Cats lose again, Shurna hurts ankle

MADISON, Wis. — With some shaky free throw shooting down the stretch, Jon Leuer showed that he still isn’t all the way back from a broken wrist that caused him to miss a big chunk of the Big Ten season.But his critical blocked shot in the closing seconds of Sunday’s narrow victory over Northwestern shows how important the big man can be for No. 14 Wisconsin.With the Badgers leading by three, Leuer jumped to block a layup attempt by the Wildcats’ Michael Thompson with 11 seconds remaining. Jason Bohannon and Trevon Hughes each sank a pair of free throws from there, allowing Wisconsin to escape with a 70-63 win.Bohannon scored 17 points to lead the Badgers (20-7, 10-5 Big Ten), who were coming off a loss at Minnesota and had lost two of their last three games coming into Sunday.John Shurna scored 26 for the Wildcats (17-10, 6-9), who narrowly missed a chance at an impressive road win and have lost three of their last four.Trailing by double digits for most of the second half, Northwestern went on an 10-0 run to cut Wisconsin’s lead to 57-54 with 6:42 left as Wisconsin went scoreless for nearly five minutes.Bohannon eventually broke through with a 3-pointer, but the Badgers suddenly found themselves in a close game.The Wildcats eventually cut the lead to one on a driving layup by Thompson with 3:06 left.Wisconsin’s Jordan Taylor hit a pair of free throws, and Northwestern was called for a foul on the rebound on the other end. But Leuer missed two free throws, and Shurna hit two on the other end to cut the lead back to one with 2:11 remaining.A Northwestern foul then sent Leuer back to the line with 1:12 left, and he hit one of two.Shurna missed a jumper on the other end and Leuer got the rebound. Hughes missed a 3-point try, but Shurna was called for a foul and Tim Jarmusz hit one of two free throws.Leuer then elevated to block Thompson’s shot, and the Badgers hit their free throws to seal the game. Leuer played 22 minutes in his second game back after missing nine games because of a broken wrist, scoring 11 points with four rebounds and three blocks. Leuer had four points in 26 minutes in his return from injury, a loss at Minnesota on Thursday.Despite struggling to stop Wisconsin’s hot shooting from the field early on, Northwestern stuck close for most of the first half. But the Badgers pulled away with a 12-2 run in the final 4 minutes of the half, including a driving layup and a 3-pointer by Bohannon, and Wisconsin led 43-29 at halftime.The Badgers shot 15 of 20 from the field in the first half, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range.Bohannon has scored 15 points or more in six straight games — including his 30-point effort in a victory over Indiana on Feb. 13.Shurna had a boot on his left foot after the game, and said he rolled his ankle landing on a teammate’s foot in the second half.