Iowa City, Iowa – Northwestern has seen bad losses this season in the Big Ten. The Wildcats have lost slim second-half leads, given up long runs, and been buried on the road.
But this season they have not had the chance to win the game as the clock wound down. That chance came Tuesday at Carver-Hawekeye Arena.
The Cats held a 14-point lead with about 12 minutes to play in the second half but saw it quickly evaporate into a six-point deficit with about two and a half minutes remaining.
NU fought back and gave itself a chance to earn its first conference win.
Trailing by two, the Cats found junior guard Craig Moore beyond the arc for a potential game-winning shot. The sharpshooter missed the 3-pointer off the front rim with 9.6 seconds left.
But he and the team were given a second chance when Iowa forward Cyrus Tate missed both of his free throws after the rebound.
Moore could not take advantage of the opportunity. He missed a second 3-pointer to win the game, and the Hawkeyes held on for a 53-51 win.
“It’s rough. It’s tough on the guys,” coach Bill Carmody said. “They’ve been working hard and we want them to be successful.”
The Cats (7-17, 0-13 Big Ten) started the second half on an 11-4 run and raced out to a 14-point lead behind the hot shooting of Moore and senior guard Jason Okrzesik. But Iowa (12-15, 5-9) had a run of its own and took back the lead on an 18-3 spurt.
Tate punished the team inside, setting up guard Tony Freeman on the outside. NU could not contain Tate, who finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds. He punished the Cats on the inside with 15 second-half points, forcing them to switch defenses.
“We know to win games we need to do everything and more,” Moore said. “We’ve got to play better defense, make plays on defense, get rebounds and do all the little things if we want to win in this conference, especially on the road.”
Moore led NU with 15 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. He also recorded four assists and three steals. Sophomore forward Kevin Coble added 12 points and Okrzesik added 11 points.
The Cats did not back down after the second-half run and fought to keep the game close. It was time NU lost a conference game by less than 10 points. It was also the fourth time this season the team outrebounded its opponent, gaining a three rebound advantage.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half. The Cats and Hawkeyes combined to miss their first 11 field goals and shot a combined 10 of 42 from the field (24 percent) in the first half.
NU once again struggled to execute in crunch time despite overcoming Iowa’s late rally.
Okrzesik said it was clear the team did not know how to play with a lead, but it is only something the players can learn with experience. Yet he added that the resiliency the team has displayed in recent games shows how close it is to finally breaking through.
“We’re so close, it’s frustrating,” Okrzesik said. “You saw tonight, we were up 14 and had a chance to win the game on the last possession. On the road, how much closer do you want to be? We’re there. We’ve just got to execute on the other end. That’s the bottom line.”
