MADISON, Wis. -- Northwestern held No. 5/4 Wisconsin to its second-lowest field goal percentage of the season but an early deficit was too much to overcome as the Wildcats fell 65-50 Saturday afternoon at Kohl Center.
Alex Olah led Northwestern with 15 points while Bryant McIntosh added 13. The 'Cats limited the Badgers to 38.9 percent shooting, an effort that was only behind a 32.7 percent performance in a win at Marquette Dec. 6.
Coming off a 92-point performance against Indiana on Tuesday, the Badgers started off right where they left off as they connected on 4 of their first 6 field goal attempts in jumping out to a 9-2 lead by the first media timeout.
The advantage eventually grew to 16-2 as Northwestern started a frigid 1-for-10 from the field.
The deficit was 25-8 with seven minutes left in the half when the Wildcats finally started to heat up. A layup by Olah, a transition 3-pointer by Vic Law and a consecutive buckets by McIntosh accounted for a nine-point NU run and the visitors closed to within 25-17.
After starting 8 for 12 from the field, Wisconsin connected on only one of its next 12 attempts as the Wildcats got back into the game. However, the hosts closed the half on a 12-4 run to take a 37-21 lead into the intermission.
Northwestern shot 32.1 percent (9-28) from the field over the opening 20 of play to 41.4 percent (12-29) for Wisconsin. The Badgers connected on 9 of 10 free throw attempts in half compared to 2-for-2 for the 'Cats.
Wisconsin pushed its lead to 22 early in the second half, but the Wildcats refused to go quietly. A seven-point run behind five points from McIntosh and two free throws by Jeremiah Kreisberg pulled Northwestern within 47-33 midway through the stanza.
Consecutive triples by the Badgers pushed the lead back up to 20, but the Wildcats continued to chip away as Tre Demps' 3-pointer made it 61-50 with a minute to go, but Wisconsin's cushion was enough to allow it to hold on an maintain its first-place lead in the Big Ten.
Sam Dekker and Bronson Koenig paced the Badgers with 16 points apiece.
Northwestern returns to action at 6 p.m. Tuesday when it hosts Michigan State at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tickets are available at NUsports.com or by calling 888-GO-PURPLE.
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