The two magicians who performed at halftime of Northwestern’s win over Indiana on Wednesday night impressed the crowd with a series of rapid-fire wardrobe changes that would make a shopaholic blush. One would drape the other in a thin curtain for a mere second, and when the curtain was lifted, the old outfit would be replaced by an entirely different one.
You never knew what the performers would look like next.
Sounds kind of like the Wildcats, the other performers who put on a good show at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Wednesday. This team is harder to read than your organic chemistry textbook, although much more entertaining.
Perennial Big Ten doormats coming off an 8-21 season, NU started this season 7-3, pounding a solid Florida State squad in the process.
Just as excitement started to build, the Cats promptly dropped five of six, getting pounded by 29 at Wisconsin and blowing a 13-point halftime advantage against Purdue. Same old frustrating, heartbreaking Cats, right?
Apparently not.
In the course of four days, NU took down then-No. 18 Minnesota and then-No. 7 Michigan State, winning back-to-back contests against ranked foes for the first time in school history.
If you claim you saw that coming, there is a polygraph test I would like you to take.
After the Cats followed up on their historic accomplishment with an uninspiring loss to Michigan, they came home to find themselves in the unfamiliar position of being 13 1/2-point favorites over Indiana. Even though the prevailing wisdom in Las Vegas was that NU was in line for a blowout victory, I was wary of making such a bold prediction on a team this enigmatic.
The game validated my skepticism, as it turned into a hard-fought, if sloppy, battle that Indiana coach Tom Crean called one of the most intense he has been a part of in his career.
The first half ended in a tie, but then the game tilted toward NU. The Cats led by nine with a little more than seven minutes to go but could not overcome their penchant for making every game a white-knuckler for the Wildside faithful. Indiana’s Matt Roth tied the game with 36 seconds left, and NU called timeout nine seconds later.
“I looked in each one of my teammates’ eyes and I just saw that everybody wanted to win, and I knew we were going to win,” guard Jeremy Nash said.
It’s doubtful that many other people in the building shared Nash’s certainty.
But sure enough, Craig Moore knocked down two pressure free throws, Kevin Coble stole the ensuing inbound pass and the Cats had their third win in four games.
This recent hot streak will have fans looking forward to a postseason trip. Some will dare to dream about March Madness.
I will not be making any predictions one way or the other. Who really knows what this team’s wardrobe will be at season’s end?
