Wildcats fall flat in ugly 85-73 loss at Wisconsin in Big Ten opener

MADISON – Northwestern got blitzed by Wisconsin in their Big Ten opener, 85-73, at the Kohl Center on Wednesday night in a game that was over by halftime.

After a narrow 86-81 loss to Oklahoma State at the United Center on Thanksgiving, head coach Chris Collins and star forward Nick Martinelli called on the Wildcats to rededicate to each other and come out firing in their first conference game.

Instead, they were overwhelmed by a first-half avalanche as Wisconsin opened up a 55-32 lead at the break behind 23 points from John Blackwell.

“I think that was obviously our worst half of the year,” Collins said.

It wasn’t just streaky shooting. The Badgers got where they wanted, when they wanted, against a Northwestern team that has prided itself on defense in the years since its tournament turnaround in 2022-23.

“We have to be a lot better with our grit and physicality and toughness,” Collins said. “I’m not sure the last time I remember a half where we didn’t force a turnover. They had 15 assists and no turnovers. … That first 20 minutes was not who we need to be.”

Even though Blackwell finished with just 26 points in the game and Northwestern posted a 41-30 advantage in the second half, the Badgers were never fazed. The Wildcats trailed by 10+ points for the final 30:22 of the game.

Here are our takeaways from a disheartening loss up north that dropped the Wildcats’ record to 5-3 (0-1 Big Ten).

The team looked disjointed

When Martinelli addressed the media on Tuesday, he described the leadership of the past few Northwestern teams as “airtight.” The team that took the court tonight looked anything but. They looked exactly like a team with more new pieces than returning players, feeling the pressure of the road environment and falling apart.

Center Arrinten Page had a team-high 21 points and six rebounds, showcasing a feathery touch on 8-for-13 shooting. But he also showed an incredibly concerning seesaw of effort in the second half. In one sequence with Northwestern down 74-58 with 9:12 left, he soared in for an offensive rebound, creating a second-chance opportunity. He had Max Green open at the top of the key but it quickly became apparent that Page had no intention of passing. He ducked his head down and tried a running hook across the lane for a very low-percentage shot that was no good.

The Wildcats got a turnover on the next possession, with Green scooping up a loose ball and heading downcourt. He got caught in the air and turned around to dish it back to Page, who should have been trailing the play, but he had never crossed half court and was still loitering under the basket. Green let the ball go without anyone to pass to, and Wisconsin’s Nick Boyd scooped it up and took it down for a layup.

Page has shown brilliant talent but he can’t have lapses in effort like that.

Transfer guard Jayden Reid looked like an authoritative floor general in his first few games, but in the last two he hasn’t appeared to have the same feel for the game. He’s a combined 6-for-17 from the floor and 2-for-8 from three with 10 assists and no steals in the last two contests.

Northwestern brought Reid in to be a waterbug-type guard, someone with limitless energy to harass opposing ball handlers and dictate terms on both ends of the court. If he’s not putting up more assists and generating any steals, then it’s unsustainable to have him on the court and feeds into Northwestern’s defensive struggles.

Troubling shot profile

Northwestern doesn’t take many 3s and, even worse, they aren’t even making many of the few they take.

In this game, they were 4-for-19 from beyond the arc while Wisconsin was 11-for-31. That could be the tale of the tape right there.

The Wildcats have been a team that has run their offense through Page and Martinelli in the post, which makes it impossible to come back from a large deficit if they’re not scoring profusely while the other team is draining 3-pointers.

This is the second time in four games that a team has held Martinelli under 15 points; he had just 14 points and eight rebounds against the Badgers, even though he played 32 minutes limited by a brief injury scare in the second half. He can’t play hero ball the entire season.

Northwestern has to find perimeter scoring to support him and prevent defenses from selling out on his and Page’s post-ups.

Collins needs to press the reset button

Collins was adamant that this season is far from over, even as his team, renowned for its defensive intensity the past three seasons, has lost their three games this season by allowing 83, 85 and 86 points.

He thinks that, despite the new wave of eight players, he can restore the program’s defensive standard.

“Offensively, even tonight, are there things we could have done better? Yes. But we scored 73,” Collins said. “We are eight games into the season, one game into a 20-game Big Ten season. So for me to say right now that it’s hopeless and we can’t find it is irresponsible.

“It’s my job, it’s our staff’s job and it’s our players’ accountability to say that we’re going to defend better.”

Collins said that it is open season in terms of evaluation, with potential shakeups to the starting lineup and rotations.

One of those changes on Wednesday night was guard Jordan Clayton, who had sat out the last three games entirely, returning to play 23 minutes in this game. He scored nine points and was a +9 in a 12-point loss. Clayton clarified postgame that he had a neck issue that caused him to sit out the two games at the Greenbrier Tip-off.

“I had some things going on with my neck so I’ve been working back in from there,” Clayton said. “The message has been, we need people to fight, get boards, and do the gritty stuff we haven’t been doing.”

Clayton has been around Northwestern teams with excellent defense and tournament credentials. He knows what it takes, and he’s not throwing in the towel on this group.

“I think we have a lot of new guys that have to get used to our system. That’s no excuse, but we have to do better guarding the ball, and second-chance points are a big thing,” he said. “We’re not rebounding the ball as well as we should. There’s some little things we have to shore up that’ll get us back to being Northwestern.”

The Wildcats challenged themselves with five straight games against Power Five opponents this season, without any of them at home. They didn’t pass, with a 2-3 record that has put them immediately under pressure to start the year.

The Wildcats have a chance to get back on track this Saturday at Welsh-Ryan Arena against Ohio State. If they want to keep this season alive, they can’t lose it.