If Northwestern misses the NCAA Tournament in three weeks, it may be looking back on games like Tuesday night.
The Wildcats (16-11, 6-9 Big Ten) lost a 7-point halftime lead, falling in overtime 67-55 to Michigan. Both games between the two schools needed an extra period this year, the first time that has happened in the Big Ten since 1999-2000. In both cases, the extra time did not prove favorable to the Cats.
“In the second half we just seemed worn down,” coach Bill Carmody said. “We looked sloppy to me that second half, and the first half looked pretty good.”
The game was full of momentum swings, with the biggest one coming in the first 3 minutes of the extra session. The Wolverines (21-7, 11-4) knocked down three 3-pointers in that 3-minute span to jump out to a 9-point lead in overtime. NU missed all 4 shots it took in that same interval, yet Michigan hit 3 of the 5 triples it attempted.
Carmody said he thought NU’s sluggishness in the second half was not due to the Cats’ use of a six-man rotation earlier this season or the hype surrounding this game.
Senior center Davide Curletti was adamant the latter was not affecting the team, citing the number of upperclassmen NU has on its roster.
“We have a lot of older guys,” Curletti said. “We knew it was a big game. There wasn’t any pressure on us. A lot of the guys here are used to winning, and we’re going to continue to win. There are a lot more games left for us to continue to do that.”
The Cats were able to win the rebounding battle for the first time since they beat Illinois on Feb. 5. The 39-35 advantage was largely due to NU keeping Michigan off the offensive glass in the first half while grabbing its own crucial second chances.
That all changed in the second half when the Wolverines took over the glass and gave themselves second and sometimes third opportunities.
The biggest difference in the second half was the addition of Michigan forward Jordan Morgan to the mix. After grabbing only 1 rebound in two minutes of action in the first half due to foul trouble, the 6-foot-8-inch forward helped to neutralize NU’s advantage on the glass.
“Jordan Morgan is a really big presence in (the paint),” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “It helped us since they were really getting the offensive rebounds (in the first half).”
Although the loss was a tough pill to swallow, NU’s concern was also the health of junior forward Drew Crawford, who missed a majority of the second half after injuring his leg in the first half.
Without Crawford on the floor, there was a lot of pressure on senior John Shurna to lead the team. Carmody said the forward was too passive at times and passed up shots he should have taken.
“It just seemed the whole game that he was reluctant to do anything,” Carmody said. “He had some pretty good looks and he passed them up to go to the next thing. It was a game he had to take over.”
One of the few bright spots that came from Crawford’s injury was Curletti’s performance. With an already thin bench, Carmody said he was happy with how the Michigan native played. Curletti scored 12 points and added 6 rebounds, including 4 offensive boards, to help keep NU in the game in the second stanza.
Reggie Hearn said he is confident the loss won’t affect the team as it closes out the final three games of the regular season.
“We’ll be fine,” the junior guard said. “This is a tough loss, but we’re just going to look at it like we fought hard, we lost to a good team. We had a chance to get a resume-building win. We didn’t get it, but there is still a lot to play for.”
