MADISON, Wis. — Northwestern players were in a zone Saturday against Wisconsin.
Not one of those precious hot-shooting zones, just a fundamental zone defense designed to limit the Badgers’ potent inside offense.
The strategy worked to the extent that it forced Wisconsin into 39 percent shooting (21 of 54). But it did not deter the home team from a 65-50 victory before a crowd of 17,279 at the Kohl Center.
Sam Dekker and Bronson Koenig each scored 16 points to lead the Badgers. Center Frank Kaminsky had 12 points and seven rebounds while Nigel Hayes had 11 and eight.
“You kind of have to pick your poison,” said Northwestern coach Chris Collins, whose team lost its ninth straight. “We decided to play a lot of zone just because we would have had a lot of tough matchups if we had been in man with their size and their individual talent.”
The Badgers (21-2, 9-1 Big Ten) have equaled the school’s best 23-game start and their conference mark is their best 10-game opening since 1914.
“When I am not preparing to compete against them, I love watching them play,” Collins said of the Badgers. “Just a bunch of guys who are veterans — all juniors and seniors — who love playing with each other. They know each other inside and out. They play basketball the way it’s supposed to be played.”
Wisconsin spurted out to a 21-4 lead and led 37-21 halftime.
“We came out of the gates that first four or five minutes … that’s where the game really was won,” Collins said. “And then we started playing.”
The Wildcats’ sluggish start doomed them, however.
“We did what we wanted with our zone in forcing them to take long shots,” said Northwestern freshman guard Bryant McIntosh, who scored 13 points. “And with that you are going to have long rebounds. That’s what the big problem was. We didn’t check out enough to get those long rebounds. We didn’t corral the ball well enough.”
Center Alex Olah led Northwestern with 15 points and two blocks, but he had just three rebounds in 32 minutes. On the offensive boards, Wisconsin prevailed 13-5. They had an overall 39-25 edge.
“I have to help my team rebound more because we struggled with that,” Olah said.
Northwestern (10-13, 1-9) upset the Badgers here last season. But the Wildcats came out tentatively at the start of Saturday’s contest and never led.
“This was actually the best we’ve prepared all year,” McIntosh said. “We had great energy and execution throughout walk-throughs and practice. We just didn’t knock down shots and they went on a run. That was the end of the game right there.”
Meanwhile, Collins continues to point out the difficult process of building a winning program with such a young nucleus.
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“You have to be tough mentally and physically in this league,” he said. “Every coach in this league will tell you it is really hard to win with a lot of true freshmen out there. And I’m not making excuses. I mean, we’re building. The goal is that we have to develop these guys. I love my young players and they have a chance to be really good Big Ten players. But they are playing against teams that are like well-oiled machines.”
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