio will have a break out game since 1) it's been some time since he's had one and will most likely want to make up for his worst game of the year on Sunday in Ann Arbor, and 2) he is filling Craig Moore's role this year -- and Moore lit it up in last year's tilt.