AJ Storr scored a career-best 30 points and Steven Crowl added 19 to lift Wisconsin to a 70-61 win against Northwestern on Friday in a Big Ten tournament quarterfinal in Minneapolis.
The fifth-seeded Badgers (21-12) advanced to face top seed Purdue in the semifinals on Saturday.
Fourth-seeded Northwestern (21-11) suffered its third loss in four games and must wait until Sunday to learn of its postseason fate.
Wisconsin shot 56.5 percent in the second half and 46.2 percent in the game. The Badgers led by as many as 11 points and relied on several clutch baskets to keep the Wildcats at bay.
Northwestern pulled within five points with 8:01 to go before Crowl answered with a trey on the ensuing possession. The Wildcats were unable to draw closer as they struggled for scoring options beyond Boo Buie.
Buie led Northwestern with 29 points on 9-for-15 shooting — including matching his career high of seven 3-pointers –despite enduring a personal scoring drought of 15:01. His torrid start put the Wildcats ahead by 11 points in the early going, but Buie didn’t register another point until a layup with 16:59 left in the game.
Brooks Barnhizer scored 13 points for the Wildcats and matched his career high of 14 rebounds. Ryan Langborg, the team’s third-leading scorer, fouled out with five points.
Max Klesmit had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Badgers, who limited Northwestern to 37.7 percent shooting while finishing plus-six on the boards.
Storr, a St. John’s transfer, was 10-for-16 from the floor.
A Buie barrage paced Northwestern to a 21-10 advantage just eight minutes into the game. The senior and program all-time leading scorer rolled to 16 points during that span while drilling four 3-pointers.
But Buie and the rest of the Wildcats went cold soon after. Wisconsin scored 14 of the game’s next 16 points to take a 24-23 advantage with 7:08 to go before halftime. Crowl contributed five points during the surge, with Storr adding four.
Wisconsin led 33-29 lead at intermission.
Purdue swept the season series from Wisconsin, winning two games by a combined 14 points. The schools last met in the regular-season finale on Sunday, with the host Boilermakers prevailing behind a 25-point, 14-rebound double-double from Zach Edey.
–Field Level Media