NU football loses to Indiana
Then-No. 22 Northwestern was on a roll, winning six of its first seven games heading into its matchup with perennial Big Ten bottom-feeder Indiana on Oct. 25.
But the Wildcats committed five turnovers, which helped trigger the Hoosiers’ 21-19 upset victory over the Cats for their only Big Ten win of the season. It was also NU’s second loss in three games following a 5-0 start.
The Cats held an early lead against the Hoosiers, but with the help of some trickery, Indiana rebounded to take a nine-point lead into the third quarter and ultimately hung on to win.
It was NU’s first loss to Indiana since 2001. To make matters worse, NU lost starting running back Tyrell Sutton for the rest of the regular season and starting quarterback C.J. Bachér for the following two weeks.
NU men’s basketball falls to Purdue
Coming off a pair of losses in conference play, NU appeared to be on its way to a Big Ten victory over Purdue on Jan. 15.
The Cats led by 10 points with less than eight minutes to go, but the team could not withstand a late rally by the Boilermakers. Purdue came back to tie the score before the Boilermakers’ JaJuan Johnson nailed a pair of free throws with less than 10 seconds to go to give his team a 63-61 win.
NU contributed to Purdue’s comeback with some poor shooting and carelessness with the basketball. The Cats shot only 26 percent from the field in the second half and turned the ball over 22 times in the game in one of the program’s all-time great collapses.
NU men’s basketball falls to Illinois
It was deja vu for NU in its Big Ten battle with Illinois on Feb. 12.
Just like its loss to Purdue a month prior, the Cats gave away a double-digit lead late in the game.
This time, NU lost a 14-point lead in the game’s final 5:18, as the Fighting Illini grabbed a 60-59 victory on Demetri McCamey’s jump shot with 2.9 seconds left.
While NU ultimately wound up in the less prestigious National Invitation Tournament, a pair of quality wins over Purdue and Illinois would have added to the team’s NCAA Tournament resume.
Top-ranked women’s tennis loses in quarterfinals
Despite holding the nation’s top ranking throughout the entire season, NU was once again unable to finish the year with a national championship.
After winning its 11th consecutive Big Ten title, No. 1 NU was defeated, 4-2, by No. 8 California in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament-the exact same result the Wildcats suffered in 2008.
In that quarterfinal match, NU lost the doubles point for only the second time all season. The Cats were unable to make a comeback, with losses from top singles players Maria Mosolova and Georgia Rose helping to seal NU’s fate.
