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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Mike Lucas had a front-row seat for Wisconsin's 66-59 loss to Northwestern. Here is what he saw from courtside.
"I'VE GOT YOUR BACK, SHOWY"
Wisconsin's Zak Showalter was the principal defender on Northwestern's Bryant McIntosh, one of the most unsung point guards in college basketball. A year ago, the 6-foot-3, 185-pound McIntosh had 28 points in the Wildcats' 70-65 win over the Badgers at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston.
Proving it was not a fluke, McIntosh had 25 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists here Sunday night snapping the UW's 19-game winning streak at the Kohl Center. In the process, McIntosh, a junior from Greensburg, Indiana, is only the second player in Northwestern history to go over 500 career assists.
McIntosh has scored 20 or more points in four straight and five of the last seven. He was a handful for Showalter who admitted as much afterwards.
Asked if he could have done anything differently, Showalter said, "There's always something else I can do. When I go back and watch the film, I'll find other ways to force tougher shots, I guess. He's a heckuva player. He made a lot of tough ones. He was the best player on the court tonight."
The Badgers didn't have an answer for McIntosh. Neither did Showalter.
"So it's not what I wanted to do," Showalter said, "and he took advantage of it."
Without missing a beat, Nigel Hayes stepped in and came to Showalter's defense, pointing out the volume of shots taken.
McIntosh took 23 shots (10-of-23) to score 25 points.
"Showy did a great job," Hayes asserted. "I don't want this to be all about McIntosh. He was a good player. But it's not like he walked up and down the court and had his way. On a large portion of his shots, Showy did a tremendous job on him. We'd gladly give someone 25 points on 23 shots."
Showalter turned to Hayes and said, "That's a teammate right there."
That was no slight on McIntosh, either.
In fact, Wisconsin coach Greg Gard had the same things to say about McIntosh as Showalter.
"He's just a heckuva player — best player on the floor (Sunday) hands-down," Gard said. "Went there under-recruited. Got overlooked. He's hungry. He's a hard match, he's a hard person to guard. He's shifty with the ball … He's a tough cover. He's given a lot of people fits."
A NOTE WORTH QUOTING
UW freshman guard D'Mitrik Trice scored in double-figures for the first time in a Big Ten game with 11 points, all coming in the second half. He also pulled down a season-high six rebounds and drew a charge during his 23 minutes of playing time off the bench. Trice had accounted for just five points (2-of-11 FGs) in the previous four games combined. At that, Trice is going through a normal first-year transition to the defense played in the conference after scoring 10 or more points three times and shooting 50 percent from the field and 60 percent (18-of-30) from beyond arc during 13 non-conference games. His season high is 16 points against Oklahoma (4-of-4 on 3-pointers).
DID YOU NOTICE?
- In the first half, Ethan Happ made a set shot from just inside the circle/above the free throw line; only the second make outside the paint of his career. He also missed from almost that same distance contested by Northwestern's Dererk Pardon.
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- UW sophomore Charles Thomas, who played a Big Ten season-high eight minutes at Nebraska, knocked down a 3-point shot against the Wildcats, only his sixth career triple in 20 attempts. Despite seeing limited minutes, he has scored in five of the last six games.
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- Breaking out of his shooting slump (6-of-his-last-32 from the field, 2-of-his-last-20 from the arc), Vitto Brown gave the Badgers an offensive lift by scoring 11 points in 24 minutes. He was 3-of-6 on 3-pointers; the most that he has had in one game since Maui when he went 4-of-5 against North Carolina.
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- Wisconsin's lone bright spot during Northwestern's 16-0 run in the first half (achieved over six possessions and three minutes and 50 seconds) was Khalil Iverson's powerful rejection of Pardon's dunk attempt. After taking a 19-12 lead, the Badgers were outscored 19-3 to halftime.
