Ky McKeon
The last time I covered a game at the new Welsh-Ryan Arena was back in February 2020 before the pandemic. To say it was good to be back is an understatement.
Welsh-Ryan is a pristine venue, super clean, and crisp. The size (capacity of about 7,000) is just right for the Northwestern program. Students were back in full force, chanting loudly and causing a stir. It was the best student turnout I’ve seen in the 5-ish times I’ve attended an NU game.
Unfortunately for Northwestern, there was a ton of red in the stands too. Something like half the arena was sporting Badger gear, and during the game Wisconsin’s chants could be heard as loudly and as clearly as the home team’s.
First Half
Northwestern forward Pete Nance, the best player on the team, came into this game uncertain as to if he would play. He suffered an ankle injury a couple games back that held him out of his team’s victory at Michigan State. Though he was clearly hobbled, Nance played admirably and gutted out an impressive 31 minutes.
Wisconsin knew Nance was hurt and went after him early and often. Greg Gard prioritized feeding 7-foot center Steven Crowl on the block, and that decision was fruitful throughout the early going. Both scoring and pace was higher than expected through the first six minutes or so. Northwestern led 11-9 going into the under-16 timeout with 13:55 left to play.
Defense was impressive on both sides. Both teams were highly energetic, tough, and physical. To the refs’ credit, they largely let the boys play, making for a more exciting product. NU head coach Chris Collins thought otherwise of the refs’ performance, but that’s for later.
Northwestern wing Chase Audige was on one early in the half. He made tough shot after tough shot and finished the game with a team-high 23 points. On the other end, National Player of the Year frontrunner Johnny Davis was quieter, letting the game come to him and not forcing the issue. Northwestern certainly had a game plan to take the ball out of Davis’s hands, but the star was also picking his spots. He had a “quiet” 10 points in the first half.
The Cats were neck-and-neck with he Badgers for the majority of the first half but Wisconsin pulled away in the final five minutes. A very loud “LET’S GO BADGERS” chant rang out from the crowd as Wisconsin heated up from behind the arc. Wisconsin led 30-24 with 3:53 to play in the first and were a scorching 4/6 from deep.
Northwestern got the margin within two points with 39 seconds left to play, but the Badgers hit another 3 out of a timeout and then Chucky Hepburn, Wisconsin’s freshman PG, nailed a half-courter as time expired putting his squad up 41-35 at the break.
Wisconsin was 6/8 from 3-point land in the first half and 5/5 from the FT line. Northwestern was 3/11 and 0/0.
Ky was on the UNDER in this game. He did not appreciate the Badgers’ hot shooting and half-court stunner.
Second Half
Wisconsin controlled the first part of the second half. The story could be summarized as: Wisconsin gets easy buckets; Northwestern gets tough shots.
The Badgers extended their lead to nine points by the under-16 media timeout looking to pull away.
Northwestern finally shot its first free throw of the game with 13:37 left in the contest – a story in its own right, but one that couldn’t overshadow the insane shot-making on both ends of the floor.
Both teams were hitting tough mid-range pull-up and fade-away jumpers; it was a back-and-forth affair of who could hit the tougher contested shot.
Wisconsin continues its hot outside shooting, getting up to 8/11 from deep with 12:00 to play. Johnny Davis started to take over on the offensive end, on his way to a game-high 27 points. Audige and Co. had some impressive finishes themselves, but nobody could out-Johnny Johnny.
It was right about the 8:00 minute mark when the refereeing started to be called into question by Chris Collins and the fans donning purple. Touch fouls called on the Cats sending the Badgers to the foul line were made worse by Davis continuing to hit impossible shots.
To the Cats’ credit, they never faded. Northwestern continued to “pound the rock” as it likes to say, keeping the game within about five points for most of the final push.
Wisconsin led 73-68 with 2:48 to go and then Davis made another circus shot from downtown as he was trying to draw a foul. The Badgers added a few more buckets and led by 10 with just 1:39 to play. Purple-clad fans started filing out of the arena. Truthfully, I thought it was over too.
But, like a cockroach, Northwestern refused to die. Boo Buie got a layup out of the timeout, Hepburn missed two free throws on the other end, and then Northwestern sandwiched two threes in about 40 seconds around a Crowl dunk, pulling within four points with 41 seconds to play.
An aggressive trap leading to bodies on the floor and a scrum resulted in a jump ball, possession arrow Badgers.
Collins called for his team to foul, but Audige seemed to pick the pocket of Davis cleanly off the inbounds throw. The refs called a foul on what was CLEARLY a clean steal. Collins was irate and in disbelief, the crowd chanted “REF YOU SUCK”.
Davis made just one of two free throws, a microcosm of Wisconsin’s ineptitude from the charity stripe down the stretch. The Badgers finished 17/26 from the FT line.
Northwestern was unable to take advantage, however, and the game ended in an 82-76 victory for the visitors.
Post-Game
Both Gard and Collins had words for the refs in the media room. Gard hinted Davis should have gotten more foul shots, as Northwestern was playing him extremely physically all game (and even forced a nosebleed). Gard, in a very controlled tone, talked about Davis’s gifts as a tone-setter and leader, his work ethic and attitude. Wisconsin’s 11 turnovers, said Gard, were more self-inflicted than caused by Northwestern.
Collins wasn’t hiding any frustration with the refereeing in his post-game speech. ‘One team shot 30 free throws; the other team shot 8’ was the primary gist. Collins was in disbelief Audige didn’t shoot one free throw all game long. But, to the refs’ credit, Audige has one of the lowest free throw rates in the country and he was taking A LOT of mid-range fadeaways.
Collins was proud of Nance gutting out an injury. He was proud of freshman Julian Roper’s growth as a player. He was thankful for the students that packed the house and fueled his team all game long.
(Check out our Instagram @3MW_CBB for post-game video clips of Gard and Collins)
Final Note
On the way out I walked past Brad Davison doing an interview and was shocked by how big he was. On the court Davison looks small, like a pesky gnat of a guard who flies every which way. Rest assured he is the full 6’4” 200 lbs. as listed on his roster page – dude is STOUT.