For a team that has become familiar with close losses, Wednesday night’s defeat at the Beasley Coliseum will be a difficult one to swallow for Northwestern.
After overcoming a 14-point deficit in a hostile road environment against second-seeded Washington State, the Wildcats couldn’t close out the Cougars in their National Invitation Tournament quarterfinal clash, falling 69-66 in overtime. The defeat marks the end of the longest postseason run in school history.
“It’s hard, right, to say you’re pleased with things, but they came on strong toward the end,” coach Bill Carmody said. “It’s a pretty good team, and to come back the way we did with this crowd here, I’m certainly proud of our guys.”
Coming off arguably their most complete performance of the season against Boston College, a game in which every starter scored double figures, the Cats (20-14) arrived in Pullman, Wash., with only the Cougars standing between them and a trip to New York City for the NIT semi-finals.
On March 19 the Cats jumped out to an early lead against the Eagles, thanks to stellar shooting from the field. NU went 15-for-31 in the opening half against Boston College en route to a 38-31 halftime advantage. Wednesday the Cats came out ice-cold, not sinking a shot from inside the three-point line until the 7:30 mark of the first half. The Cougars (22-12) also stymied the Cats on the perimeter, forcing NU into contested looks. In the first 15 minutes of the game, NU shot 6-for-22 from the field, with five of those buckets coming from beyond the arc.
Part of the Cats’ struggles came in the paint, where the Cougars scored 18 of their first 25 points. Washington State big man DeAngelo Casto, who was reinstated for the Wednesday game after being suspended for marijuana possession one day earlier, scored six points in the first eight minutes. Casto’s play prompted Carmody to pull junior center Luka Mirkovic in favor of Davide Curletti.
“It’s not like (Mirkovic) didn’t come to play,” Carmody said. “It’s just that he was giving Casto too much room in there – he was dominating early.”
Curletti was called for a foul on Washington State guard Marcus Capers with four minutes left and NU trailing by 11, and Carmody had several heated words for an official. The exchange drew Carmody a technical foul, and the Cougars opened their lead to 14 points.
After that the Cats found their rhythm, going off for 14 points in the final four minutes of the half. Starting in place of injured freshman JerShon Cobb, sophomore guard Alex Marcotullio led NU with eight first-half points.
“I’m not sure if (Carmody’s technical) sparked us or not,” Marcotullio said. “It definitely got our attention and we settled down on the offensive end and got the stuff we wanted.”
The Cats continued their scoring surge after intermission, opening the second half on a 12-4 run. The second stanza turned into a back-and-forth affair, and no team led by more than five points. NU trailed by two with eight seconds remaining and, after a Washington State timeout, junior forward John Shurna drew a goaltending call on an attempted layup. The Cougars had one final chance to win the contest in regulation when sophomore forward Drew Crawford fouled Abe Lodwick with .2 seconds left on the clock. However, Lodwick bricked both free throws and the game went into overtime.
The Cats shot 1-for-10 in the extra period, with their only bucket coming on a Mirkovic layup. With six seconds remaining, NU had two chances to tie, but Marcotullio missed a pair of three-pointers that would have sent the game into a second overtime.
“On a different night, different things happen,” Carmody said. “Tonight if some of our shots had gone in it might have changed things.”
In his last game in the purple and white, senior guard Michael Thompson led all scorers with 18 points. Thompson ends his career with 129 career starts, more than any other player in school history.
“(His career) had to end sometime,” Carmody said of Thompson. “Of course you’d like to go back to Madison Square Garden and win a championship, especially for Mike. But win or lose, that kid’s a champion.”
The Cats now look to move on without one of the most successful senior classes in school history. Thompson and fellow seniors Jeff Ryan, Mike Capocci and Ivan Peljusic earned three of the school’s six postseason appearances.
“We can take a lot away from this,” Marcotullio said. “It shows us what we have to do to accomplish our goals and get where we want to be at as a program and as a team.”
