Brandon Paul’s buzzer-beating triple at the end of NU’s 71-70 win on Saturday was, on the whole, a rather trivial three points.
Statistically, it was irrelevant. No. 24 Illinois needed a miraculous four-point possession to send the game into overtime.
Strategically, though, it was a reminder that the Wildcats had played their cards just right, conceding the free throw line rather than the perimeter in the final minutes of its first defeat of a ranked team this season.
“That team shoots 41 percent from 3-point range,” coach Bill Carmody said. “I mean, even to the end, he hits the buzzer three there. They were going to hit it because they’re a very good team and they make big plays.”
Despite featuring the conference’s top 3-point shooting teams, the game came down to the line – literally – at both ends. Even before the final possessions, free throw accuracy proved a deciding factor.
NU opened the second half with an uneven performance from the charity stripe when juniors forward John Shurna and center Luka Mirkovic both botched attempts from the line. Barely three minutes after Mirkovic’s missed free throw, freshman guard JerShon Cobb was hacked by Illinois guard Demetri McCamey as he attempted an off-balance trey from the right of the key. Cobb went to the line and made all three shots, giving NU its largest lead to that point.
NU was far from perfect from the free throw line in the second half, shooting 11-for-17 to Illinois’ 6-for-9 points.
Just a week before Saturday’s game, NU felt the sting of last-minute free throw shooting when No. 1 Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger’s 1-for-2 performance from the line with 3.5 seconds left clinched a narrow 58-57 win for the Buckeyes, spoiling the Cats’ best effort of the season.
This time it was NU making the shots that mattered when the clock ticked clutch.
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Northwestern,” Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. “They really executed down the stretch and made big shots.”
The Cats made seven of nine free throws in the final 85 seconds of the game, starting with junior center Davide Curletti’s two-point play on a one-for-one. With NU leading just 68-67, Shurna went to the line with 10 seconds left and sunk both free throws to make it a three point game.
NU opted to embrace the lesser of two evils on the defensive end and send Illinois to the foul line rather than gift the Fighting Illini with a chance to tie up the game from behind the arc.
“I’m not giving away all my secrets,” Carmody said. “But against this team we definitely decided to foul.”
And it paid off. With seven seconds left Cobb sent McCamey to the line. The Illinois guard missed his free throw and Mirkovic picked off the rebound to protect NU’s advantage. The Serbian center was then fouled with six seconds left on the clock and went to the line shooting two. Mirkovic made the first, enough to make it a two-possession game for the Illini with scarcely enough time for one play left. Mirkovic missed the second free throw, but when Paul hit his three – the final points of the game – it no longer mattered.
“We can make all the big shots we want,” Paul said. “But it’s the little stuff. You’ve got to be consistent.”
