Beneath a speechless mass of mourning Iowans, a small purple mob met at center court and celebrated the end of The Streak.

Dwarfed in number by a visiting contingent that filled most of Welsh-Ryan Arena, the Northwestern faithful finally had reason to cheer – for the first time since Feb. 6, 1999, their Wildcats had won a regular-season Big Ten game.

Before Saturday’s 69-61 triumph over the No. 14 Hawkeyes (17-6, 6-4 Big Ten), the Cats had dropped 32 consecutive conference games. Moreover, they had become astoundingly proficient at finding ways to lose – be it by double-digit blowouts or by heartbreaking second-half collapses. But the 7,887 fans in attendance Saturday witnessed something completely different.

The Cats (9-15, 1-10) stole the ball and scored off Iowa’s first two possessions, and they led most of the way after that. But upon losing an advantage that was twice at seven and falling behind 37-33 with 12:45 left in the game, NU appeared to be following its old formula for defeat.

“We gave them some quick fouls at first (in the second half) and then we got behind by four or five points and it started looking like (another loss),” said NU forward Winston Blake, who scored all of his 20 team-leading points in the second half. “We just got together as a team and said, ‘Look, we have to push through this.'”

NU coach Bill Carmody used a 30-second timeout after falling behind by four, and the Cats immediately fought back to erase the deficit.

A Blake three-pointer from the top of the key – only his second basket from the field – slashed the deficit to one, and their next basket started a 13-2 run that gave them the lead for good.

“They had an opportunity to give in,” Carmody said. “I told them at halftime that I didn’t even think it was anything about basketball. I just think we have to get over this hump that everybody talks about, so let’s do it.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am for our guys because they’ve labored all year.”

The Cats gave their most inspired effort of the year, and that translated into positive plays on the court. From Blake’s three-pointer until the end of the game, NU was constantly diving for loose balls, nailing clutch outside shots and making important stops on defense.

And their hustle had Iowa coach Steve Alford sounding like Carmody does after most Big Ten games.

“We have to make a lot of changes,” said Alford, whose team shot only 37 percent from the field. “We have a lot of problems – finding somebody who can knock down shots, and our offense is very stagnant right now. (They) outworked us, outplayed us and did the things they had to do to get a Big Ten win.”

Once NU grabbed the lead with two minutes left, Iowa could do nothing but foul and pray for missed free throws. The Cats partially obliged, hitting only 15 of 32 shots from the charity stripe in the second half. But it wasn’t enough for the Hawkeyes to extend the Cats’ streak to 33 losses.

Iowa’s penchant for fouling turned comical near the end of the game – the Cats rarely held the ball for more than three seconds in the last two minutes. Iowa committed 21 personal fouls in the second half alone.

Meanwhile, NU danced around foul trouble for most of the game. Freshman guard Jitim Young – who scored 16 points – and junior guard Collier Drayton both played most of the second half with four fouls, and center Tavaras Hardy played the last six minutes with four until fouling out with 29 seconds to go.

The gritty Cats proved down the stretch that they deserved to win the game, refusing to fold as Iowa continued to apply pressure.

“This is the first game we really played with a lot of heart,” Young said. “I just got tired of people saying we were young and we were going to grow up and mature. And I was telling everybody not to use that as an excuse. Last year I think the guys got too comfortable with using a young team as an excuse not to win.”

Only two players – Hardy and Drayton, both of whom led the team emotionally all game long – were on NU’s roster the last time the team won a conference game. After their victory over the Hawkeyes, the Cats could exhale.

And while NU players were obviously relieved to see one excruciating chapter end, they were just as anxious to look forward to the next.

“We’ve finally gotten over that hump that we’ve been so close to,” Drayton said. “Instead of breaking down in the last few minutes, we stuck together and pulled out a victory.

“We’ve got a winning streak now.”