EVANSTON-Northwestern was an underdog in its matchup with Indiana on Tuesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena, despite winning its last two Big Ten games.
But that was before the Hoosiers announced shortly before tipoff that five players, including two starters, were suspended and wouldn’t play. That changed the game dramatically.
The Wildcats took advantage of their good fortune, taking the lead at the halfway mark of the second half and holding on for a 59-51 win. It was the third straight win for Northwestern, which is trying to make up for a 2-8 start and scramble onto the postseason bubble.
Indiana scored four straight points to cut Northwestern’s lead to 53-49 with three minutes to go. But this time, the Wildcats made four free throws and Boo Buie hit a big basket down the stretch the close out the win.
Northwestern shot just 32% for the game but turned the ball over just six times and had a 16-7 advantage in offensive rebounds. The Wildcats’ bench outscored the depleted Hoosiers’ reserves 18-3.
Buie, coming off of a 27-point performance against Nebraska on Saturday, scored 18 to once again lead the Wildcats. Chase Audige contributed 12, while Pete Nance pulled down 11 rebounds.
Indiana was led by Race Thompson’s 14 points, while Trayce Jackson-Davis and Trey Galloway added 13 apiece.
It was a raucous crowd at Welsh-Ryan, though with decidedly more crimson than purple in the stands. After a sleepy start, Northwestern students managed to boo former Wildcat Miller Kopp, who transferred to IU after three years at Northwestern, every time he touched the ball.
Kopp made a three-pointer early but went just 1-for-7 from the field and missed four of his five threes to finish with just three points.
Jackson-Davis, Indiana’s star, made his impact early. He got the ball on the low block, drew a foul on Nance and converted a three-point play on IU’s first possession. Then, on the other end, he blocked a Buie shot into the stands.
But it was Galloway, pressed into a more prominent role because of suspensions, who did the most damage for the Hoosiers in the first few minutes. He got to the rim for a couple layups and nailed a three-pointer from the wing and had nine quick points after averaging 6.8 per game over the last nine contests.
The Hoosiers led for most of the first half, but Northwestern hung around, despite shooting just 31% from the floor and making just one of 13 shots from beyond the arc in the opening period.
The Wildcats finally took their first lead, 21-19, after Buie used a delay dribble and blew past Kopp for a layup with 6:43 left in the half. But Indiana took it right back on a Jackson-Davis putback and a Jordan Geronimo three, and the Hoosiers led 30-26 at the half.
Northwestern quickly erased Indiana’s edge in the second half. Audige hit a three-pointer to tie it at 35 at the 16:12 mark, and an IU assistant was assessed a technical foul on the bench. Ryan Greer hit one of two free throws to give the Wildcats a one-point lead.
Greer hit a jumper and Robbie Beran drained a three-pointer to extend the advantage to six. They stretched the lead to 44-37 on a Buie three-pointer – just the fourth in 20 attempts for the Wildcats to that point – with 11:04 to go.
Indiana came clawing back, however, cutting the lead to three points at 51-48 and getting the IU fans into a frenzy. But Audige silenced them a moment later when he drilled a wide-open three-pointer off the glass.
After Ryan Young hit two free throws after a flagrant-one call against Galloway, the Wildcats’ had their biggest lead at eight with 4:50 left.
But back came the Hoosiers again, scoring four straight to pull to within 53-49 with three minutes left. Another flagrant-one foul against Galloway, who also fouled out on the play, let NU extend the lead to six and retain the ball with 2:36 left.
Buie hit a clutch 10-foot floater to extend the Wildcats’ lead to 57-49. The Hoosiers again pulled to within six, but Kopp airballed a contested three with the shot clock winding down to extinguish their last hope.
Greer, who finished with seven points, three rebounds and three assists, then made two free throws to close the scoring.
