In their first four Big Ten contests, all losses, the Northwestern Wildcats followed a similar script. They would stay close in the first half and sometimes even lead before being completely outplayed in the second half.
On Sunday afternoon against no. 18 Minnesota, the ‘Cats finally flipped the script. NU was down three after the first half of play but went on a 16-0 run early in the second half to build a lead they never relinquished in a 74-65 victory. The win, Northwestern’s first conference win at home since 2007, and their first victory over a ranked opponent since 2006, improves the ‘Cats record to 9-6. Tubby Smith’s Gophers, on the other hand, drop to 16-2 overall and 4-2 in conference play.
Communications senior Craig Moore led the way for NU with 22 points. He made six three pointers, including three during the 16-0 run that proved to be the game’s turning point. Another key play during the 16-0 run was an old fashioned three point play by Kevin Coble. The Weinberg junior from Arizona backed down several Gophers’ defenders before making a layup while being fouled. Coble then swished the field goal to push the Northwestern lead to five points. Coble finished the game with 20 points, nine of which came from free throws.
Against Purdue, NU doomed itself by only making 50 percent of its free throw attempts in the last ten minutes. Against the Gophers, NU thwarted any hopes of a Minnesota comeback by shooting 78 percent from the charity stripe.
The presence of a large and vociferous contingent of Minnesota students who made the trip down from Minnesota made the victory particularly sweet for NU fans. The Minnesota students, all of whom were wearing yellow, spent most of the first half poking fun at Northwestern’s low student attendance and past basketball performance. One popular chant was “Gopher home game.” After taking the lead in the second half, the Northwestern students were all too happy to return some of the earlier invective. As time expired the NU student section exploded with chants of “Just like football,” “Drive home safely,” and “overrated.”
Another thing of note was that the students did not rush the court. Perhaps this is indicative of a new attitude among Northwestern fans. After a couple of solid recruiting classes, the purple and white clad supporters now expect victory and do not deem a win over a No. 18 team to be worthy of storming the court.
The ‘Cats will have a few days to travel before heading up to East Lansing on Wednesday for a rematch against Michigan State. In their first game against the Spartans, NU lost 77-66.