Three-point shooting was the story in both of the Northwestern men’s basketball team’s first two games. But in Thursday’s game, the Wildcats weren’t the ones making nearly 50 percent of their shots from behind the arc.
Even with East Carolina draining 17 threes — the Pirates took 36 — the Cats had a chance for victory in the second round of the Black Coaches Association Invitational in Raleigh, N.C. But NU couldn’t pull out another win to go 2-0, falling 71-68.
Coming out of a timeout with 6.7 seconds left before the final buzzer, NU found itself down three with a chance to pull even with the Pirates.
The Cats tried to get the ball to Winston Blake, who was wrapped up by the Pirates — as he had been for most of the second half.
After a second timeout with 1.7 seconds left, Carmody changed the play. Swingman Jason Burke inbounded — as he had seconds before — with a pass to senior Tavaras Hardy. Hardy lofted up a long three-pointer that hit the back of the rim as time expired.
“It was a good look,” said guard Jitim Young, who had 19 points on the night. “I thought it was going in. If he takes that shot later, it’s money.”
Hardy was playing on a sore ankle, which he hurt in the Cats’ game against Virginia Commonwealth on Wednesday. Even with the injury, Hardy managed 16 points and seven rebounds.
The Cats (1-1) had climbed back from a 15-point deficit with six minutes remaining on Thursday for that last-second shot. NU had a 23-11 run to end the game, and was as close as one point with less than 40 seconds left.
But earlier, on East Carolina’s own 17-2 run, Brandon Hawkins had almost killed the Cats singlehandedly with three three-pointers. Hawkins went 5-for-5 from behind the arc in the second half, finishing with 20 points on the game.
“They made just about every shot they took,” NU coach Bill Carmody said.
“They had three or four guys who were making shots. You have to give them credit.”
Three Pirates players — Hawkins, Kenyatta Brown and Erroyl Bing — combined to score 61 of the team’s 71 total points.
After East Carolina’s run, Young said the Cats started “moping,” playing impatiently in their second game in two days.
“We were fatigued and out of our offense,” Young said. “We were bickering a lot on the court. But then we started to get shot after shot after shot in.”
Other than the last six minutes of the game, Carmody wasn’t impressed with NU’s scoring.
“We weren’t in the flow of our offense,” Carmody said.
“It wasn’t running smoothly. (At the end of the game), we started picking up the full court and got a couple steals. (East Carolina) probably relaxed a little.”
Blake had scored 17 by the break, when the Pirates led 33-32, but managed only two points in the second half when East Carolina started doubling him on defense.
“They put the heat on him,” Carmody said. “Other guys have to come through. (Blake) wasn’t getting the help.”
Burke also had a frustrating night offensively, going 0-for-7 from the field with no points in the game. Senior guard Collier Drayton collected seven rebounds to go with his six assists.
NU outrebounded the Pirates 37-25 in the game.
Next up for the Cats is San Jose State at 5 p.m. today in the consolation match of the BCA Invitational. The Spartans beat Fairleigh Dickinson on Wednesday, but lost to North Carolina State on Thursday.
But even if the Cats didn’t beat East Carolina (2-0), Young thinks the team gained a great deal of confidence thanks to its exciting comeback.
“We’ve definitely got the personnel to come back from a deficit,” Young said. “We believe in ourselves and that we’re going to have a good season. We just have to stay poised and stay together.”
