CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Well, the first 49 seconds looked pretty good.
After trading turnovers with Illinois, Northwestern brought the ball up the court and Kevin Coble found Michael Thompson for a 3-pointer.
That gave the Wildcats a 3-0 lead.
It was the last time they would see one in a 70-37 loss to the Illini at Assembly Hall on Sunday.
The Cats have been beaten a lot this year, 11 times in fact. Seven of those losses have come at the hands of Big Ten opponents. NU’s 0-7 record against the Midwest’s best has helped it carve out a very special place in the conference standings: at the bottom.
But through all the trials and tribulations, this is the first time NU has been embarrassed.
Sure the Cats have lost by a larger margin this year, when Virginia dismantled them 94-52 on Nov. 27. But there’s a big difference between the Cavaliers, a team that is receiving votes for the top 25 and almost made it to the Sweet Sixteen last year, and the Illini, who were 9-11 coming into their game against the Cats, and 1-6 in the conference.
This year’s Cats have hung around with ranked teams like Wisconsin and Michigan State, but against their in-state rivals, they were in danger of putting up a point total that would have been common in the pre-World War II era.
If not for a positively torrid final 5:26, in which they scored nine points, the Cats would not have broken 30.
“Their defense was good throughout and our offense wasn’t good,” Sterling Williams said.
That’s an understatement. NU couldn’t shoot, couldn’t really pass and, at times, it looked like they couldn’t even hold onto the ball.
By the time little-used substitute Jean-Marc Melchior dunked the ball with 31.1 seconds left, the Illini fans could only laugh. Mostly because Melchior had been fouled in the lane before he even took off, and the basket didn’t count.
He missed the front end of the one-and-one. The Cats were also only 6 of 14 from the line.
“The ball’s not going in the basket, and it’s not going in the basket on the foul line,” NU coach Bill Carmody said. “What are you going to do?”
NU looked like a team without an answer against the Illini. It looked like a team that was just worn out.
And who can blame the Cats? They have to hit the court twice per week and play teams that are bigger, stronger and more athletic.
Lesser men would be dead by now.
“That’s what we’re faced with unfortunately,” Thompson said. “Once we start winning, things are going to get turned around. We just have to stick together throughout this adversity.”
NU will win again this season. It still has UT-Pan American on the schedule and you just know the Cats will pull out a couple surprises against the rest of the Big Ten.
Until then, the losses will just keep coming, because Illinois was probably the best chance NU had to snag its first Big Ten win for at least another month.
Against Wisconsin, it was fouls. Against Michigan State, it was the 3-pointer.
Against Illinois, it was … well, everything.
Assistant sports editor David Morrison is a Medill senior. He can be reached at [email protected].
