Simply put, that was a game that an NCAA tournament team has to win.
Coming off of a loss and playing on their home floor against an Illinois team that had lost three straight, the Wildcats needed a win over their in-state rivals. Instead, they were saddled with their first “bad loss” of the year, a 68-61 defeat that could come back to haunt them on Selection Sunday.
With Wisconsin and Maryland, the top two teams in the Big Ten, up next, Northwestern may have to sneak away with an upset of one of those two to atone for a loss to the Illini, who are now just 4-8 in conference play.
Bryant McIntosh overcame a horrid 0-for-8 start to score a game-high 21 points and lead Northwestern, while Vic Law scored 16 and pulled down a game-high 9 rebounds. Malcolm Hill tallied 14 to lead Illinois, while Maverick Morgan and Te’Jon Lucas had 11 each.
Here are our three pointers on a loss that drops Northwestern’s record to 18-6 (7-4 Big Ten):
Northwestern just couldn’t get it done in crunch time: The game was tied at 61 with 1:57 left, but Illinois scored the last 7 points of the game to post the win. McIntosh and Law combined for 36 points in the game, but neither could come up with a big play when the game was in the balance. McIntosh missed two shots and turned the ball over three times in the final two minutes to give him a game-high six TOs in the game. Law missed two 3-pointers in that span while Gavin Skelly also missed a triple. In all, Northwestern missed its last four shots.
No one stepped up for Lindsey: Northwestern’s offense struggled once again without leading scorer Scottie Lindsey, who missed his second straight game with an illness. The Wildcats again started Isiah Brown in his spot, but the freshman battled foul trouble all night and scored just 5 points. Nathan Taphorn didn’t fare much better, hitting just 1 of 5 shots for his 5 points. Skelly also went 1 for 5, while Sanjay Lumpkin did not score. As a whole, the Northwestern bench was outscored 30-13. McIntosh and Law carried the offense, but they weren’t very efficient, hitting a combined 13 of 34 shots (27.7 percent), and they played 39 and 38 minutes, respectively. A telling stat for Northwestern's offensive efficiency is assists, and the Wildcats had just 10 on their 19 baskets while committing 14 turnovers.
Illinois runs made the difference: Illinois used scoring spurts to steal this victory on the road. The Illini had a 15-0 run in the first half and a 9-0 run in the middle of the second before closing out the win with a 7-0 spurt. Northwestern, meanwhile, couldn’t find the basket during those decisive stretches. The Wildcats went scoreless for more than five minutes in the first half and a total of almost six minutes during the two Illini runs in the second period.
