With just over a minute left in regulation, Northwestern trailed Eastern Illinois by a point.

Graduate student guard Jalen Leach held the ball just past half-court as time dwindled down. Leach took a few dribbles toward the top of the arc and fired off a shot, draining a three-pointer. 

Welsh-Ryan Arena erupted. 

Clutch moments from Leach late in the Wildcats’ (3-1, 0-0 Big Ten) 67-58 overtime win over the Panthers (1-3, 0-0 OVC) propelled him to his best game yet in purple and white. 

The graduate transfer from Fairfield led the ’Cats with 27 points, 15 of which came from the free-throw line. Additionally, Leach played a team-high 42 minutes.

“It was his game, and that’s why we brought him here,” coach Chris Collins said. “We knew we needed somebody who could make big plays and an older guard who’s been in games who could make shots and get to the free throw line and make free throws.”

When the going was tough for NU early in the game, Leach worked his way to the free-throw line. The graduate student guard got to the line four times in the first half, hitting all eight of his free throws.

Leach was 1-of-3 from the field in the first 20 minutes, with his only make coming off a jumper with seven seconds left in the half.

It took more than ten minutes into the second half before Leach got back on the scoresheet. He drew a foul, earning a trip to the charity stripe where he hit the first of two shots. The graduate transfer got to the line three more times throughout the rest of the game, shooting a perfect 6-of-6.

“I’m kind of a bigger guard, so they have to really put their hands on me,” Leach said. “I just wanted to be aggressive, to be honest, and make them try to foul me as much as I could.”

Leach’s shots from the field really started to fall when the ’Cats needed them the most. With just over four minutes remaining in regulation, NU trailed EIU 51-54. Leach knocked down a mid-range jumper to score his first field goal of the half and cut the Panther lead to one. EIU responded on its next possession, but Leach responded about a minute later with another made jumper. 

Two Northwestern possessions later, Leach hit his first three-pointer of the game to retake the lead. Leach said this was one of the moments when he knew he was having a special night.

Leach’s hot hand continued into the overtime period. Seven of NU’s nine overtime points came from the graduate transfer. After nailing two free throws at the beginning of the period, he delivered the final nail in the coffin with just over a minute remaining. Leach fired a shot beyond the top of the arc to extend the NU lead to seven. 

“Jalen brought us home. What a great moment for him in a Northwestern uniform,” Collins said. “He was tremendous in the second half and overtime.”

Much of the offense ran through the graduate student guard toward the end of the game, despite being a newcomer. Leach said being able to lead the ’Cats’ offense late in the game meant a lot. 

“(Collins) talked to me about that before I even came here – that I was going to have a big role this year,” Leach said. “I’m just confident in my abilities, the work that I put in. So, I was ready for that moment.”

Leach scored 17 of NU’s last 23 points. His 42 minutes are a career-high, and his 27 points are just two shy of another career-best.

Leach’s career night provided the spark for a win in the eyes of Collins.

“He had two or three really big pull-up jumpers there, and then the two threes were huge, and then getting to the free throw line when we needed it,” Collins said. “Jalen really stepped up to be able to give us enough offense.”

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