Men’s Basketball

There was plenty of motivation for Northwestern on Tuesday. Facing in-state rival Illinois, the Wildcats stood on the brink of history with a chance to avenge an earlier defeat and bolster their tournament resume with March rapidly approaching.

Instead, NU (20-8, 9-6 Big Ten) fell completely flat, delivering a hopeless offensive performance and falling to the Fighting Illini 66-50.

“I didn’t feel like we came to fight,” junior guard Bryant McIntosh said. “I thought we just came to play a game, and in the Big Ten that will get you beat.”

The loss marked the Cats’ second this season at the hands of Illinois (16-12, 6-9), and followed a similar storyline to that episode in the opening half. Earlier in February, NU began slow against the Fighting Illini but found a groove late in the first period to make the game competitive entering the break.

Once again, the Cats sputtered out of the gate, with McIntosh carrying a lifeless offensive attack on tired shoulders. Junior guard Scottie Lindsey — who missed the first meeting with an illness — continued his shaky return, while sophomore forward Vic Law posted another scoring dud, failing to find a rhythm in the opening minutes.

“I want to credit (Illinois’) defense,” coach Chris Collins said. “I thought they played really hard, I thought they had a good game plan, I thought they were physical.”

But the hosts let NU hang within striking distance, thanks to a strong off-the-bench showing from junior forward Gavin Skelly, who added 7 points on 2-of-3 shooting before the intermission. Freshman guard Isiah Brown also pitched in a less efficient 7 in the first half, as the reserve duo’s output combined with McIntosh’s 12 points to cut the deficit to 1 by halftime.

The Cats again failed to flip the narrative in the second half against Illinois. But unlike the first meeting, which featured an inspired second-half push by McIntosh before last-minute heartbreak, the rematch saw no such comeback down the stretch.

NU’s struggling offense hit new lows, with the uninspired scoring attack exacerbated by McIntosh’s second-half scoring drought. The guard managed just 4 points after the break on 1-of-9 shooting, and Law and Lindsey were held without a field goal in the period and finished with just 5 combined points on the night.

“I thought Bryant got off to a good start, and then our inability to get anybody else going … wore him down,” Collins said. “He showed it in the second half. He’s got to get some help.”

Meanwhile, Illinois cleaned up its sloppy first-half play and left NU in the dust. Guard Malcolm Hill, who finished with a game-high 18 points, paced the hosts through the close. The senior led Illinois on its crucial 12-0 mid-half run, leaving the Cats in the rearview window searching for a semblance of rhythm.

But the search was futile. NU went nearly 10 minutes without a field goal until senior forward Nathan Taphorn connected from deep with 1:11 remaining, at which point the damage was done.

Illinois coasted to the win, completing its season sweep of the Cats and handing its in-state rival another potential setback in its quest for a first-ever tournament bid.

“Nothing’s guaranteed at this point,” McIntosh said. “We can do something special or we can … just let this slip away.”

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Twitter: @GarrettJochnau