It took more than two hours before the No. 1 singles player in the country, Mississippi’s Catalin Gard, beat Tommy Hanus.

After splitting the first two sets 6-4, 6-7, Gard broke Hanus at 5-5 in the third set with a backhand winner. And this was after Hanus had already fought off four break points in the game.

“He was quick and never missed,” Hanus said. “Basically, he was just real consistent.”

Hanus’ match was a fitting model for the performance of the rest of Northwestern on Tuesday, as the Wildcats (5-3, 1-0 Big Ten) battled the No. 6 Rebels (4-0) hard before falling 6-1.

Two of the six singles matches went to third sets, and Adam Schaechterle saved three match points and took his opponent to a second-set tiebreak before losing.

The Cats did all this without their usual No. 2 singles player, Chuck Perrin, who played the doubles portion but sat out singles with a strained abdominal muscle.

“We were just going to decide after doubles how it felt,” coach Paul Torricelli said. “It was a big factor, but I thought the rest of the team stepped up well.”

Christian Tempke also was hampered by injuries, playing on a sore knee that had been bothering him for about three weeks.

The Cats’ best chance for a breakthrough came during doubles, when all three pairs were up a break. But the Rebels came back, winning two of the matches and taking the doubles point.

“We let them off the hook in doubles,” Torricelli said. “If you’re going to beat a top-10 team, you have to take advantage of every opportunity.

NU’s only point, and the only team point scored against Ole Miss this year, came from Willy Lock, who beat Bram ten Berge 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

“It was kind of a good matchup for me,” Lock said.

Lock also said he had trouble hitting passing shots against Berge, who is six inches taller than he is.

“I tried to hit a low shot first and pass him on the next one,” he said.

Schaechterle’s loss proved to be the clincher, as it gave the Rebels an insurmountable 4-0 lead.

Despite the loss, Torricelli said he was pleased with Hanus’ performance against the nation’s top player.

“Northwestern can say we have a terrific No. 1 player,” he said. “He can hold his own with any player in the country.”

Although Torricelli said he felt his team performed well, he also said the Cats were far from content.

“We know we played one of the best teams in the country in a very close match,” he said. “But we’re not into moral victories.”

Reach David Morrison at [email protected].