Turnovers were costly in UW's loss

MADISON – Ethan Happ’s struggles against aggressive double teams, Bronson Koenig’s nagging calf injury and the inability to hit shots were again topics of debate after Wisconsin’s loss to Northwestern on Sunday.

Yet unforced turnovers that sparked Northwestern’s offense in the first half and dubious decision-making in the second half also contributed significantly to UW’s fourth loss of the season.

The Wildcats went on a 16-0 first-half run after Nigel Hayes hit a jumper to give UW a 19-12 lead.

Seven of the 16 points came after UW turnovers – by Happ, Zak Showalter and D’Mitrik Trice -- and Northwestern finished the game with 16 points off turnovers.

“That ignited them in the first half when we had a lead,” UW coach Greg Gard said. “They go on a 16-0 run in six possessions. That was obviously a big part of it.”

Happ got the ball on the low right block and tried to fire a bounce pass to Vitto Brown in the opposite corner. Northwestern’s Vic Law had Brown covered and intercepted the pass. That led to a jumper by Bryant McIntosh, which cut UW’s lead to 19-17.

Showalter was called for a foul underneath on the play, which gave Northwestern the ball.

That led to a basket by Derek Pardon and a 19-19 tie.

After both teams failed to score, Trice tried to split a double-team near the key and collided with teammate Charlie Thomas, who had set a screen. With the shot clock running down, Trice tried to hit Khalil Iverson underneath but the pass was stolen.

That led to an open three-pointer in transition by Law and a 22-19 Northwestern lead.

The Wildcats turned two more UW misses into three-pointers by Nathan Taphorn for a 28-19 lead.

“That is more frustrating than the ball not going in consistently,” Gard said of the turnovers.

Then in the second half, UW had two empty possessions while facing a 47-40 deficit.

Brown and Koenig missed three-pointers, both with 20 seconds on the shot clock.

Both times, UW did not get the ball into the post before shooting.

“When we made our run we really touched the post and were really making a point to get the ball inside,” Gard said, referring to UW’s 10-0 spurt to open the second half. “(Then) We didn’t go inside and ended up taking maybe took ill-advised threes quick in the possession.

“We had found a way to crack the code, so to speak, playing from the inside out and we had gotten into rhythm.

“Then we went away from it and weren’t able to get back in that position again.”