When Northwestern was down 12 to Ohio State with 5 minutes and 39 seconds remaining, all hope was seemingly lost. Five minutes and 32 seconds later, the Wildcats had tied the 10th-ranked Buckeyes at 73 and the crowd at Welsh-Ryan Arena was on its feet.
However, when the final horn sounded, Ohio State let out a huge sigh of relief as the Buckeyes escaped Evanston 75-73, thanks to a layup from forward Jared Sullinger with 3.1 seconds remaining. It was NU’s fifth loss in which the Cats fell by two points or less or in overtime.
“Every close loss is tough,” junior forward Drew Crawford said. “Especially when you have a chance to win it down the stretch. We played great towards the end of the game, and we’re all real proud of our team. One thing that’s great about us is that we’re a resilient bunch.”
The final 6 minutes of play showed the fight in the Cats. NU went on a 15-3 run in that 5-minute-32-second span, forcing Ohio State into 5 turnovers and limiting the Buckeyes to 2 offensive rebounds. The Cats hit three 3-pointers in that stretch, none more crucial than Alex Marcotullio’s deep shot with 7 seconds remaining to tie the game. The junior guard was just 1-of-4 from the field before that shot and ended with 6 points.
The Buckeyes got out to a quick start, hitting their first 4 shots and jumping out to an 11-2 lead just three-and-a-half minutes into the game. The 9-point advantage would hold pretty steady in the first half, dipping as low as 5 and peaking at 13. The first-half lead was buoyed by 9 offensive rebounds for the Buckeyes, which led to 11 second-chance points.
NU was completely overmatched inside against Ohio State. The Buckeyes outrebounded the Cats 44-18 and scored 34 points in the paint. NU was able to stay in the game thanks to 16 Ohio State turnovers, which the Cats converted into 21 points.
“If you force a team into 16 turnovers, that’s usually pretty good,” coach Bill Carmody said. “They just killed us on second shots in that first half to get that 10-point lead at half.”
The Cats were led by their two stars, Crawford and senior forward John Shurna. The duo combined for 45 points, scoring 43 of NU’s first 48 points. Shurna scored 22 points on 7-of-19 shooting, including 4-of-10 from behind the arc. Crawford ended with 23 points, shooting 9-of-11 from the field and 4-of-6 from 3-point range.
As good as Crawford was, he had issues at the charity stripe. The junior was just 1-for-5 from the free-throw line, points that could have been the difference in the game. He entered the contest a 70 percent free-throw shooter and said he had a bad night.
“It was just a little mental block on my free throws,” Crawford said. “It’s just one of those nights you have once in awhile. I just need to keep standing on the (free-throw) line in practice and hope to fix that.”
Ohio State was perplexed by the Cats’ smaller lineup to begin the game. The Buckeyes gave the Cats threes while attempting to take away the backdoor cuts. Coach Thad Matta said he would have rather given up more layups, but his defense had lapses in communication.
“They make you make seven to eight tough decisions each possession,” Matta said. “We didn’t do a great job making the best decision communicating on a lot of them and gave up some easy baskets.”
The loss keeps NU on the bubble for a berth into the NCAA Tournament. While the Cats have gotten ringing endorsements from all the coaches they have faced, Matta said he doesn’t want to wake up Monday morning seeing NU on the opposite line when the March Madness bracket is announced.
“They’re a very talented team,” Matta said. “I would hate on Selection Sunday to see Northwestern come across and have to play them.”
