Illinois tried time and time again to claw their way back into the game against Northwestern on Saturday, but the Wildcats proved to have too much heart, holding on for 71-70 victory.
After nearly pulling off the greatest and most surprising win in school history against No. 1 Ohio State last Saturday, Northwestern finally pulled off the upset they were looking for. Coming into Saturday, Northwestern badly needed a win after dropping three straight, all to ranked teams. For a little added motivation, in-state rival Illinois came to Welsh-Ryan. It was the Illini who had pasted the Wildcats by 25 in their game in Champaign one month ago.
“They got embarrassed at our place and they responded (today),” Illinois coach Bruce Weber said.
Drew Crawford, who was held to two points in that game said with a smile that revenge was not a factor, but did find it satisfying to get the win.
“We moved on from (the loss), learned from it, watched a lot of film of that game. So it felt good to come back today and execute what we wanted to do as a team,” Crawford said.
Hero of the Game | Juice Thompson
In what may be his last game against rival Illinois, Juice Thompson played like the senior leader everyone expects him to be. Northwestern opened up a 53-41 lead with 11:06 to go in the game after a big three by Alex Marcotulio. This was the second time in the game they led by that much and looked to be pulling away. But the Wildcats then went scoreless for the next five minutes as the Illini reeled off at 12-0 run to tie the game up at 53 with 6:39 remaining, until Thompson took over the game. He broke the scoring drought with a three to keep Illinois at bay.
Then, with 3:44 left, John Shurna rebounded a Thompson 3-point attempt and kicked it out to Juice in the left corner. With a hand in his face, Juice sank a coldblooded three without hesitation, putting the Cats back up by six, 61-55. Two possessions later, Thompson stole the ball in transition to prevent an Illinois fast break, then sunk another trey to make it 64-57. For every run the Fighting Illini made, Thompson was the answer, although he refused to take all the credit.
“I was just on the receiving end of some good passes and I made some shots,” Thompson said.
He finished with 22 points, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
“I thought ‘Juice’ Michael Thompson was very special and played like a senior,” Weber said.
Stat of the Game | Mike Tisdale, 2-of-4 from the field
The often-criticized 7-foot-1 center has hammered Northwestern on the offensive end over the past two years. He scored a career-high 31 points against Northwestern in Champaign last season and in the two teams’ past three meetings, has shot 22-of-28 from the field. But Tisdale was MIA offensively on Saturday.
The Wildcats switched constantly on defense, giving Illinois problems with their spacing inside. Northwestern coach Bill Carmody also credited attacking Tisdale inside when he was on defense with slowing down his offensive game.
“We just wanted to have him think about besides just coming down and posting up on us,” Carmody said. “He’s very tough once he gets within seven feet or so.”
Tisdale was only 1-of-2 from the field at the end of the first half, with no rebounds. Despite only having one foul, Bruce Weber decided to start the second half with him on the bench.
With Tisdale rendered ineffective by Northwestern’s constant switching on defense, Illinois was forced to settle for jumpers for much of the game. They shot 41 percent from the field in the first half which, compared to Northwestern’s 52 percent, put them in a hole they could not recover from.
Turning Point | Thompson’s threes
Northwestern’s nearly five-minute scoreless looked like it would become the turning point for an Illinois comeback victory. However, Juice countered with clutch shooting that got Illinois out of their offensive rhythm and kept them playing from behind. When Thompson made shots, Illinois was forced into their halfcourt offense, which was out of sync for most of the day. They were far more successful in transition, hence their 12-0 run in the second half when the Wildcats went cold from the floor.
What to Improve On | Putting teams away
As well as Northwestern played for most of the game, they had multiple lengthy periods where Illinois held them scoreless, allowing them to claw their way back into the game. Juice and company were able to stop the bleeding after each Illini run and Illinois did not lead at any point in the game. But Illinois tied the game three different times after Draw Crawford and JerShon Cobb sparked a 9-0 start to the game. Northwestern executed tremendously well down the stretch to hang on for the victory, going 8-of-9 from the line in the final 1:25 of the game. But although they showed poise in those tense situations, they will not be a complete team until they can avoid scoreless stretches and put teams away.
“As a team, I think we did a good job of keeping our composure and staying with our offense. Just staying aggressive on the defensive end.”
What This Game Means: This was Northwestern’s eighth game of the season against a ranked opponent. It was also their first win. There is no doubt Northwestern’s conference schedule has been brutal to this point, which makes their 4-7 conference record excusable, but not tournament worthy. But now they come up on a stretch of very winnable games: at Michigan, at Penn State, vs. Iowa, at Indiana, and vs. Penn State. All Northwestern needs to do is grab four of those games to get to .500 in the Big Ten, then steal one against either Wisconsin or Minnesota before the season ends. With a strong showing in the Big Ten Tournament, they could once again be back in the Big Dance picture.
Other Notes:
John Shurna returned to action Saturday after missing last weekend’s Ohio State loss with a concussion. Senior Mike Capocci started in his place for the second time, but Shurna was the first man off the bench. Carmody said that doctors cleared Shurna to play on Friday.
“I really wanted to get him back in there to get his feet wet again because we have a bunch of games coming up and I didn’t want the first game (back) to be on the road,” Carmody said.
Carmody added, “He was tired out there…but he gave us some very good and valuable minutes.”
Shurna played 28 minutes, finishing 2-of-5 from the field for eight points. He also had five assists, three rebounds, and three turnovers.