COLUMBUS, Ohio – Northwestern may play Princeton-style basketball, but the Wildcats have made some very unintelligent mistakes this season.
In a game reminiscent of NU’s 63-61 loss to Purdue on Jan. 23, the Cats (12-8, 3-5 Big Ten) again made a late foul to gift-wrap a win, blowing an upset chance against the Big Ten’s first-place team.
NU’s 58-57 loss to No. 25 Ohio State in front of a crowd of 19,200 at Value City Arena strengthened the Buckeyes’ hold on the conference lead and ruined an ideal opportunity for the Cats to gain legitimacy on the national scene.
With 30 seconds left, the Buckeyes (17-3, 8-1) tied the game for the first time since the first half on Brent Darby’s two made free throws.
The shot clock was turned off, and the Cats had one final possession to break the 57-57 tie.
But NU freshman Vedran Vukusic was a little too quick on the draw. Vukusic drove to the basket with 17 seconds left but lost control of the ball.
In the ensuing scramble, Vukusic was called for a foul on Zach Williams, a 65.1 percent free-throw shooter.
“You had a mental mistake there,” NU head coach Bill Carmody said. “He got himself a little space and instead of looking across the court or dribbling around in a circle, he moved ahead. Sometimes that happens with freshmen.
“I probably should have gotten Jason Burke in there (instead of) him. But (Vukusic) makes plays, so I wanted him in there. Now I look back and second-guess a little bit.”
Williams, who had missed three of his four free throws prior to Vukusic’s foul, bounced the ball off the back of the rim on the first shot.
He then nailed the second to put the Buckeyes up 58-57.
But NU still had time left on the clock to negate the freshman mistake.
NU forward Tavaras Hardy threw up a 10-foot jumper that rolled around the rim and back out. Sophomore guard Jitim Young’s attempt to tip in the ball at the buzzer was unsuccessful, giving Ohio State the victory.
“The play was designed to get it inside to me,” Hardy said. “I felt I got hit a little, but it wasn’t enough to alter the shot too much. I actually thought it was going to roll in.”
Hardy had 12 points for the game but no rebounds. He was 2 of 3 from the free-throw line – the only NU player to miss a foul shot.
While the Cats were hitting their free throws, they were not hitting the boards. NU was outrebounded in the game 32-15.
There were bright spots for the Cats. In fact, the game was a 39-and-a-half minute bright spot.
“I didn’t have too much to say to my team, except I thought we played well enough to win,” said a soft-spoken Carmody, who came out of the locker room after the game with his tie loosened and a weary look on his face.
NU took over the game early in the second half, building a 10-point lead on a three-point shot by Winston Blake.
Blake continued his string of impressive performances by scoring 25 points, a new career high, and going 8-for-11 from the field and 4-for-5 from behind the arc. Blake had 23 points in NU’s last outing and has now passed Young to become the team’s leading scorer.
The junior forward made two crowd-silencing shots Saturday, including a three-pointer with five seconds left in the first half to send NU to the locker room with a five-point lead.
Late in the second half, Blake converted an off-balance three-pointer with a pair of Ohio State defenders in his face as the shot clock expired. The basket – the Cats’ last of the game – made NU’s lead 57-53 with 1:32 left to play.
But Blake wasn’t the only player sinking every shot he took. Ohio State’s Brent Darby scored the Buckeyes’ last 11 points – not counting Williams’ free throw – and also had a new career high of 26 points.
Darby has averaged 19.5 points per game in Ohio State’s last four games.
After the game, Buckeyes’ coach Jim O’Brien seemed relieved to have pulled out the win.
“Any team that is going to have a successful season has to have some games that you are lucky to win,” O’Brien said. “Today we were lucky.”
