With about a minute left on Sunday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena, Northwestern fans rose as one to give their team a well-deserved standing ovation. The Wildcats had already run Iowa out of the gym, and it was time to show their appreciation for a team that won five games in a row and gave them perhaps the best seven-day period in program history.
Boo Buie, who had the game on a string and finished with 23 points, eight assists and just one turnover, dribbled around at the top of the key to run some of the shot-clock off, waving his arms to ask the crowd to get louder. They obliged. Then Buie, with the clock winding down, dribbled to the left of the top of the circle and launched a three-pointer that swished through the net and sparked the loudest roar of the night.
It was that kind of game for Northwestern. Everything came up purple.
On a night where they announced the planned retirement of a number for an all-time great and several former players were in the house, the Wildcats pasted Iowa 80-60, just 20 days after the Hawkeyes beat them by 16 in Iowa City.
The victory gave Northwestern 11 Big Ten wins in a season for the second time ever, and first time in 92 years. It also gave them 20 wins in a season for just the fifth time in history.
“Another special night at Welsh-Ryan tonight,” said head coach Chris Collins after the game. “What a week.”
What a week, indeed. Northwestern beat then-No. 1 Purdue last Sunday and No. 14 Indiana on Wednesday. This Sunday, they got a revenge win over Iowa on a night that seemed more like a coronation than a game, a celebration of a Northwestern program that, frankly, hasn’t had very much to celebrate over the last five years.
During a timeout in the first half, Dr. Derrick Gragg announced to Wildcat great Billy McKinney on the floor that they were retiring his No. 30, making him the first Northwestern athlete to receive such an honor. The former Wildcat star and current radio analyst got emotional and covered his eyes as the crowd roared.
Larry Kurka, who scored 12.4 points per game to lead the 1952-53 Wildcats, was in the building celebrating his 90th birthday. The crowd chanted, “Larry! Larry!” Vic Law, one of the stars of the 2016-17 NCAA Tournament team was on the videoboard, talking to MC Lauren Withrow during a timeout.
The student section, dressed in beachwear, was on its game all evening, creating what is becoming one of the most hostile home courts in the Big Ten. After Fran McCaffrey was ejected with a double-technical for jawing with the refs in the second half, they chanted “Where’s your daddy?” at Patrick and Connor McCaffrey, the coach’s sons. When Patrick drew a T himself a little while later, they yelled “Just like daddy!”
And on the court, well, the Wildcats came out hot and never let up. Ty Berry, who had been struggling with his shot in recent games, Chase Audige and Buie all hit their first three-pointers right out of the gate and Northwestern had an 11-3 lead less than four minutes into the game. The Cats never gave the lead back.
It helped that Iowa hit just three of 24 three-pointers, but there was no way Northwestern was going to lose this game as they held the Hawkeyes, the top-ranked offense in the Big Ten, to 21 points below their season average and harassed them into 15 turnovers.
What made this game remarkable, however, was that Audige, half of Northwestern’s dynamic backcourt duo with Buie, battled foul trouble all night and played just 20 minutes, scoring seven points. Normally, the loss of the No. 2 scorer would be catastrophic for a team that often struggles offensively. But not on this night. The Wildcats’ role players stepped up in unison and had his back.
Berry wound up with 16 points, three rebounds and three assists while going 3-of-6 from long range. Barnhizer, who made impact plays throughout the contest, led the team with seven rebounds and scored 12 points. Matt Nicholson scored nine.
And if you want to know how well things were going, the normally defense-focused big man Tydus Verhoeven scored back-to-back buckets on a running sky-hook in the lane followed by a dunk. He finished with eight points.
In all eight of nine Wildcats scored – all but Roy Dixon III, who played less than a minute at the tail end of each half.
“When they're playing like that, they're different,” said McCaffrey after the game. “Harder to beat.”
That was just one of the verbal bouquets that McCaffrey gave out. He said Collins would be the Big Ten Coach of the Year. “There's no doubt in my mind,” he said.
He also called Buie, who scored more than 20 points in each of Northwestern’s wins during this week of wonder, a first-team All-Big Ten player.
“Buie was terrific,” said McCaffrey. “He's been terrific all year, one of the best players in our league.”
Northwestern hit 10 threes and put together a highlight reel of big plays against the Hawkeyes. Maybe the prettiest sequence was a sublime possession in the first half. Buie, with the shot clock winding down, drove past his man and into the lane. He kicked the ball to the corner to Robbie Beran, who, just as an Iowa defender was closing on him, fired it to Berry on the wing, who snapped it Barnhizer at the top of the circle. Barnhizer launched the three-pointer that splashed through the net just after the buzzer rang out.
Northwestern already has a spot in the Big Dance sewn up. They are alone in second place in the Big Ten and should secure a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament for the first time ever. The Wildcats are just one game in the loss column behind Purdue and in contention for their first Big Ten basketball title since 1933.
At the end of the game, Nick Martinelli, Beran, Dixon and Nicholson all went over the student section behind the east basket to celebrate with students. Nicholson was seemingly determined to high-five every fan in the first three rows before he left the floor.
But those were not indicative of a job that is anywhere near finished. The Wildcats have four more games to go.
“It’s not a time for reflection,” said Collins, who has gone from the hottest seat in the Big Ten to a Naismith national coach of the year finalist. “Eleven [Big Ten] wins is great. Twenty wins is great… We want more."
