This may have been a game between the bottom two teams in the Big Ten standings, but what the matchup lacked in NCAA Tournament seeding implications, it made up for with drama.
Ryan Young pulled down an offensive rebound and hit a put-back layup with 2.8 seconds left to give Northwestern a thrilling 79-78 win over Nebraska in the regular season finale on Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Coming off of a timeout, the Wildcats had the ball with 11.5 seconds left and trailing by one point. Pete Nance didn’t get a great shot, a running semi-hook from the right side of the lane, but Young was there at the front of the rim to corral Nance’s miss, bring it down, and put the game-winner right back up.
Nebraska had one last chance for the win, but a running, three-point heave from Kobe Webster, who had 23 points to lead all scorers, clanged off the rim to give Northwestern its third straight win to close the regular season.
Northwestern had six players in double figures, led by Chase Audige’s 14 points. Nance had 13, Miller Kopp 12, Boo Buie and Robbie Beran 11 apiece and Ty Berry 10. Young only had six points, but he hit the biggest shot of the game.
Webster scored 20 of his game-high 23 points in the second half for the Huskers, who fought back from a 16-point first-half deficit to take a four-point lead with 2:22 left.
This time, the Wildcats made key shots down the stretch, including a three-pointer from Audige and a running hook from Nance, to set Young up for his late heroics.
The Wildcats and Huskers came into this game in 13th and 14th place in the Big Ten standings, respectively, but both teams were on relative hot streaks. The Wildcats had won two straight and the Huskers two of three.
Both teams showed early in the game why they struggled all season. Northwestern missed its first seven shots from the floor, while Nebraska registered six turnovers in less than seven minutes.
After starting ice cold, the Wildcats started heating up, hitting five of their next six shots to outscore the Huskers 11-2 and take an 11-5 lead.
The teams traded baskets before Northwestern went on another run, this one 14-1, and after Kopp and Beran drained back-to-back three-pointers, and Kopp hit a floater in the lane, the Wildcats had a commanding 27-11 lead.
But Nebraska, with help from seven free throws in the first half, whittled the lead down to 39-30 by halftime.
Kopp hit a jumper from the free-throw line to open the second half, but then the Huskers went on an 8-0 tear. Consecutive triples from Trey McGowens and Webster, and then a steal by Derrick Walker and a McGowens’ fast-break layup, slashed Northwestern’s lead to 41-38 and prompted head coach Chris Collins to call a timeout.
Webster hit a three-pointer to cut Northwestern’s lead to two, but then the Wildcats suddenly found their stroke from long distance: Audige hit one triple, and then Buie drained two straight and the lead went back to 11, 54-43, in the blink of an eye.
Nebraska, though, wouldn’t go away. The Wildcats went through a scoring drought of more than four minutes as the Huskers cut the lead to one twice before finally taking the lead, 68-67, on a Webster jumper from the top of the key with just over four minutes left and set the stage for the dramatic finish.
Here are our takeaways from the victory that gave Northwestern a final record of 9-14 overall and 6-13 in Big Ten play.
Northwestern made big shots down the stretch: The Wildcats have had issues all year with blowing late leads, but after surrendering the advantage to Nebraska and falling behind 73-69 with 3:16 left, they made the plays to pull this one out, including scoring the last six points of the game.
Nance hit a running layup. Audige hit a long three-pointer from Glencoe, and then Nance hit a running sky hook from about 14 feet to give the Wildcats a 76-75 lead.
But McGowens converted a three-point play on a layup and foul on Buie to give the Huskers the lead again, 78-77, with one minute left. Young missed a layup and then was fouled on the other end, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one to open the door for the Huskers again.
Northwestern played tough defense to force a Nebraska shot-clock violation, and then Young came through in the clutch by being in the right place at the right time, as he always seems to be.
Kopp and Beran snapped out of their slumps: Kopp went 0-for-11 in the Wildcats’ win over Maryland on Wednesday and then missed his first four shots against the Huskers.
But a three-pointer from the corner got him back on track. He wound up hitting five of his last nine shots from the floor to finish with 12 points, including two shots from beyond the arc.
Beran, who has struggled all season, played his best half of the season in the first period, finishing with 10 of his 11 points. Beran hit a three to open the scoring, and then made a great adjustment for a finger roll in the lane off of a feed from Nance. The sophomore went four-for-seven in the first half, including a pair of three pointers.
He had a much quieter second half, with just one free throw, but his 11-point output was his most since scoring the same amount against Indiana on Feb. 10.
Free throws were again an issue for Northwestern: Opponents have shot more free throws than Northwestern consistently all season, and that was the case again on Sunday, as Nebraska outshot the Wildcats 16-9.
Nebraska took 11 free throws in the first half, while Northwestern didn’t get a single one. In fact, the Wildcats didn’t shoot a free throw until Beran hit one of two with just 12:27 left in the game.
However, the Wildcats got to the line nine times in the second half, while Nebraska shot just five. The problem was that Northwestern hit just four of those nine shots, while the Huskers drained all five of theirs.
The Cats close on an uptick: It’s been a long, disappointing season for Northwestern, but at least they opened and closed the conference season with a flourish.
The Wildcats opened Big Ten play with three straight wins back in December, and closed it with three straight wins over the last couple weeks.
In between, however, they dropped 13 straight and didn’t win for more than 60 days.
Still, Northwestern enters the Big Ten Tournament next week on a hot streak. They will play Minnesota, a team they beat on Feb. 25, in the first round.
