A late cold spell from the field and a frigid night of shooting from the free throw line cost Wisconsin in a 66-63 setback at Northwestern Monday, as the Badgers lost for a fourth time in their last five games.

Wisconsin Player of the Game: Jordan Davis

After one game of coming off the bench, Davis was back in the starting lineup against the Wildcats and he made the most of it on the offensive end. The junior scored seven of the Badgers first nine points of the game and he finished with a career-high 15. He also added six rebounds, including three on the offensive end. Davis, who came into the game shooting 50-percent from beyond the arc, went 3-for-6 on 3-pointers.

On the other end of the floor, he had the tough task of guarding Chase Audige, who ended up with 16 points but needed 15 shots to get it.

The good: Wisconsin’s defense late

The Badgers gave themselves a chance to win late with some of their work on the defensive end. Northwestern made just one shot in the final 5:02 of the game and went without a field goal in the final 2:52. Trailing 64-62, Wisconsin got two huge stops that set its offense up to potentially tie or take the lead multiple times.

The not so good: Wisconsin’s late offense

The offense struggled early, found its footing in the second half and then faded way, with Wisconsin shooting just 38.6% from the floor. But the lack of execution and finishing down the stretch really stood out, as the Badgers made just one of their final 10 shots. In three possessions while trailing 64-62, Wisconsin got called for a shot clock violation out of a timeout, Steven Crowl missed a wide-open 3-pointer and Chucky Hepburn came up empty on an off-balance baseline jumper after the initial play broke down.

Stats of the Game:

56.3 — That was what Wisconsin shot from the free throw line, going just 9-for-16. It continued a season-long trend for the Badgers, who came into the night ranked 301st out of 352 teams in the country at 66.7%.

29.7 — That is what the trio of Hepburn, Tyler Wahl and Connor Essegian shot from the field.

7 — That is how many turnovers Wisconsin had on the night. Wahl accounted for four of them.

In Case You Missed It

— Wisconsin played without senior Max Klesmit due to what the team was calling an upper-body injury. The guard went out early in the win over Penn State last week after getting elbowed in the face. Blood gushed from his mouth and he ended up needing stiches. He did not travel with the team to Evanston and coach Greg Gard told reporters he doesn’t expect Klesmit to play Wednesday against Maryland.

— Unlike in recent games when Crowl was able to maneuver in the post without too much traffic, Northwestern made a point of limiting his touches in the post and bringing a hard double-team when he did catch it. That led to the junior getting just seven shots off, his fewest in the last eight games. Crowl did have nine rebounds and three assists.

— The game was originally slated to be played on Saturday but COVID-19 issues within the Wildcats program forced it to be postponed. It sets up a tough week for the Badgers, who didn’t travel to Evanston until Monday. After the game, they were slated to jump on a plane headed for Maryland where they’ll play the Terrapins on Wednesday. Then it will be back home to face Illinois, which will be Wisconsin’s third game in six days.

— The loss dropped Wisconsin into a five-way tie for sixth in the Big Ten. It left the team just a game back of second-place Rutgers but also only one game ahead of two teams tied for 11th place.

What’s next?

Wisconsin (12-6, 4-4) will take on Maryland (12-7, 3-5) on Wednesday.