Rapid Reaction: Wisconsin sends Northwestern packing from Big Ten Tournament for second straight year with 70-63 victory

Northwestern comes up short in Indianapolis.

In what could be the final game of a hard-fought Northwestern season marked by adversity, Wisconsin flexed its defensive chops en route to a second-round victory in the Big Ten Tournament.

Northwestern (17-16, 7-13 B1G) and Wisconsin (24-8, 13-7 B1G) both attempted over 20 free throws in a game featuring 37 total fouls. The ‘Cats struggled offensively when they weren’t being fouled, scoring just 45 points. NU shot just 20-of-54 from the field and 25% from three-point range. Wisconsin also forced 14 turnovers, uncharacteristic for a Northwestern team that turns it over at the lowest rate in the Big Ten.

Nobody outside of Nick Martinelli found much success for Northwestern. The Wildcats’ outside shooting was contained and their interior game was stymied for large stretches of both halves. On the other end, the ‘Cats played strong defense when they weren’t fouling but allowed nine offensive rebounds and 17 second-chance points, often coming at inopportune moments.

John Tonje and Nolan Winter led the way for the Badgers with 18 apiece. Tonje added seven rebounds while Winter grabbed six of his own, and each swiped two steals. For the Wildcats, Martinelli finished with 22 on 50% shooting while passing Pete Nance on the Wildcats’ all-time scoring leaderboard. K.J. Windham finished with 14 points and five assists, mostly coming in the second half.

Nicholson won the tip for the second consecutive contest to get underway. The first possession featured some beautiful ball movement and resulted in a Justin Mullins corner three to give the ‘Cats the first lead. Steven Crowl countered with a three of his own on Wisconsin’s first touch. Jordan Clayton continued his fabulous play in the Big Ten Tournament with a steal and a layup and then a step back three to make the score 8-3. After a few buckets, the score was 10-7 Northwestern at the first media break.

Coming out of the timeout, Martinelli switched out of his ripped No. 2 jersey and wore No. 66. Berry cut to the cup for the first bucket out of the media timeout, but Windham fouled Max Klesmit shooting a three on the other end. Klesmit went 2-of-3 from the stripe and the ‘Cats lead remained three. Neither team could buy a bucket from there, with a game-wide scoring drought lasting over two-and-a-half minutes before a Martinelli flip shot gave the ‘Cats a five-point lead heading into the media timeout. At the stoppage, the Badgers had missed their previous six shots and had not scored in nearly three minutes.

Crowl sank two free throws to resume play and trim the lead to three once again. A Northwestern shot clock violation allowed John Blackwell to tie the game with a wing three. On the very next possession, Berry earned himself three more points at the line, but Clayton fouled Blackwell, who tied the ballgame via the old-fashioned three-point play. A Kamari McGee three gave Wisconsin its first lead of the afternoon and caused Chris Collins to use a timeout. Both teams scored points on second-chance opportunities and Wisconsin hit the under-8 timeout with a 24-19 advantage.

A Martinelli layup and a split at the free throw line on the following possession cut the Wisconsin lead to one at 25-24. Windham got onto the scoreboard with two at the charity stripe before Tonje scored at last with a thunderous dunk. Martinelli got deep post position and laid the ball up and in for the Northwestern single season scoring record, surpassing John Shurna’s 661 points in 2011-12 and keeping the Badger lead at a single point at the final media break of the first half.

A Windham step-back jumper preceded two Winter free throws and a layup for the center as the ‘Cats and Badgers continued to go back and forth. After a couple of turnovers and missed shots, a difficult Tonje turnaround two sent the Badgers to the locker room up seven.

Winter led the way for Wisconsin with 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting and a perfect 4-of-4 at the line. Martinelli paced the Wildcats with nine points and six rebounds. The teams hit the break with identical shooting splits, but six extra Wisconsin free throws accounted for the difference on the scoreboard.

Martinelli drew a foul on the first possession out of halftime and became the first Wildcat into double figures at the line. On the defensive end, Clayton picked up his third foul just 38 seconds into the half and Klesmit floated one in later in the possession. Mullins also picked up his third foul and Blackwell extended the lead to nine with a layup. A Martinelli flagrant foul brought the teams together for a quick tussle under the Wisconsin hoop at the under-16 timeout with the Badgers leading 43-34.

The ‘Cats picked up their fourth foul in five second-half minutes on the ensuing possession but came away down just 10 despite a wide-open John Tonje three-point attempt. A Ciaravino bump gave Northwestern four different players with three fouls and over 14 minutes to play. However, a second consecutive Wisconsin turnover kept the ‘Cats within 10. Martinelli finally ended a Wildcat scoring drought of over three minutes with a successful trip to the free-throw line. Yet another whistle meant yet another Northwestern foul, this time Martinelli’s third. Mullins was called for his fourth foul at the 12:23 mark and the ‘Cats were in serious foul trouble at the under-12 timeout, down 50-38.

Clayton canned his second triple of the contest out of the timeout to give the ‘Cats a much-needed spark. Klesmit repaid the favor with a sweet crossover into a stepback triple after a few minutes of quiet basketball. McGee followed up a Berry miss with a three of his own and Wisconsin stretched their lead to 14, the largest of the game. Out of the timeout, Crowl delivered a nasty rejection on a Berry layup but was called for a taunting technical that gave Berry two points and kept possession with the ‘Cats. However, Berry turned it over and Tonje hit a step back three the next time down the floor to push the lead to 15 at the under-8 timeout.

A gorgeous feed from Tonje to Crowl resulted in an easy deuce but a saucy Windham pull-up jumper got the points right back. Martinelli hit another floater to get to 20 points (again) but the ‘Cats still trailed by 17 after a vicious Tonje slam. Martinelli finally converted a layup while being fouled, making the score 68-56 at the under-4 timeout with 2:47 on the clock.

A Justin Mullins transition layup cut the lead back down to 10 but a John Tonje second-chance bucket was the dagger. Jordan Clayton hit two free throws to reach the 10-point plateau for the second consecutive game. Ty Berry checked back in with 46 seconds remaining for possibly the final moments of his collegiate career, with Keenan Fitzmorris doing the same seconds later as Berry and Nicholson received standing ovations for their time in a Wildcat uniform. The final whistle blew with a score of 70-63 as Wisconsin advanced to take on No. 4 UCLA on Friday.

Unless Northwestern accepts an invitation to a postseason tournament, the loss marks the end of the 2024-25 season for the Wildcats — a year filled with injuries and heartbreak but also star-making performances and unparalleled resilience.