Men’s Basketball

If someone would have said that Northwestern would beat Indiana with senior forward Vic Law scoring 11 points on 1-8 shooting, it would have been hard to believe.

That win would seem even more unlikely if it was junior forward Aaron Falzon, who led the team in scoring.

But on Tuesday night in Evanston, the unlikely happened.

With Law struggling to produce and freshman forward Pete Nance out with an illness, coach Chris Collins gave Falzon an opportunity to get more playing time — and he made the most of it.

“I just kept telling him, ‘Listen, there’s going to be a night coming up. Just stay ready,’” Collins said. “Pete goes down with a sickness…I just told Aaron, ‘Tonight’s going to be the night.’”

Coming off the bench, Falzon was a spark for the Wildcats’ offense, scoring 21 points on 6-7 shooting from behind the arc to lead NU to a 73-66 win.

With 8:50 remaining in the first half, NU’s offense overall was sluggish, and Collins put Falzon in. Down 20-13, Falzon hit back-to-back threes to bring the Wildcats within one point. He would miss his next three-pointer, but that was his only miss for the whole game. After both teams traded leads and Indiana went ahead 22-21, Falzon hit his third three-pointer of the first half, and NU didn’t relinquish its lead for the rest of the game.

“We couldn’t throw it in the ocean,” Collins said. “I’ve always had confidence that Aaron might be able to make some shots and get us going…I just felt like we needed a shot in the arm.”

In the second half, Falzon continued to haunt the Indiana defense. From 15:37 to 13:09 in the second half, the 6’8” forward scored 12 points, hitting three more from distance and adding three free throws.

“It’s hard to explain when you’re in a zone like that,” Falzon said about his performance. “I’ve been in a zone like that a lot of times in my life…(but) getting it in the game is the ultimate rush, the ultimate feeling.”

For Falzon, his college career has been defined by injuries. Falzon was a highly-touted prospect out of high school and showed his potential right off the bat. He scored 20 points in his college debut against UMass Lowell back in 2015, one of two games in which he scored 20 that season.

But the next season, Falzon missed all but three games while sidelined with injuries. He continued to battle through injuries last season, struggling to get consistent minutes in the rotation before Collins gave him a chance Wednesday.

With the offense struggling to produce with Law recovering from injury, Collins said Falzon will have the opportunity to become another weapon in the arsenal.

“I’m sure he’s going to get another chance on Saturday,” Collins said. “He’s definitely earned that and Pete’s gonna be out for a while, so he’s gonna have opportunities.”

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Twitter: @andrewcgolden