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- During a 10-0 run to start the second half, the UW offense was clicking with some consistency. Happ assisted on 3-point hits by Showalter and Brown. Koenig scored his first and only basket of the game on a turnaround jumper. Happ then passed out of a double-team and assisted on a Hayes layup.
A QUOTE WORTH NOTING
On what can be gained from a loss, Hayes said, "It's similar to experience being a great teacher. Like a rat in a box, you can push it and food comes and that teaches you a lot. Or like if you put your hand on a hot stove, same reaction. But for some reason, you really don't touch the stove anymore. Apparently, we have to lose in order to learn the things we've already been saying … so hopefully now … we can take that step from a mediocre/good team to a great team."
YOU CAN ALWAYS GO HOME AGAIN
Over the weekend, Wisconsin played host to large group of former players representing multiple generations. Ben Brust and Josh Gasser got the loudest ovations among the alums introduced at halftime Sunday. Brust and Gasser, of course, were teammates during the 2014 Final Four run.
"There's a lot of pride in seeing everybody back," said UW assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft, who appeared in 136 career games for the Badgers (2005-2009). "I think it means something to our players, too. Vitto Brown stood up and spoke last night (at the dinner) and he did a great job of expressing how important and how grateful the team is of what the alums have done here."
On the benefits of an alumni weekend, UW assistant coach Howard Moore, another alum (1990-1995), said, "What it does is connect the dots with all the guys in the past who have contributed to the program. It keeps the family atmosphere. You want to keep everyone connected, no matter how many minutes they played or what their stats were. It's a brotherhood and a camaraderie. Obviously, it's a very neat fraternity of guys with similar experiences but different stories."
Some of the alums took part in a pick-up basketball game early Sunday morning. "Ben Brust was by far and away the MVP; Roy Boone was probably a close second; and the rest of us filled in and had a great time," said Krabbenhoft, who also scrimmaged and ended up scoring a basket on a dunk. "I was hoping someone was video-taping that. I doubled my career dunk total."
THE SKINNY ON MICHIGAN
The Wolverines have won four of the last six games, including convincing victories over rival Michigan State in Ann Arbor and Indiana in Bloomington; the first road triumph in seven attempts. Over the last five games, senior guard Derrick Walton has been averaging 23 points.
What makes Walton so challenging to check? "His leadership, his toughness," said Moore, who has the scouting report on Michigan. "He's a threat every time he has the ball in his hands. In transition, he'll walk into a 3. He can go rim to rim and he can also find people. He's very patient with the ball but he probes hard and he's always looking for opportunities for himself and for his teammates."
In Big Ten games, Walton is averaging 17.2 points, one of four players in double-figures. Joining him are D.J. Wilson (12.8), Moritz Wagner (12.3) and Zak Irvin (11.0) who had 20 points in an earlier 68-64 loss (Jan. 17) to the Badgers at the Kohl Center. Walton had 15, including three triples (3-of-5).
One of the keys for Wisconsin was holding Wagner to 10 points (2-of-7) and Wilson scoreless (0-of-4). Wilson had 13 and Wagner had a double-double (11 points and 10 rebounds) Sunday at Indiana. The 6-11, 240-pound Wagner, a sophomore from Berlin, Germany, is a classic stretch 4.
"Wagner plays with a high motor and a lot of energy and excitement — a lot like Ethan," Moore said. "He's very skilled and he can put the ball on the floor and shoot the 3. He's starting to emerge as a go-to guy for them at times."
The last time the Badgers played at the Crisler Center was 2015 and they escaped with a 69-64 overtime victory thanks in large part to Frank Kaminsky who had 22 points and 9 rebounds. Koenig had 13 points and Hayes had 10. Walton led the Wolverines with 17 and Irvin had 12.
GARDO SEZ
"I think we're getting everybody's best shot. Knowing that we're marked is good for us and we'll continue to learn and grow and get better. Nothing that happened in this game (the Northwestern loss) is surprising in terms of areas that we can improve upon."
