Following Northwestern’s loss to Iowa on Saturday, Vedran Vukusic said his body may be breaking down.

Vukusic has been suffering from fatigue since the Minnesota game Feb. 9, and the forward showed no signs of recovery in Monday’s 59-51 win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (17-7).

“My legs gave out in the last 10 minutes of the game,” Vukusic said after Monday’s game. “You could have seen it from anywhere. A (Corpus Christi player) ran in front of me twice on the break.

“I was completely dead.”

NU coach Bill Carmody rested Vukusic for a few minutes late in the game, but the Wildcats (12-12) needed their leading scorer to put away the Islanders.

Vukusic played a team-high 36 minutes.

“I know he’s tired,” Carmody said. “But he’s a guy you go to.”

Vukusic finished with a game-high 23 points and six rebounds but was far from perfect.

The junior was 9 of 20 from the field, including 1 of 10 from beyond the arc.

“I got back in, and I was still (tired),” Vukusic said. “My eyes were shutting down. I thought I was going to faint.

“I’ve been playing the whole year, and I’ve never had problems with this. I just have to keep practicing and snap out of it.”

Against Minnesota, Vukusic was forced to come out five minutes into the game and finished with only nine points on 3 of 10 shooting.

Vukusic played his normal amount of minutes against Iowa but scored only 11 points after shooting 4 of 15.

“I should be in game-shape because we practice almost year round,” Vukusic said after the Iowa game. “Maybe it’s just late in the season, and I’m wearing down.”

Vukusic said his fatigue isn’t the result of a medical problem but just tiredness.

“I’m fine, I’m great,” Vukusic said. “I have to watch my diet better and get as much sleep as I can to avoid this stuff during the games.”

He also said school was not the problem.

“School is easy,” Vukusic said.

This recent fatigue follows a pattern dating back to last season for Vukusic.

Vukusic’s performance dropped off toward the end of the season, but he also was battered with injuries, including a hyper-extended knee.

This season Vukusic has been limited in several practices because of a bruised left shoulder he suffered against Penn State on Jan. 22.

“He just looks tired,” Carmody said. “His shot was flat. He’s just not giving it a chance.”

Carmody had no explanation for Vukusic’s fatigue, other than saying the large number of minutes he has played all season may be taking a toll.

But Carmody also said he has been dialing down the intensity of practices to account for such problems.

“We have not been going that hard,” Carmody said. “I think it is mental fatigue, and we have to fight through it. It is not from practice. It’s a wearisome season.”

Reach Zach Silka at [email protected].