Men’s Basketball

Coach Chris Collins has said he always gives his players the green light to shoot whenever they see the light of day, because on a random night in conference play, something crazy could always happen.

Then on a random Tuesday night in January, something borderline unbelievable did.

Junior forward Aaron Falzon checked into the game with nine minutes to go in the first half, having played just 18 minutes and scoring just six points all season. It was Falzon – the injury replacement that has his own track record of missing significant time – who led Northwestern (12-7, 3-5 Big Ten) to a 73-66 win over Indiana (12-7, 3-5).

Collins – who was a sniper himself in college – turned to his seldom-used three-point shooter instead of going back to his leading scorers as the Wildcats were stuck in a close game early on.

“We were just struggling to score. I thought we were playing hard, but with both teams it was kind of a rockfight,” said Collins, who won his 100th career game Wednesday. “I felt like it was the time to throw him in there, and obviously he made three threes there in the first half.”

Falzon had his moment against the team featuring the best NBA prospect in the Big Ten, outscoring guard Romeo Langford 21-12. The 17.9-point-per-game scorer has led the Hoosiers’ offense throughout the season, but NU forced the ball out of his hands on every pick-and-roll and dared his teammates to make open perimeter shots.

But Indiana lacked a Falzon of its own, as the Hoosiers shot 4-21 from beyond the arc, continuing their stretch of poor perimeter shooting in conference play. Coach Archie Miller said that Falzon’s shooting changed the game for the Cats, but their defense kept Langford and the offense unable to respond.

“One guy for them changed the game, and the crucial part is we weren’t able to get that under control,” Miller said. “That did such a good job making us make tough catches, and they were putting two on the ball constantly to turn (Langford) into a passer, and he’s got to continue to work.”

On the other side, NU had one of its most efficient offensive games of the season, assisting on 17 of its 21 made baskets and taking 29 free throws. Following five consecutive games in which the Cats failed to crack 70 points, four players cracked double figures, led by Falzon’s 21 and 17 from senior center Dererk Pardon.

Their scoring led the Cats on a 24-12 run to end the first half, which was arguably the best stretch of play for Northwestern in all of January. In a win that takes the Cats out of the bottom tier of teams in the conference standings, Pardon said that while Falzon was shocking the crowd, he saw a team quietly making strides on both ends of the floor.

“We were just running a lot harder than we usually do,” he said. “We know that with our offense we have to run a lot harder, and that gives us open shots and especially open threes for (Falzon).”

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Twitter: @2021_charlie