Northwestern has been fighting hard for its first Big Ten win of the season and had its best chance slip through its fingers in Tuesday’s 53-51 loss at Iowa. Against No. 15 Indiana on Saturday night, the team would have to scratch and claw even harder for a win.
The Wildcats did not back down from the challenge, leading for much of the game before seeing the Hoosiers race into the lead late. Even then NU did not crumble.
When the Hoosiers punched, the Cats punched back.
NU rallied from a six-point deficit with nine minutes left and trailed by only one point with 14 seconds to go. Indiana seemed to have the game wrapped up, but guard Eric Gordon traveled attempting to escape a trap, turning the ball over to the Cats.
NU had the ball with a chance to win for the second straight game.
Freshman guard Michael Thompson got to the basket, but Indiana forward D.J. White met him and forced him to change his shot. It missed short, and White grabbed the rebound, allowing the Hoosiers to hold on for an 85-82 win.
Thompson had an opportunity to send the game to overtime, but his last-second 3-pointer hit the front rim and Indiana escaped.
“We still felt like we were in control,” sophomore forward Kevin Coble said. “Having them up six wasn’t the end of the world for us. We maintained our composure and eventually whittled that lead back down. We had a couple chances to win, and it didn’t go our way.”
The two teams played each other physically, both reaching the foul bonus by the midpoint of the second half. Indiana (23-4, 13-2 Big Ten) made 30 of its 37 free throw attempts, and the referees whistled 29 fouls in the second half.
The Hoosiers’ free-throw shooting kept the Cats (7-18, 0-14) away in the end. Indiana did not hit a field goal in the last three minutes of the game, but still scored eight points at the line.
The Cats’ offense gave the Hoosiers problems in the teams’ first meeting on Feb. 3, a 75-63 Hoosiers’ win. NU’s offense continued to give Indiana fits Saturday. The team shot 49 percent from the field and 11 of 26 from beyond the arc.
Coble led all scorers with a career-high 37 points on 12 of 16 shooting. It was his second game of more than 30 points this year, and he has the two highest-scoring games for NU since 2000. Thompson added 15, and junior guard Craig Moore had 12.
The offense was extremely efficient, helping NU give itself a chance to win.
“We’ve been playing this way, and the shots haven’t been falling,” coach Bill Carmody said. “When you are successful running the stuff that you practice, then you start to gain confidence. I thought we were getting confident out there.”
The Hoosiers had little time to prepare for the Cats because it was uncertain who would be coaching the team throughout the week. After coach Kelvin Sampson accepted a buyout and resigned Friday, interim coach Dan Dakich had little time to help his team focus on the game.
He said he used managers to simulate NU’s offense in practice and even implemented a new defensive zone during a timeout in the game.
His players came through for an emotional win for a program in turmoil.
“It was hard for us,” Dakich said. “I knew that a half a day of preparation was going to be difficult. Whatever we needed to do, we needed to do because I wanted nothing more truly than for these kids to get a win and feel good getting on the plane and feel good about themselves.”
The Cats showed the Hoosiers they would not back down. Now NU needs to find a way to finish games and get its first conference win.
Carmody said the Cats’ execution has been good throughout the season, but they have had difficulty getting over the hump.
“They played pretty close the other night (against Iowa) and certainly this evening,” Carmody said. “They’re trying hard. You have to win before you figure out how you are going to do it, I guess.”
