For the Northwestern men’s basketball team on Wednesday, conference win No. 1 just wasn’t meant to be.
But the Wildcats are getting closer.
The Cats hung tough with the the country’s 11th-ranked team before relenting to the pressure of Illinois (14-4, 4-1 Big Ten) with only minutes to go. The Fighting Illini pulled away for a 63-49 win in front of a sellout Welsh-Ryan Arena crowd of 8,117.
A year ago the Cats didn’t score in the first 15 minutes against Illinois, tallying only six first-half points in a 63-30 loss. But the 2001 contest couldn’t have been more different — NU led 15-12 after 11 minutes and trailed 44-43 with 10:30 left in the game.
“I really like what (NU coach) Bill (Carmody) is doing with this team,” first-year Illini coach Bill Self said. “They’re going to be good and beat some teams. I’m just glad it wasn’t us.
“If we say we were sleepwalking (in the first half) then we’re taking away from a team that outplayed us. In my opinion, the wrong team won.”
Carmody said he appreciated Self’s concession, but still felt his team gave away a chance to earn a monumental victory.
The Cats (7-10, 0-5) have now lost 27 consecutive conference games. But all signs — the last two losses to the Illini and Penn State in particular — suggest they’re inching closer to the elusive first win.
“We can play better,” Carmody said. “All the things they beat us on are things (we) can take care of.”
Now that the Cats appear ready to stay with the better teams in the Big Ten, they’ll need to find a way to get over the top. After an Aaron Jennings put-back brought the Cats to a 44-43 deficit with 10:39 to go, they went into a deep freeze, scoring just six points the rest of the way.
“It’s just another loss,” said guard Ben Johnson, who scored 11 points to lead NU. “At that point, you have to realize as a team that there’s only five minutes left in the game, and we don’t have to prove to ourselves that we can play with these guys. It’s evident in the scoreboard. We just have to go out there and compete and get things done.”
Meanwhile, the Illini took advantage of their depth and size to pound the ball inside for put-back points that closed the book on NU.
Illinois — which scored 13 second-chance points in the game — grabbed 18 boards on the offensive end; NU had 18 total rebounds. Johnson and center Tavaras Hardy were the only Cats with more than one rebound, each snagging four.
“They kept getting second and third opportunities off rebounds,” said guard Jitim Young, who was the Cats’ second-leading scorer at 10 points. “(Illinois forwards) Sergio (McClain) and Brian (Cook), they just kept banging the boards.”
Cook’s play in particular helped salt away NU. Down the stretch, he dropped in four consecutive layups in a span of 2:35, an 8-0 run that made a four-point thriller a 12-point cinch. The power forward finished with 14 points and 11 boards, proving that the Cats didn’t have anyone to stop him.
“He did a good job of getting on the glass and making plays,” Self said. “We did a great job on the glass the entire game.”
The Illini switched defenses on NU several times in the second half, playing man, zone, triangle-and-two and a three-quarter-court press. The changing looks didn’t force too many turnovers, but they disturbed the Cats just enough to throw off their offensive rhythm.
And when NU couldn’t slip into its offense as quickly, the good looks at the basket disappeared, and the Illini took control.
NU shot the ball well from inside the three-point line, going 12-for-24 on two-point attempts. But that didn’t translate behind the arc, where NU blew a number of open treys — and any chance to climb back into the fray.
The Cats drained just three of 19 three-point attempts, a dismal 16 percent. Winston Blake hit only two shots from outside, and Johnson nailed the other. Aside from those two players, NU went 0-for-8.
Despite the shooting woes, NU played with swagger for a good part of the game, once again taking an unsuspecting foe by surprise — then still losing.
“To beat a team the caliber of Illinois, you’ve got to play for 40 minutes,” Carmody said. “We’re all disappointed we let this one get away from us.”
