UW 70, Northwestern 64: Van Vliet makes surprise contributions as Badgers sink Wildcats

ROSEMONT, Ill. – So who was more surprised to see Andy Van Vliet draining three-pointers in a season-high 24 minutes Thursday at Allstate Arena?

Wisconsin fans or Northwestern coach Chris Collins?

Take your pick.

What mattered is that UW coach Greg Gard implemented an old zone offense to use against the Wildcats and Van Vliet became a key component because of his ability to shoot from the perimeter.

UW got contributions from up and down the lineup in an entertaining 70-64 victory over the Wildcats but none was more surprising than the execution of the junior forward from Belgium.   

Van Vliet entered the night having played a total of 14 minutes in four Big Ten games and a total of 94 minutes in 13 games overall. He hit 4 of 6 three-pointers and finished with 14 points and two rebounds. The 24 minutes played was his season-high mark.

"It’s frustrating," Van Vliet said of the lack of playing time, "but I don’t lose hope in myself or confidence. Because if I don’t believe in myself, who is?"

Why the change? UW hit just 7 of 26 three-pointers in the teams' first meeting and the Wildcats, who raced to an 18-1 lead, sat back in the zone all game en route to a 60-52 victory in Madison.

"I felt we needed to do some things better, stretch the floor more corner to corner," Gard said. "So I felt if the matchups defensively were right…against the zone he could stretch them, whether it was going to be him shooting it or not."

Ethan Happ led four UW players in double figures with 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three blocks and four steals, including two in the final three minutes.

Happ scored 15 points in the second half, in part because Van Vliet's three-point shooting forced Collins to abandon the 2-3 zone and go man-to-man.

BOX SCORE: Wisconsin 70, Northwestern 64

"Once Andy was in the corner and knocked down some shots," Happ said, "that got them out of that zone and that freed me up."

Junior forward Khalil Iverson continued his string of active performances with 16 points and six rebounds. He grabbed a key defensive rebound late with UW holding a 68-64 lead, was fouled and made both free throws to close the scoring.

Sophomore guard Brevin Pritzl buried a critical three-pointer with the shot clocking running out to give UW a 68-64 lead with 27.6 seconds left. He finished with 11 points and two steals.

The shot came off an inbounds play with six seconds on the shot clock. Northwestern took away Happ on the left side so Aleem Ford found Pritzl wide open on the opposite wing.

"Nothing," Pritzl said when asked what he was thinking as he got the ball from Ford. "Literally nothing. You work on shooting every day of your life and that was about the most open shot I had all day. 

"It was just a matter of getting my feet set, following through and knocking it down."

UW (14-16, 7-10 Big Ten) extended its winning streak in league play to three games and secured the No. 9 seeding in the Big Ten tournament next week at Madison Square Garden in New York. 

Even if UW and Northwestern (15-15, 6-11) finish league play tied at 7-11, the Badgers get the No. 9 seeding by virtue of their victory over Purdue. UW and Purdue split two games; Northwestern lost its only meeting with the Boilermakers.

The Badgers open the Big Ten tournament against No. 8 Maryland (19-11, 8-9) at 11 a.m. Thursday. Maryland won the teams’ lone regular-season meeting, 68-63. 

With forward Vic Law (foot) out, guards Scott Lindsey and Bryant McIntosh carried the Wildcats with 26 and 18 points, respectively. They combined to hit 16 of 33 shots.

"McIntosh and Lindsey, I know they’re probably not happy to see them graduate here," Gard said, "but I am because they have been a handful for four years."

UW has been a handful for opponents since the five-point loss at Maryland. The average margin of victory in those victories was 7.3 points but all four games were decided in the closing minutes. 

"Three in a row in the Big Ten,” Happ said, “you never take that for granted. I think earlier we were finding ways to lose games and now we’re finding ways to win games." 

Van Vliet, a forgotten man for most of Big Ten play, played a key role Thursday. He acknowledged afterward some fans on social media haven't been kind.

"Not so friendly words," he said. "That I should leave. Stuff like that. 

"(I) Ignore it. There’s always going to be people that believe in you and don’t believe in you."