Threes were the name of the game for the Wildcats on Wednesday night.
It was all about clutch three-pointers, No. 3 Winston Blake and Northwestern’s third Big Ten win. And three just happens to be the Cats’ magic number for NIT eligibility.
Blake equaled his career high of 23 points and Tavaras Hardy scored his 1,000th collegiate point – on a three-pointer – as the Cats beat Wisconsin 69-60 at Welsh-Ryan Arena in front of a crowd of 3,935.
But something was different about this victory. The Cats (12-7, 3-4 Big Ten) didn’t win the game from the field. They won it from the free-throw line.
The Big Ten’s worst free-throw shooting team, at 60.2 percent prior to Wednesday’s game, corrected a season-long problem. The difference Wednesday was the Cats’ 22 made free throws to the Badgers’ six.
“We made our foul shots tonight,” head coach Bill Carmody said. “We made ours, and they weren’t making theirs. (The opposite) has happened to us a number of times.”
The Cats shot 81.5 percent from the foul line, while Wisconsin (12-10, 5-4) shot an NU-like 42.9 percent.
But NU also sunk a few baskets from the field, including a trio of Hardy three-pointers. Before Wednesday, Hardy was 7-for-38 from beyond the arc this season.
“I kind of felt a little different shooting, but that’s happened before, and I missed some shots,” Hardy said. “It’s not like I’m going to take six threes a game from now on. It’s just whatever works for the team.”
While Hardy was making key shots for NU, Wisconsin sophomore Freddie Owens was making all the shots for the Badgers.
After NU went on a 12-2 run midway through the second period to grab a 10-point lead – its largest of the night – Owens scored Wisconsin’s next 16 points.
“We had no answer for ‘Lefty,'” Carmody said, referring to Owens. “We really couldn’t contain him. But lefties are hard to contain because they’re so unorthodox.”
Owens, a reserve guard, came off the bench to score 20 points on 7 of 8 shooting from the field. He missed only one of four three-point attempts and was perfect from the line. But after the 16-point streak, Owens disappeared – he didn’t score for the final five minutes.
“Freddie could have taken a couple more shots down the stretch, but he didn’t force them,” Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. “To his credit, he gave the ball up.”
While Owens was lighting it up, his teammates were struggling against NU’s defense.
Hardy did his best impression of a football defensive back, intercepting a Devin Harris long-distance pass in the second period.
The teams battled before the break, but the Cats managed to grab a three-point lead in the closing seconds of the first half on the struggling Jitim Young’s layup and foul shot. Young appeared to break out of his recent slump with nine points, seven rebounds and four assists.
After the game, Carmody wasn’t interested in talking about possible postseason play.
“I just think we have to raise our expectations around here,” Carmody said. “We’re just starting to grow and build here. If our players can expect to win and know that’s expected of them, then I think you can go places.”
