CHICAGO-Northwestern worked all season to earn a second seed in the Big Ten Tournament and its accompanying double-bye to the quarterfinals.
Everything was set up for them on Friday night at the United Center. They had a pro-Wildcat crowd in a venue just a little over 20 miles from campus. Some 700 students were given free tickets, courtesy of mega-donors Pat and Shirley Ryan.
But Northwestern laid an egg on the big stage, producing their second-worst shooting night of the season in an ugly 67-65 overtime loss to Penn State.
Instead of making a run, the Wildcats went one-and-done.
How bad were the Wildcats? They took 66 shots and missed 45 of them for a shooting percentage of just 31.8 percent. That’s the worst performance since a 25% effort against Auburn way back in November.
They made just six of 24 shots (25%) from beyond the arc. Leading scorers Boo Buie and Chase Audige shot a combined 9-of-31 (29%) from the floor and 2-for-10 (20%) on threes.
Penn State’s defense had a lot to do with that, certainly. The Lions knocked off the Wildcats in overtime just last week, beating them 68-65 in Evanston on March 1.
Buie and head coach Chris Collins both credited the Nittany Lions for some of their struggles, but at the same time, they were their own worst enemy.
“We just weren’t making shots tonight,” said Buie.
“Thirty-one percent is not going to cut it,” said Collins. “Our four main scorers -- Boo, Chase, Ty, and Brooks -- shooting about 25 percent from the floor. You're not going to beat NCAA quality teams if we can't get our guys going.
“It's on me. I thought we had some good looks. Give Penn State credit. I thought they did some things well, but I also thought we had some looks that we just didn't knock down.”
Buie went 6-of-17. Audige was 3-of-14. Berry was 1-of-10. Barnhizer was 4-of-13. If even one of them had gotten hot, the Wildcats probably could have won the game.
The effort was there. The defense was there. They took care of the basketball. But the bottom line was that they couldn't throw the ball in the Chicago River from the Michigan Avenue Bridge.
The cast seemed to be set early, as Matt Nicholson missed a dunk and Berry clanked a wide-open three-pointer on the first possession – one of three he missed in the opening minutes of the game. The Wildcats missed their first nine three-point attempts before Robbie Beran finally sunk one with 5:04 left in the first half.
Berry missed seven threes in a row before finally getting a friendly roll with just 2:32 left in the game. Buie air-balled three three-pointers in the first half. Even his patented floaters in the lane weren't going down consistently.
Yet even after laying so many bricks, the Wildcats had a chance to win the game in overtime.
Penn State’s Seth Lundy hit a tough, step-back three-pointer over the outstretched arm of Barnhizer with 46 seconds left to give the Lions a 64-62 lead. After a timeout, Buie got a wide-open look at a three from the top of the circle that could have given the Cats the lead.
It bounced out.
They would get one more desperate shot to pull the game out of the jaws of defeat. Trailing 67-64, Buie was fouled with four seconds left. He made the first one and then unintentionally missed the second one short, so it bounced long, over a mass of arms.
The loose ball made its way out to the perimeter, where Audige gathered it, rose up and got off an open, albeit off-balanced three-point jumper.
It glanced off the rim. It was a fitting end to a frustrating night.
“I think, just as a team, including Chase and I, we just didn't make shots overall,” said Buie. “We missed a couple shots that we usually make, and if we had made those, we would have gained a little bit of a lead, and things probably would have went our way.
“We've been a team who hasn't turned the ball over a bunch. We just weren't making shots tonight.”
Sometimes, the game is that simple.
Think about this: Northwestern had more shots (66) than points (65). They took a whopping 15 more shots than the Nittany Lions and outscored them 23-2 in points off turnovers. Penn State had 15 turnovers to just four for the Wildcats.
Yet they still lost the game because they just couldn't knock down shots, open, contested or otherwise.
Collins was disappointed to let down the Northwestern fans who made the trip to the UC. But he is focused on the Wildcats’ next, bigger tournament: the Big Dance.
A lock for the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in school history, the Wildcats will find out where they play during the Selection Show on Sunday. The program is hosting a watch party at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
“We were excited to play here, being in Chicago, having a chance to play on Friday night. It didn't come our way tonight,” he said. “There's still a lot to be excited about. It's been a great regular season, and now Sunday, we'll find out where we're headed, and we're going to have a great attitude. Wherever we go, we'll be ready to go on Thursday or Friday.”
Hopefully, wherever the Wildcats end up, they will take their shooting with them.
