ROSEMONT, Ill.-With just nine seconds left, Northwestern head coach Chris Collins called timeout, trailing 70-64. The game was over and he subbed for his seniors one final time on their home-away-from-home floor at Allstate Arena.
Scottie Lindsey, Gavin Skelly and Bryant McIntosh came off the floor, hugged Collins and then made their way down the bench, embracing every teammate, one-by-one. McIntosh grimaced as he hugged each Wildcat, fighting to hold back tears.
What did Collins tell each player? “With each of them I thanked them and told them that I love them.”
The Wildcats weren’t able to send off their seniors with a win – in fact, they lost their fifth straight game and lowered their record to .500 on the season. But they did usher them out with a heck of an effort that fell a little short in what was maybe an appropriate ending to Northwestern’s home season.
“We laid it on the line tonight,” said McIntosh after the game. “We just battled tonight.”
Lindsey scored 26 points while McIntosh had 18 to lead the Wildcats, who played from behind for virtually the entire game. They also played without Vic Law, who was out with a foot injury, leaving the Wildcats with just eight healthy players. Northwestern’s bench was made up of six players in street clothes and just three in shorts.
Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ was the main culprit in ruining the night for Northwestern’s seniors, scoring 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half.
Here are our three pointers on the loss that drops Northwestern’s record to 15-15 overall and 6-11 in the Big Ten.
Happ was too much down the stretch: Wisconsin’s star forward took over when the Badgers needed him most, scoring eight of the Badgers’ last 14 points. Northwestern refused to double-team Happ in the post for most of the night, and the 6-foot-10 junior made them pay again and again. He also finished with seven rebounds, three assists, three blocks and four steals. Northwestern pulled to within 65-64 after Lindsey pulled up for a jumper in the lane with 1:01 left. But Brevin Pritzl hit the dagger on the ensuing possession for the Badgers. After a Wisconsin timeout, Wisconsin swung the ball out to the guard, who was alone on the wing, and he let fly with the 3-pointer with 29 seconds left that gave the Badgers a 68-64 lead. Lindsey missed a 3-pointer on the other end to end NU’s last real threat. Khalil Iverson, who had 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and six rebounds, dropped in two free throws to close the scoring.
The seniors left it all out on the floor: Lindsey, the Wildcats’ best scorer, played one of his better games of the season, scoring 26 points on 8-of-16 shooting. He really carried the load in the first half, when he hit five of seven shots and poured in 15 points. McIntosh, whom Chris Collins said couldn’t lift his right arm the last two weeks because of his injured shoulder, turned in a gutty performance with 18 points and six assists. The rust he had from two weeks on the sideline showed in his turnovers: he had six of them. While Skelly didn’t have a particularly good night – he totaled just four points and three rebounds – it was appropriate that he wound up with four fouls, as foul trouble dogged him throughout his career. One downer: The three seniors combined for 11 of the Wildcats’ 13 turnovers.
The bench got shut out: Northwestern’s bench has struggled all year, but tonight was a low point. The Wildcats’ five starters scored all 64 points against the Badgers. The bench didn’t contribute a single point and was outscored 19-0 by Wisconsin’s reserves, which included Andy Van Vliet, who finished with 14 points. Isiah Brown played eight minutes and missed his only shot, though he did dish out two assists. Aaron Falzon missed three good looks at triples and wound up missing all four of his shots from the floor. Barret Benson contributed just one rebound and two fouls in his three minutes. Northwestern looked more tired than Wisconsin’s down the stretch and that’s hardly a surprise: Badgers’ reserves totaled 42 minutes, NU’s just 31.
