Wisconsin Badgers 76, Northwestern Wildcats 48

MI and Wisconsin will play a rubber match for a Big Ten Tournament championship on Sunday afternoon (3 p.m., CBS). On the other hand, Moritz Wagner had a 21 point performance in Ann Arbor, proving that he can score against Happ, one of the best defenders in the league, on 8-of-14 (3-6 3pt) shooting.

Rutgers missed 14 shots in a row as Northwestern took over and made a major statement in moving on to the quarterfinals to face third-seeded and 25th-ranked Maryland.

Just hours after athletic director Gene Smith gave head coach Thad Matta a vote of confidence by stating that he believes in the coaching staff and will keep them around for another season, Matta’s Buckeyes lost, 66-57, to Rutgers, the dregs of the Big Ten, in the opening round of the conference tournament. These two meet today from the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.

The Badgers had answers – a timely three, an extra possession, a foul drawn – for every Northwestern (23-11, 10-8 Big Ten) spurt, even with them being few and far between.

McIntosh hit just 4 of 12 shots Saturday and finished with eight points and one assist. Northwestern had flown to Washington on Wednesday and played Thursday. The Terps made just 10 buckets and scored 28 points in the second half, though it’d be hard to say their offense simply suffered from going cold.

Northwestern’s 9-1 run cut the Badgers lead to four at 16-12.

Melo Trimble led the Terps with 20 points. He was able to slow Walton Jr. and limit him to five points on 1-of-8 shooting in Ann Arbor, though, MI handed UW a 64-58 loss. By that point, Hayes looked his teammates in the eyes and told them they had done the big things to get a large lead.

“I think that pressure is still there”, the Northwestern junior guard said. Now in its third season in the Big Ten, it’s the first time Rutgers has won consecutive conference games. After a brutal stretch of games in the middle of the season, the Badgers put together their most complete game of the season as everyone got in on the action, including Ethan Happ at the free-throw line. The over/under total is listed at 134.5 point. “Certainly not the defensive team that we’ve been most of the year”. “We’re just going out there playing really connected, playing for one another”.

Much like the Terps, the Wildcats are also viewed as a lock to make the NCAA Tournament field. They’re the ones that have gone out there and performed night in and night out, losing key guys throughout the year, (Dererk) Pardon, (Scottie) Lindsey, for extended periods of time.

“We knew that team kind of comes and goes with him”, Showalter said. “So with that sense of urgency, I think we’ll do what we need to do – try and play well all those games compared to when taking those lulls in games”. McIntosh tallied 6 assists Sunday in a narrow loss to Big Ten champion Purdue.

Northwestern responded with two straight buckets, only for Rutgers to hit back with a pair of layups themselves, the latter of which converted into a three-point play by Sanders.

No. 2 seed Wisconsin (24-8) dropped five of six games down the stretch but now has won two in a row, including its conference tournament opener against 10th-seeded in (18-15), which scored so easily a night earlier while beating Iowa. Doing against a team that contributed to their downfall would just be an added bonus.