Winter, Tonje lead No. 18 Wisconsin over Northwestern in Big Ten tourney

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — 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 for Northwestern.

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 42% 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 from the line.

Wisconsin held a 37-30 lead at halftime. Both teams shot 39% in the first half. The difference was the Badgers made 12 of 15 free throws compared to 6 of 7 for the Wildcats.

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 overall. 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

Wisconsin will play No. 4 seed UCLA in Friday’s Big Ten quarterfinals. Northwestern will await a possible NIT or College Basketball Crown bid.

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