During crunch time of a one-posession game, the Wildcats got precisely what they wanted — each of their three seniors held the game in their hands within the final 35 seconds.
“We all got three pointers and none of us made them,” senior Aaron Jennings said. “We let down our team.”
Northwestern (8-4, 0-1 Big Ten) blew three chances to take the lead or tie, eventually losing to Iowa 68-63 Wednesday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Forward Winston Blake and Jennings both missed from beyond the arc and, with seven seconds left, forward Jason Burke committed a turnover with some sort of self-pass on another three-point attempt.
“I thought our older guys could’ve done better,” NU head coach Bill Carmody said.
Despite the Hawkeyes’ (9-3, 1-0) best attempts to keep the Cats in the game — Iowa missed five free throws in the final minute — NU was unable to complete what would have been a 16-point comeback.
“We should’ve won this game,” point guard T.J. Parker said. “We let a big one get away.”
Parker finished with 14 points, making it 11 straight games where the freshman has posted double figures.
The Cats kept things close at the start, never falling behind by more than seven in the first half and drawing within two by the break. NU ended the first half with a 6-0 run punctuated by a two-handed slam from Jitim Young. The junior created his dunking opportunity with a steal and turned the Wild Side into a roiling sea of purple.
Young then opened the second half with an old-fashioned three-point play that gave the Cats their last lead of the night. Young finished the game with 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting, but played only 25 minutes and sat on the bench as the final minutes played out.
The Hawkeyes started playing man-to-man defense and held the Cats to just six points over a 10-minute stretch before reverting back to their 2-3 zone to eat up the clock. Iowa went on a 23-6 run during that period.
“We didn’t stop them from doing individually what each of those guys is good at,” Carmody said.
Iowa forward Glen Worley pulled down seven offensive rebounds, center Jared Reiner moved freely in the post and sharpshooting guard Brody Boyd got open looks all night.
Facing a 16-point defecit and a home arena that was being conquered by Iowa fans, Parker ended an 18-minute personal scoring drought to spark NU on a run of its own by draining a wide-open three pointer.
NU outscored Iowa 18-4 over the next eight minutes. A rare combination of Jennings and fellow big man Davor Duvancic helped the Cats retake control the defensive post — handcuffing the Hawkeyes’ offense.
Jennings led NU’s surge, posting 10 points during the stretch to finish with a team-high 16.
Despite his offensive success, Jennings was disappointed with his effort on the boards.
“I’ve got to get more defensive rebounds, a couple of their guys had way too many,” Jennings said. “I’ve got to take that personally, and I’ve got to step up and get those rebounds.”
Jennings’ letdown came at the end of a solid game, as did Burke’s, but Blake’s errant attempt capped an 0-for-6 night from three-point range. His continued slumping may have cost him a slot in the starting lineup, Carmody said.
IOWA 68
NU 63
