Feb. 27, 2011
Site: Madison, Wis. (Kohl Center)
Score: #12 Wisconsin 78, Northwestern 63
Records: NU (16-12, 6-11 Big Ten), Wisconsin (22-6, 12-4)
Next NU Event: Wednesday, March 2 -- vs. Minnesota (Welsh-Ryan Arena), 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: Available at NUsports.com or by calling 888-GO-PURPLE
MADISON, Wis. -- Michael Thompson scored 19 points and Davide Curletti added a career-high 18 off the bench, but Northwestern's second-half rally came up short at No. 12 Wisconsin 78-63 Sunday evening.
John Shurna added 14 points, while Drew Crawford contributed all 12 of his points in the second half.
Wisconsin surged out to an early advantage, scoring the game's first nine points. Five early points by Shurna got the Wildcats within 13-7 before the Badgers scored seven in a row to go up by 13.
NU was red-hot from beyond the arc in the opening stanza, connecting seven of its nine 3-point attempts. Thompson's second of three first-half triples cut Wisconsin's lead to 26-19 with just over seven minutes remaining in the period.
Northwestern got a big boost from Curletti over the opening 20 minutes of play as he connected on four of five field goal attempts and scored 10 points prior to the intermission.
Wisconsin would expand its lead to 51-35 four minutes into the second half as Jon Leuer scored the Badgers' first eight points. However, Thompson scored eight points during a 12-3 Northwestern run to get the Wildcats within 54-47 with 12:25 remaining.
A three-point play by Leuer pushed the hosts' lead back up to 10, but a layup by Curletti and a 3-pointer by Crawford made it a five-point game with nine minutes left. After a Leuer free throw, Shurna drilled his fourth triple of the game to get NU within three.
The deficit was five when Crawford got an open look at a transition 3-point try, but he couldn't connect. Jordan Taylor was able to hit from deep on the other end to put Wisconsin up by eight with 5:35 remaining.
Thompson hit two from the charity stripe to get Northwestern back within six, but Keaton Nankivil converted an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 66-57 with 4:46 to go and the Wildcats weren't able to get closer than seven the rest of the way.
NU connected on 11 of 21 3-point attempts in the contest with Thompson making five and Shurna knocking down four. Both teams came into the game among the nation's leaders in fewest turnovers per game and assist-to-turnover ratio and each squad finished the contest with 12 assists and just six turnovers.
Northwestern returns to action at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday as it closes out its regular season at home against Minnesota on Senior Night. Tickets are available at NUsports.com or by calling 888-GO-PURPLE.
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! and subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!