Men’s Basketball

Coming into its game against No. 22 Texas, Northwestern hadn’t beaten a ranked team since Jan. 12, 2014.

That streak is now no more, as the Wildcats (3-1) beat the Longhorns (3-1) handily on Monday, 77-58, to clinch a spot in Tuesday’s Legends Classic final in Brooklyn.

Junior guard Bryant McIntosh led the way for NU with 20 points to go with five assists. Junior guard Scottie Lindsey also chipped in with 16, while sophomore center Dererk Pardon notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

“I thought our key guys were great, obviously,” McIntosh said. “I just thought everybody collectively played a great game.”

The Cats started fast, taking a quick 11-0 lead before the under-16 timeout. Texas’ defensive pressure brought the Longhorns back into the game and helped them claim a 26-25 lead with 3:49 left in the first, but a 9-0 run to close the half gave a NU a 34-26 lead at halftime.

Lindsey had 13 points at the half to pace the Cats, hitting five of his 11 field goal attempts. Guard Tevin Mack was the only Texas player who scored in double figures at the half, with 10.

Sophomore forward Vic Law, NU’s leading scorer so far this season, struggled with foul trouble all night and picked up his third foul just 1:52 into the second half. He eventually finished with just 9 points in just 19 minutes.

But the Cats kept control, even with Law on the bench. NU came out strong in the second half, taking a 44-27 lead and forcing a timeout from Texas after Lindsey connected on a 3 with 16:49 to go.

The Cats also seemed to figure out the Longhorns’ press in the second half, passing through it and creating easy transition baskets. Texas had opportunities to catch up at the free-throw line, but shot an abysmal 13-of-27 from the stripe to squander the advantage.

Additionally, NU did a good job containing star freshman forward Jarrett Allen inside, as he scored just five points on 2-of-6 shooting and had a game-high five turnovers.

Both Lindsey and McIntosh credited coach Chris Collins’ gameplan for the win.

“We had great preparation,” Lindsey said. “We knew that they were an athletic team, a driving team.”

NU held on to the lead and extended it to 19 with a 3-pointer from freshman guard Isiah Brown with 9:27 left. The Longhorns made a run to tighten the game, pulling within 13 with 2:39 left, but it was too little, too late.

Still, the Cats controlled the game for most of the night, shooting 48.2 percent from the field while holding Texas to a 37.3 clip on the other end and winning the rebound and turnover battles. NU will look to keep its momentum going when it takes on Notre Dame on Tuesday night.

“We didn’t come here for this first game,” McIntosh said. “It was a good first test, but we came here with a mindset that we were gonna come here and win a championship.”

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