After one of the most exciting and unpredictable years in the history of Northwestern sports, The Daily is counting down the top five games from 2009-10. Every day this week we’ll recap a different game, ending with the top contest of the year Friday.
Court storming is a pastime of jubilant college students nationwide. But it’s never been much of a habit at Welsh-Ryan Arena, where Northwestern has had little in the way of dramatic basketball victories.
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve been watching other colleges storm the court after they beat a ranked team or a good team,” junior guard Michael Thompson said in the middle of last season. “I’ve always wanted to be a part of that.”
On Jan. 17, a raucous sellout crowd of Wildcats fans got their chance to take the floor.”Finally,” Thompson said. “That happened tonight.”
No. 6 Purdue looked typically dominant on the season, while NU was on a downslide after a 9-1 nonconference schedule. On paper it looked like a mismatch, especially considering NU hadn’t beaten a top-10 team at home since 1994. An upset didn’t seem likely.
But Purdue was wary of the underdog Cats. NU snapped a seven-game winning streak for Purdue the previous season by going into West Lafayette and leaving with a 64-61 win.
“We only play (Northwestern) once this year,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said at Big Ten Media Day in November. “I was hoping they didn’t let us play them at all.”
The Boilermakers jumped out to the early 14-10 advantage, but Thompson willed his team back into the lead, scoring 10 straight points for NU. The streak was highlighted by back-to-back step back 3-pointers, sparking the Cats 12-0 run and giving them an eight-point lead.
Thompson’s role as the catalyst of NU’s surge was made even more impressive by the fact that the point guard was battling a stomach virus and spent much of halftime vomiting in the locker room. He fought through the illness and finished with a team-high 20 points.
The Boilermakers played relentless pressure all game, resulting in the Cats turning over the ball an uncharacteristic 16 times. But the pressure came with consequences, as Purdue committed 25 fouls, leaving star center JaJuan Johnson in foul trouble for most of the game, which in turn allowed Luka Mirkovic to turn in a double-double.
Like Johnson, NU forward Drew Crawford also dealt with foul trouble, picking up his fourth foul with nearly 11 minutes left in the game. But coach Bill Carmody didn’t worry about his freshman’s composure, and after a quick two-minute break, Carmody reinserted Crawford into the lineup.
Crawford carried the Cats down the stretch to a 72-64 victory, scoring 11 points in the game’s final nine minutes, including seven straight to turn a one-point lead into a safe eight-point cushion. He earned an and-one finish at the hoop and nailed both of his 3-point attempts, including an off-balance shot drawn up for Crawford off of an inbounds pass with the shot clock expiring to give NU a one-point lead.And he never picked up his fifth foul.
“At that point, you know you’ve got to stay smart,” Crawford said after the game. “I had to move my feet, keep my hands straight up and be careful out there.”
Purdue might have come in with the higher ranking, but the Cats didn’t let them play like it.”We got beat by a better team,” Painter said. “They played harder than we did. Just look at some of the effort categories. It’s pretty simple to me.”
The upset reignited hopes that NU would qualify for its first-ever NCAA Tournament, a dream that died when the Boilermakers eliminated the Cats in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.[email protected]
