Cats squander two late leads in heartbreaking double-OT loss to Indiana
This game was difficult to categorize and almost impossible to describe. But one thing is certain: it was the most painful of Northwestern’s 10 straight losses to date.
The Wildcats blew two late leads – one in regulation and one in the first overtime – as Indiana, which got outplayed for most of the game, sneaked out of Evanston with a 79-76 double-overtime victory.
What was maddening about this one was that Northwestern looked to have the game in hand. Twice.
The Wildcats led by seven points with two minutes to play in regulation. Then, even more incredibly, they held a six-point advantage with just one minute to play in the first overtime. But they squandered both opportunities as the Hoosiers forged a tie both times.
Finally, in the second extra period, Indiana put the Wildcats out of their misery, outscoring them 13-10 to claim its second straight win and avenge a December loss to this same Northwestern team.
The Wildcats did a lot right in this game, leading for all but 14 seconds of regulation time. But critical mistakes at critical times once again did in the Wildcats, as has been the case for much of the season.
“We played pretty well today,” said Pete Nance. “We were a couple mistakes away from turning the corner. There were a couple key moments that hurt us, and they made the plays, so credit to them.”
Chase Audige led Northwestern with 19 points, his third straight game in double figures. Robbie Beran snapped his scoring slump, as he and Nance both finished with 12 points, while Ryan Young tallied 11.
Northwestern managed to hold Indiana scoring leader Trayce Jackson-Davis to just 10 points, though he did collect a game-high 14 rebounds. Aljami Durham and Armaan Franklin picked up the scoring slack by combining for 47 points to spearhead the Hoosiers.
The Wildcats had heavy hearts in this one as the father of freshman guard Ty Berry died on Tuesday night. They dedicated the game to their absent teammate and gave a valiant effort, but they again fell short due to a late-game collapse.
“For them to come out and play as hard as they did, I’m heartbroken that we weren’t able to come away with a win because I thought we really deserved it,” said head coach Chris Collins.
Here are our takeaways from the loss that dropped Northwestern’s record to 6-11 overall and 3-10 in Big Ten play:
Fouls and turnovers did NU in down the stretch in regulation: After Young scored on a putback, the Wildcats had a seven-point lead, 54-47, with less than two minutes to play in the second half. But from that point on, Northwestern committed three turnovers and three fouls to turn what looked like a sure win into a tie.
The first foul was on Audige, and Durham made one of two free throws to close the gap to 54-48. Then, Miller Kopp turned the ball over to Durham, who was fouled on the resulting fast break by Kopp. This time, Durham hit both free throws.
After another turnover by Audige, Ryan Greer was guilty of fouling Durham in the act of shooting. Durham again sank both free throws to make it a two-point game. Finally, Durham hit a jumper with 24 seconds left to tie it at 54.
The Wildcats still had a chance to win the game, but they failed to even get a shot off on an inbounds play with 3.9 seconds left. The entry pass to Audige was too far under the basket, and he threw the ball up and behind him, toward the middle of the floor, where Durham stole it and got off a 70-foot heave that missed.
Fouls cost them again in the first OT: After Audige hit a pair of free throws, Northwestern held a seemingly secure 66-60 lead with just 60 seconds left. That’s when things unraveled. And unacceptable fouls again cost them dearly:
First, Kopp did the unthinkable, committing an off-ball foul that again put the Hoosiers at the charity stripe and also fouled Kopp out of the game. Franklin hit both free throws to cut the Wildcats’ lead to four.
Audige went back to the line and missed the front end of a one-on-one, and this time, it was Greer who fouled Franklin in the act of shooting. Franklin drained both shots and the Wildcats’ lead was down to two, 66-64, with 46 seconds left.
Northwestern then had a terrible possession, wasting the shot clock away until Audige had to launch a long three-pointer that didn’t touch the rim, resulting in a violation. The Hoosiers didn’t fritter away their last chance, as Durham hit a long two-pointer – his left toe was on the line – with one second left to tie the game at 66.
Free throws told the story: In the deciding second overtime, Indiana scored eight of their 13 points from the free-throw line. The first two, by Rob Phinisee, gave them a 72-70 lead, their first lead since early in the second half. The last two, by Durham, pushed their lead to 79-73 before an Audige triple provided the final margin.
In all, Indiana shot a whopping 38 free throws in the game, making 27. Sixteen of them came in the two overtime periods.
Northwestern, on the other hand, shot less than a third of that total, making eight of 12. Both Kopp and Greer fouled out, and Audige and Nance finished with four fouls each.
Fouls have been an issue for the Wildcats throughout the season and it cost them dearly in this one.
The Cats got off to a fast start for a change: Whether it was the unusually early tipoff time (4:30 p.m. Central time) or playing for a grieving teammate, the Wildcats built an early lead against the Hoosiers, a welcome departure from their typical early struggles in recent games.
Northwestern hit just one of its first six shots and had just three points at the first media timeout. But that was enough to grab the lead against the cold-shooting Hoosiers, who missed their first nine shots from the floor and didn’t crack the scoreboard for the first 5:35.
Northwestern opened up a 14-2 edge by that point. Then, after Audige and Kopp hit back-to-back three-pointers, Northwestern had a 21-7 lead, its largest edge of the game.
Northwestern then hit one of its patented scoring droughts: It seems to happen to the Wildcats every game, but this scoreless streak was long, even by their standards.
After building a 14-point lead, the Wildcats went right into a seven-plus minute scoring drought. Young ended the drought with a putback layup, but Northwestern scored just two points over the last 7:40 of the first half.
The elongated dry spell allowed Indiana to get back into the game. The Hoosiers went on a 9-0 run and closed the gap to three points, 23-20, by halftime after a bizarre review in the closing seconds of the half. Jackson-Davis’s basket off of an inbounds play with one second left on the shot clock was initially waved off because it came after the clock had expired. But after a lengthy review, officials determined his shot took just .8 seconds and counted his basket.
Berry was on everyone’s mind: Northwestern dedicated Wednesday’s game to Berry, who did not play against the Hoosiers. Berry’s father, Tony, died suddenly and tragically the night before.
As a tribute to his teammate, Boo Buie wore Berry’s No. 3 jersey against Indiana, complete with Berry’s name on the back.
“All our thoughts are with Ty Berry,” said a subdued Collins after the game. “It was heartbreaking this morning to deal with that with him, and with our team.”
Collins said he wasn’t sure how his team would react during the game, but he was proud of the way “we played our butts off,” even if they did make plenty of mistakes.
“We just wanted to honor his spirit and I thought we did that,” he said with a quivering voice while fighting back tears.