Northwestern pulls out a 54-52 win at Wisconsin to sweep the Badgers for the 1st time in 27 years

MADISON, Wis. — Boo Buie scored 13 points, Brooks Barnhizer had a clutch blocked shot in the final minute and Northwestern defeated Wisconsin 54-52 on Sunday night at the Kohl Center.

The Wildcats swept the season series with Wisconsin for the first time since the 1995-96 season.

Wisconsin scored seven consecutive points and took a 49-48 lead on a jumper by Chucky Hepburn with 3:21 to go. Chase Audige put the Wildcats back on top 50-49 with 2:55 remaining, and there would be only one more made basket the rest of the game.

After a series of turnovers, missed jumpers and missed free throws, Hepburn hit a jumper to give the Badgers a 51-50 lead with 45 seconds remaining. Buie then hit two free throws to put Northwestern back on top 52-51 at the 31-second mark.

Barnhizer blocked Hepburn’s layup attempt with 20 seconds left, and the Wildcats held on to win despite a missed one-and-one opportunity by Tydus Verhoeven. Hepburn’s missed jumper with six seconds left was Wisconsin’s final chance to take the lead.

Hepburn scored 17 points for Wisconsin (13-9, 5-7 Big Ten) and Connor Essegian added 15 on 5-of-11 3-point shooting.

Audige had 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists for Northwestern (16-7, 7-5), which ended a two-game losing streak and moved into a six-way tie for third place in the Big Ten. Barnhizer had eight points and seven rebounds in addition to the big block.

Northwestern led 20-13 after Nick Martinelli hit a jumper with 8:39 left in the first half. Wisconsin closed to 22-21 with an 8-2 run highlighted by Essegian’s 3-pointer. The Wildcats went on to lead 26-23 at halftime.

Seton Hall 69, DePaul 64: Tyrese Samuel and Kadary Richmond scored 14 points apiece to lead the Pirates (15-9, 8-5 Big East) over the Blue Demons (9-15, 3-10) in Newark, N.J.

Umoja Gibson led DePaul with 21 points, and Da’Sean Nelson added 13 points and six rebounds.

Seton Hall led 26-22 at halftime, and after DePaul had trimmed the margin to one point, the Pirates went on a 10-0 run to take a 37-26 lead with 15:33 left.