Tim Doyle stepped to the podium with a determined look, the kind that comes over players who are about to lose a kidney or find themselves facing an interrogation by the KGB.
The first question came so fast and unexpected that I only picked up the answer:
“It was incredibly disappointing. I don’t even want to go there right now.”
Disappointing? The 51-48 win in which the Wildcats erased a nine-point second half deficit and ended the game on a 17-6 run? The one in which victory was rescued from defeat by two unlikely saviors, Evan Seacat and Mike Jenkins? The one in which –
No, Doyle wasn’t talking about the game. He was talking about the fans – or, rather, talking about not talking about them. And, naturally, Doyle being Doyle, he talked about them at length.
“Northwestern has been known for its fair weather fans,” the junior said. “It’s a joke that there weren’t more fans there. It’s incredibly disappointing, and the whole team feels that way.”
The team, apparently, gathered to discuss the half-empty student section after the game and came to the consensus that student support at this schol stinks.
Of course, everyone knows this. On Wednesdays during midterm season, which lasts from about January to March, students rarely place basketball on the top of their agendas. It’s not completely their fault, since the basketball team hasn’t exactly done anything truly worth celebrating in the past, oh, 101 years.
But for one night, Doyle was absolutely right about one thing:
“(Those who didn’t come) missed a great game, missed a great win -what could be a season-changing win.”
Never mind what you think about supporting a near-.500 team that’s been reeling. Never mind what I think. Last night’s game against Iowa was simply the most exciting thing Welsh-Ryan Arena has seen since last year’s showdown against the Hawkeyes, in which Jenkins made a last-second 3-pointer to give the Cats a 75-74 victory.
Doyle, to his credit, praised the fans that did make it out to the arena on a snowy night to watch the Cats take down the Big Ten’s top team. But for those who stayed home, here’s what you missed:
l The story of Seacat, a senior whose NU basketball career hasn’t exactly gone as planned. The arc of his career – what should have been smooth, easy, like the jump shot that made him one of southern Indiana’s biggest prep stars – has been jagged and painful, filled with injuries and setbacks.
But Wednesday night, he made the shot.
Down 47-43 with 2:10 minutes remaining, Seacat received a pass from Vedran Vukusic behind the left arc. Without hesitating, he released – with that release perfected through countless hours of shooting in a musty high school gym in Paoli, Ind. – and held his wrist, still cocked, up there just a bit longer, past the whistle that signaled he was fouled, past that moment when the ball splashed through the net.
The arena erupted, students grabbed their heads and shook one another, and the foundation of the place seemed to shake.
“Biggest shot of my career,” Seacat would say.
It was just one of the moments you – you, Doyle would chastise – missed while at home watching Lost or, God forbid, studying.
l The story of Jenkins, who made one of the best plays of the night with time winding down, when he saved a ball that was going out of bounds by throwing it off Iowa’s Adam Haluska.
Again, the crowd – however big it was – went wild.
l The story of Vukusic, the epitome of an “unassuming star.” On a night when the usual suspects were missing – freshmen Craig Moore and Sterling Williams “hit a wall,” according to coach Bill Carmody, and Mohamed Hachad had one of the worst games of his career – Vukusic took over in the second half. He drove the lane, rammed into defenders, made layups, drew fouls, banked in mid-range jumpers and, on top of all that, played suffocating defense, notching three empathic blocks.
Then, when the time was right, he stepped back and drilled 3s like an assassin, like the one with 2:51 remaining that pulled the Cats to within one, 44-43.
“We do not have a guy on our team that can guard him,” said Iowa coach Steve Alford, who is now 1-5 in Evanston.
As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Vukusic dribbled into a corner, then happily launched the ball across the court into oblivion. Fans spilled onto the floor, Willie did snow angels in the middle of the NU logo and everyone drifted towards the scorer’s table, where players from the two teams met to shake hands.
The man of the hour somehow slipped through the mob and ducked into the tunnel with a smile spread wide, leaving behind for the happy throng the idea that for one night, Welsh-Ryan magic was back.
Now go tell your friends.
Sports editor Anthony Tao is a Medill senior. He can be reached at [email protected].
