NCAA News Wire
Northwestern 65, Wisconsin 56
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
MADISON, Wis. — Forward Drew Crawford led Northwestern with 30 points as the Wildcats upset No. 14 Wisconsin 65-56 Wednesday night in a Big Ten game at the Kohl Center.
Crawford hit three 3-pointers and went 10-for-15 from the field, pacing a Northwestern offense that shot 48 percent for the game. The senior also had eight rebounds and three assists.
Guards Tre Demps and JerShon Cobb each had 10 points for Northwestern, which snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Badgers and won at the Kohl Center for the first time since the facility opened in 1999.
The Wildcats (11-11, 4-5 Big Ten) sank six 3-pointers in the second half.
Northwestern was down by one at halftime, but Crawford’s 3-pointer with 11:41 remaining tied the game at 34. The basket kicked off a 14-4 run for the Wildcats, who hit three more from long range and went ahead 44-37 on Crawford’s jumper with 8:22 remaining.
The Badgers’ only points during that stretch came on a free throw from forward Nigel Hayes and two by guard John Gasser. Wisconsin missed five shots from the field during that sequence — three of them from beyond the arc.
A late surge saw the Badgers get within six during the final minute, but Northwestern made three of four free throws in the final 30 seconds to close it out.
Guard Ben Brust scored 21 points and forward Sam Dekker added 11 for Wisconsin, which shot a season-low 26.3 percent from the field.
The Badgers (17-4, 4-4) lost for the fourth time in five games after starting the season 16-0.
Wisconsin’s bench was especially quiet, failing to score until Hayes sank a layup with 15:01 left in the game.
The high-scoring offense that Wisconsin has displayed most of the season was nowhere to be found out of the gate as the Badgers missed seven of 10 3-pointers and shot 26 percent from the field.
Still, Wisconsin led, 23-22, at the break despite letting Northwestern shoot 40 percent.
NOTES: Northwestern lost 76-49 to Wisconsin to open Big Ten play this season. The Wildcats’ previous victory in Madison came at the UW Field House on Feb. 21, 1996. … Wildcats F Drew Crawford has 1,759 career points, the most among active Big Ten players. … The Badgers began the night averaging 8.3 turnovers per game, the fewest among all Division I teams this season. They gave the ball away nine times Wednesday. … The Badgers held opponents to 40 percent field-goal shooting or worse in four of their eight Big Ten games this season.
