Really, considering how poorly they shot the ball - particularly from three, where they were a gapingly bad 10-of-39 - it's amazing Northwestern was in this game at the end. But there they were, having just tied the score on a John Shurna layup - one of his few positive contributions to the game, frankly, and actually it was a goaltending call - with 4.2 seconds to go. It wasn't a lot of time, but it was enough for Washington State to race upcourt. The man with the ball - possibly Reggie Moore, though I don't remember now - raced into the lane. Either Shurna or Marcotullio managed to get in front of him just enough to force a pass underneath. It was kind of a wild pass, but as Drew Crawford lunged for it, he smashed into Abe Lodwick with 0.2 seconds on the clock. The officials called a foul.
I should say I'm not a huge fan of the foul call. It's hardly the worst call I'll ever see, but Crawford was clearly going for the ball and it wasn't a perfect pass that by all rights belonged to Lodwick. On the other hand, if Crawford just stops, there's no way Lodwick has enough time to corral the ball and put up a shot. At any rate, the foul was called, the officials huddled to see how much time was left, put 0.2 seconds back up, and Lodwick stepped to the line with the score tied at 64.
And he missed both.
This, of course, was the miracle reprieve. Crawford's foul was Demos hitting the upright, and Lodwick missing both shots was the roughing the kicker penalty. Unfortunately, the 'Cats didn't even get as close this time as their football counterparts did. While Markshausen was stopped just two yards short of the end zone to end the Outback, the Wildcats went down with a whimper in the overtime, perhaps as exhausted physically as I felt watching them. They went five minutes of overtime with just a single made basket, going just 1-for-10 from the field, and though they were tied at 66 as late as with 1:10 to go, they never really seemed in danger of winning. Washington State wasn't much better, but they were able to get three free throws, and that was enough to hold on. If just one of the 29 threes that Northwestern missed had fallen in regulation, they would have won.
Still, you have to be proud of the 'Cats. For one thing, they got farther than they ever have in the postseason. They went toe-to-toe with an arguably better team in a tough road environment and outworked them - even though Northwestern is a terrible rebounding team, they actually outrebounded Washington State, 34-33, and they had to in order to compensate for all the three-pointers they were bricking. They were 14-of-25 inside the arc, mostly on easy layups, and Carmody seemed frustrated at times by how often the players were willing to settle for difficult three-point looks when they were having so much success inside. On the other hand, Washington State played a pretty decent defensive game and did a good job not allowing too many looks like that.
The 'Cats showed heart. They were down as many as 14 in the first half, 31-17 with 4:22 left in the opening period. Then they went on a 14-7 run to close the half and opened the second with a 7-0 run to tie it and even had the lead a few times, though never by more than two and not later than the six-minute mark of the second half. You can't really argue that they were ever in a position to win the game - only once in the last two minutes of either the second half or OT did they have a shot in the air that would have given them a lead, Shurna's missed three with 33 seconds left and Washington State up 63-62. But they played until the end. Usually when Northwestern shoots their threes that badly they lose badly. This time, at least, they were in it until the horn sounded.
That's the life of a Northwestern sports fan these days - some highs, but ultimately a series of near misses in the big spots. Then again, considering where the football program was 30 years ago, and where the basketball program was even just a decade ago, I guess I'll take it. Sigh. Go 'Cats.
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