Is Northwestern basketball back in last year’s form? The realistic answer is probably not, but Tuesday’s 77-69 win at Minnesota was definitely a step in the right direction for the Wildcats.
Vic Law led the the charge to victory for the Wildcats putting up 18 points on an efficient 6-11 from the field. He also had 13 rebounds, giving him his second double double of the season. Bryant McIntosh was the other leading scorer for the Wildcats with 18 points, including two three pointers. Derek Pardon also had a great game on the boards. He corralled five offensive rebounds and contributed 10 points to the victory. Plus, he gave us this gem:
Gonna need a harder foul to stop @dererk5 from attacking the rack.
— Northwestern On BTN (@NUOnBTN) January 24, 2018
The @NUMensBball big man finishes with some flair, and we've got a close one on BTN: pic.twitter.com/FKauYzyoaM
Aaron Falzon may be the unsung hero of the game. He contributed eight points, all coming from free throws. Falzon went 8-9 from the line, including two makes with 1:14 left to extend the Northwestern lead to six and put the game out of reach.
The win in Minneapolis was the team’s second straight win in a game that had a very similar feel to Saturday’s game against Penn State. In both games the team fell behind early and trailed at halftime but had a strong second half to rally to victory. Wins like that are a good sign for the team, showing that they have the resilience to grind out wins, even when they struggle early on in games. It is also shaping into the way Northwestern performs in Big Ten games: a slow start with stronger play coming as the season goes on.
The win improves Northwestern’s record to 13-9 (4-5 B1G) and gives them their second consecutive conference win after dropping five of the previous six. The Wildcats look to make it three in a row on Monday when they head to Ann Arbor to take on No. 25 Michigan (17-5, 6-3 B1G).