Nolan Winter, John Tonje lead No. 18 Wisconsin over Northwestern
Nolan Winter and John Tonje each scored 18 points to lead No. 18 Wisconsin to a 70-63 victory over Northwestern in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday.
The Badgers (24-8), seeded fifth, will face No. 4 seed UCLA in Friday's quarterfinals.
Winter hit 4 of 5 shots and 9 of 10 free throws.
Nick Martinelli led the No. 13 seed Wildcats (17-16) with 22 points. Jordan Clayton added 10 points.
Leading by eight points, Wisconsin's Max Klesmit hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to 53-42. Kamari McGee followed that with a 3-pointer to push the lead to 56-42 with 8:58 remaining. Two more 3-pointers by Tonje gave the Badgers a 62-46 edge.
The Badgers shot 41.5% from the field while holding the Wildcats to 37%.
Free throws were nearly even with the Wildcats making 18 of 22 while the Badgers were 18 of 23.
Wisconsin held a 37-30 lead at halftime.
Takeaways
Northwestern: Trailing by as many as 18 points in the second half, the Wildcats kept fighting down the stretch to narrow the final deficit. The Wildcats closed the game with a 12-2 run.
Wisconsin: The Badgers shot better in the second half and committed only 10 turnovers. Wisconsin had a 17-5 edge in points off turnovers.
Key moment
Leading 50-42, Klesmit's 3-pointer started a 14-4 run that increased the lead to 64-46.
Key stat
After going 3 of 12 from 3-point range in the first half, Wisconsin sank 5 of 13 3-pointers in the second half, including four in a row in a key stretch.
Up next
Northwestern coach Chris Collins said his team is too beat up physically and decided as a team not to accept an NIT or College Basketball Crown bid.
