Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Wisconsin
Northwestern Knocks Off Wisconsin, 62-51
2/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 23, 2006
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EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - Mohamed Hachad scored a career-high 25 points as Northwestern beat Wisconsin 62-51 Thursday night, snapping the Badgers' three-game win streak.
The loss puts Wisconsin (18-8, 8-5) in a tie with Illinois for third place in the Big Ten, one game behind Ohio State and Iowa, with three to play.
And the Badgers have Hachad to thank.
The senior guard shot 11-of-17 and hit two free throws with 47 seconds left that gave him 25 -- two more than his previous high against Illinois last season.
Hachad drew a reaction from the Northwestern fans when he drove along the right side for a nice reverse layup to increase Northwestern's lead to 43-36 5:20 into the second half. That gave him 21 points -- one more than his previous season-high.
Hachad's 22nd and 23rd points came on a dunk that made it 45-39 with about 12 minutes remaining. And the free throws near the end boosted Northwestern's lead to 60-51.
Vedran Vukusic scored 13 points and tied the school record for 3-pointers for Northwestern (13-12, 5-8), which had lost two straight and four of six. The senior has 203 in his career -- tying the mark set by Todd Leslie in the early 1990s -- after hitting 1-of-3 from long range.
Alando Tucker scored 14 for Wisconsin, which hosts Minnesota on Sunday.
With a 45-40 lead midway through the second half, Northwestern scored seven straight and held on. Five of those points came on free throws, with Vukusic adding a tip-in that made it 52-40 with 7:22 left.
The Badgers went about 5:30 without a point and about 8:40 without a basket before Tucker hit a jumper to make it a 10-point game with 5:32 left. They got as close as five -- 56-51 -- after two free throws by Kammron Taylor with 1:22 left.
After scoring 19 in a loss to Ohio State on Saturday, Hachad picked up where he left off for Northwestern, hitting 7-of-11 shots in the first half. Averaging 11.3 points entering the game, he had 15 at the break as Northwestern took a 31-28 lead.
Hachad caught a full-court pass from Michael Jenkins for a layup, and after a Wisconsin turnover, he hit a 3 that made it 21-16 with 8:30 left in the first half. Hachad scored two baskets in an 11-second span that made it 31-26, Northwestern, with 1:25 left.
A jumper by Wisconsin's Alando Tucker accounted for the halftime score.
Northwestern, winners of three straight games at Welsh-Ryan Arena, shoots for its third Big Ten road victory on Saturday at Penn State.
