EVANSTON-Northwestern cut a 14-point deficit to one point in a two-minute span, but the Wildcats couldn't close the deal in the closing seconds of a wild 73-69 loss to UCLA on Senior Night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Northwestern tried to send off one of the most decorated classes in program history with a final home win. Instead, the Wildcats lost yet another heartbreaking tight game that was marred by a controversial no-call, and snapped their three-game winning streak.

The game followed a familiar pattern for the undermanned Wildcats as they took a 35-34 lead at half, buoyed by their bond with a raucous home crowd supporting seniors Ty Berry, Matt Nicholson and Keenan Fitzmorris in their final games in Evanston.

But the Bruins dominated the second half and held a commanding 68-54 lead with 2:17 remaining. The game appeared to be over at that point, but Berry had other plans.

The senior scored 10 of Northwestern's next 13 points as part of a shocking run that saw Northwestern get to within one point, 68-67, with 21 seconds left after Berry's last basket in the run.

UCLA's Skyy Clark split a pair of free throws and Northwestern had the ball in the closing seconds. Nick Martinelli drove to the basket and was obviously hacked by UCLA's Eric Dailey Jr.

But the referees didn't blow the whistle, UCLA gathered the loose ball and found Dailey wide-open on the other end. Freshman KJ Windham wrapped Dailey up and was called for a Flagrant 1 foul, effectively icing the game as UCLA knocked down four straight free throws.

"Really disappointing ending to that game," said head coach Chris Collins in an understatement.

Berry capped off his Welsh-Ryan career with a virtuoso performance, a game-high 22 points on 7-for-13 shooting, including 4-for-9 from 3. Martinelli chipped in 20 points.

But UCLA punished Northwestern down low with a 38-24 rebounding advantage, and a 13-4 edge on the offensive glass that led to a lopsided 17-5 disparity in second-chance points.

UCLA's big man duo of Tyler Bilodeau and the 7-foot-3 Aday Mara dictated terms all night long, but especially in the second half. Bilodeau finished with 19 points in just 24 minutes and Mara put up a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in just 16 minutes.

Here are our takeaways from what could have been a classic Cardiac Cats win on Senior Night:

Officiating marred another game: Collins was frustrated with the referees in the post-game press conference and disagreed with their no-call on Martinelli, as well their flagrant call on Windham, but, to his credit, he avoided losing his temper.

"I'm not going to get into all that," he said. "I like my paycheck and I'd like to coach on Saturday. Because if I say something, I won't be judged as others are."

The game was called in the first half with a 10-0 advantage to Northwestern in free-throw attempts. In the second, the refs swung the pendulum as hard as possible back the other way, with a 16-4 advantage to UCLA, as well as the egregious no-call on Martinelli, who, it should be noted, is the Big Ten's scoring leader playing on his home court.

Now, UCLA joins the ignominious list with Butler, Penn State and Michigan as games that seemed to swing on the whims of the whistle. We don't know if the Wildcats would have won, or even tied if Martinelli goes to the line for two shots down two with 12 seconds left, but Northwestern deserves the respect from the officials and the league to find out.

In a season defined by what could have been, from injuries to buzzer beaters to the men in stripes, it will be hard not to wonder what could have been for the Wildcats.

"How could you not [wonder what-if]?," Collins said. "Even though people didn't think we'd be good... I was really excited and we got hit with injuries and some crazy luck... You wish you had a full compliment, just to see. But I'm so proud of what these guys have done."

Special class of seniors: Collins' pride is well placed.

This senior class -- Nicholson, Berry and the injured Brooks Barnhizer -- over the last four years has produced the winningest three-season stretch in program history (60) and the second-winningest four-season stretch (75), with a chance to tie or exceed the 76-win record with a game and the Big Ten tournament left to play.

Nicholson and Berry each took the opportunity postgame to reflect on what made their careers special.

"The community," Nicholson said. "Everyone here is part of the community...the feeling of playing for the town, what we built here... It didn't start like that...this feels better than all the other different arenas combined."

"Every game in Welsh-Ryan, I cherished...," Berry said. "Even though we fell short, I'm just super proud of my teammates."

Grad transfers Fitzmorris and the injured Jalen Leach were also honored before the game.

Welsh-Ryan was short of a sellout but it was deafening down the stretch, haunting a UCLA team that was suddenly watching the game slip through their fingers.

For Berry, who has had an up-and-down career for the Wildcats, came together as a player and a leader down this home stretch. In the last seven games since Leach went down with a season-ending injury against USC, he has averaged 16.2 points per game on 40% shooting from beyond the 3-point line.

"I'm just really proud [of Berry]," Collins said. "The [season-ending] injury [last season] was devastating, like Brooks and Matt, it broke my heart... He's been tremendous."

Collins got to send off his son on Senior Night: Sports are about family at the end of the day, and for Collins, that means sending off his son as a senior team manager.

Collins tagged along when his dad, Doug, was coach of the Chicago Bulls, and now his son, Ryan, is wrapping up his run as a team manager for Chris' team at Northwestern.

"It was emotional for me," Collins said. "You guys know I'm a crier, but I'm going to try not to cry... The special ability to be with my son for four years. I got to do that with my dad...to see [Ryan] thrive, the friendships he's created... Ty, Matt, Brooks, those are his best friends."

Collins turned back the clock, thinking back to when he first took the Northwestern job, when Ryan was still in grade school.

""I was thinking about my press conference and he was a 10-year-old, a little pudgy kid on crutches," Collins said. "To see him walk out as a 22-year-old stud, it made me proud."

Northwestern's Big Ten Tournament outlook is still good: With this loss, the rumblings of a late-season Cinderella surge for an at-large NCAA Tournament spot are officially silenced. A 16-14 overall record and 7-12 mark in conference with one game remaining, no matter the underlying adversity, are simply too much to overcome.

The Wildcats fell to 14th in the conference, a half-game up on USC and Iowa in 15th. They have a tiebreaker over both teams, so in order to fall out of the tournament they would need to lose at Maryland on Saturday, for Iowa to beat both Michigan State and Nebraska, and for USC to beat Washington and UCLA in their remaining games. If any of those games swing another way, and the Wildcats will make the trip to Indy.

Regardless of how it pans out, Berry always has his team's eyes on the prize and their competitive fire burning.

"It's March, so you never what can happen," Berry said. "If we get into the Big Ten Tournament and make something shake, you never know. We're going to keep fighting and we'll never quit."