Jalen Leach poured in 27 points, including seven of Northwestern’s nine points in overtime, to enable the Wildcats to escape with a 67-58 overtime win over a pesky Eastern Illinois squad on Friday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Leach, a grad transfer from Fairfield in his first year with the Wildcats, hit three big buckets, including a 3-pointer, down the stretch in regulation time to enable Northwestern to force overtime. In the extra frame, he hit four free throws and another 3 as the Wildcats outscored the Panthers 9-0 to clinch the win.
EIU had lost by 45 and 35 to Big Ten opponents Illinois and Indiana, respectively, earlier this season. But the Panthers gave the Wildcats all they could handle in a game that turned into a dogfight in the second half.
Northwestern had built a 37-27 halftime lead with 10-0 and 10-2 runs, and Leach’s and Nick Martinelli’s combined 21 points. But EIU’s Nakyel Shelton went off in the second half, scoring 15 of his team-high 19 points as the Panthers took the lead and battled the Wildcats back-and-forth down the stretch.
Leach hit a 3-pointer for a 58-56 lead, but Shelton hit a tough, contested jumper to tie it with 31 seconds left. Martinelli missed a layup and Matt Nicholson couldn’t hit a tap-in on the final possession and the game went into overtime. There, however, the Wildcats took control and shut out the Panthers.
Martinelli scored 16 points for NU, while Ty Berry had 10. Nicholson didn’t score but had 12 rebounds.
Shelton was helped by Cooper Jakobi, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Panthers.
Neither team shot well from distance: Northwestern hit 5-of-19, while EIU hit just 3-of-19. Berry (3) and Leach (2) had all the Wildcats’ makes from beyond the arc.
Here are the takeaways from a too-close-for-comfort win over Eastern Illinois that improved Northwestern’s record to 3-1.
Leach carried the Wildcats: Leach had a career night and did most of his damage from the free-throw line.
Leach made just five baskets all night but went 15-of-16 from the charity stripe. His ability to score from the line was often the only reliable thing Northwestern had going offensively.
Late in the second half, after the Wildcats had fallen behind, it was Leach who put the team on his back. He scored the Wildcats last seven points in regulation on a pair of jumpers and a 3-pointer from the wing. Leach finished just 5-of-12 shooting, but he hit the big ones when it counted.
Northwestern relied on all-time leading scorer Boo Buie to hit big baskets when they needed them the last two years. On Friday night, it was Leach who took the rock for the Wildcats.
The Cats clawed out a win when the 3s weren’t falling: Northwestern is often a team that lives and dies by the 3-pointer. On a night they shot just 26% from long distance, they found a way to gut out a victory.
They did it by outscoring EIU 20-5 at the free-throw line. They went 20-for-27, while EIU went just 5-of-8. Without a reliable outside game, the Wildcats attacked the paint.
They also held a 37-34 advantage in rebounds, including plus-two on the offensive glass. In a tight game, those things proved to be the difference.
Despite having a considerable size advantage, Northwestern got just 2 total points from big men Nicholson and Luke Hunger combined.
Justin Mullins made some critical plays: An often-overlooked player who had a tough time finding a role a season ago, Mullins had one of his best games as a Wildcat and made some crucial plays to contribute to the win.
In the closing minutes of regulation, it was Mullins who tapped the ball away from Shelton for a steal. The ball wound up in the hands of Leach, who hit a big 3 with 1:03 left to give Northwestern a 58-56 lead.
Mullins threw down a dunk in the first half, found Nicholson under the basket to draw a foul and his jumper from the wing stopped an EIU run in the second half.
In all, Mullins finished with six points, five rebounds and two assists in 34 minutes. It’s not a particularly impressive stat line, but the 6-foot-6 junior transfer did a lot of little things that helped the Wildcats win.
