National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Wisconsin 78, Northwestern 63
When: 6:00 PM ET, Sunday, February 27, 2011
Where: Kohl Center, Madison, Wisconsin
Officials: # Ed Hightower, # Ray Perrone, # Ted Valentine
Attendance: 17230

Jon Leuer scored a game-high 26 points and No. 12 Wisconsin held off a second-half rally by visiting Northwestern for a 78-63 victory Sunday.

Jordan Taylor had 16 points and seven assists, and Keaton Nankivil added 15 points for Wisconsin (22-6, 12-4 Big Ten), which finished unbeaten (16-0) at home for the third time in eight years. The Badgers have won three straight and seven of eight games.

Michael Thompson had 19 points to lead Northwestern (16-12, 6-11), which trailed by as many as 16 in the second half, but closed to 58-55 with 7:14 remaining. Davide Curletti added 18 points and John Shurna 14 for the Wildcats, who are 3-7 in their last 10 games.

Northwestern made 7-of-9 from behind the 3-point arc in the first half to hang around, but Wisconsin managed to ease to a 43-30 halftime lead. Leuer led a balanced offense with 11 points for the Badgers, who made 17-of-26 (65 percent) from the field and all five free throws in the first 20 minutes. Wisconsin, leading the nation in fewest turnovers per game, had just two in the first half and six overall.
Top Game Performances
 
Northwestern   Wisconsin
Michael Thompson 19 Scoring Jon Leuer 26
Drew Crawford 3 Assists Jordan Taylor 7
Davide Curletti 6 Rebounds Tim Jarmusz 6
Davide Curletti 5 Free Throws Made Jon Leuer 8
Drew Crawford 2 Steals Ryan Evans 1
Mike Capocci 1 Blocks N/A
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Northwestern 63 46.8 11-21 8-11 12 18 1 4
Wisconsin 78 57.4 8-19 16-20 12 25 0 3