It was quite the rollercoaster ride this weekend, to say the least.
Northwestern men’s basketball has now completed three nail-biting finishes to open its high-major slate after a string of blowout victories over mid-major foes at home to begin the year. Yesterday evening, though, the ‘Cats might have just had their best non-conference game in a while. Let’s set the scene.
Just under five minutes left in the ball game. After a pair of Jayden Reid free throws, Northwestern has stretched its lead all the way
out to 12, the highest for either team over the course of the game.
Momentum is undeniably with the Wildcats, who are on the heels of an explosive 14-2 run over the last three minutes. Any casual fan would change the channel to something a little more exciting, like the NFL’s afternoon slate.
But this is why we love this sport (and hate it, too). Because it’s never over ‘til its over, to quote the infamous Yogi Berra.
South Carolina would proceed to find some magic mojo after their offense had looked completely dead in the water for the preceding five minutes, catching fire from deep and cutting the lead to two possessions again to make it feel like a game. Then, when graduate guard Meechie Johnson picked the pocket of Jayden Reid twice within 10 seconds and cut the lead to two in the blink of an eye, it was really a game.
Momentum would continue to swing back and forth, but ultimately, it was Northwestern who got the last laugh. After the Gamecocks had tied the game on a couple of clutch free throws from Mike Sharavjamts with just under 30 seconds to go, NU would have the opportunity for some late-game heroics that we all saw and loved quite a bit just a season ago (need I remind you of Nick Martinelli’s two buzzer-beaters from practically the same spot in Welsh-Ryan Arena?).
Out of the inbound, the ball went into the hands of Martinelli (surprise, surprise), who drove baseline and was met with two defenders for the trap. But instead of forcing up a tough floater, which he often had to do a year ago surrounded by a comparatively stagnant offense, he had the luxury of other options.
Martinelli would find Arrinten Page, begging for the ball in the low block, who made good on his plea with a hard pound dribble and a game-winning layup putting the ’Cats back ahead by two, 79-77, with just 0.8 seconds to go.
Now, after such a hectic game, there are really two ways to look at things going forward. Was Northwestern’s ability to grind a tough one out a sign of good things to come as it will encounter plenty more down-to-the-wire games, or was a near-collapse in the final moments against a lower-tier SEC team a big red flag?
On the one hand, there is plenty good to be taken from this game and weekend as a whole. For one, Martinelli appears to be back following a short scoring hiatus.
After being held to just nine points on 3-of-11 shooting against Virginia in NU’s first game of the Greenbrier Tipoff, the senior exploded for 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting yesterday afternoon. The most encouraging aspect of all might be the 6-foot-7 forward’s jump shot, which looks markedly improved from one that defenders could reasonably sag off from last year.
Speaking of changes from what we saw a season ago, this roster looks unbelievably deep. At Big Ten Media Day last month, head coach Chris Collins emphasized how excited he was to have so many guys he could look down along his bench to and put in the game with full confidence, all for different situations.
In today’s nail-biter, he still managed to play 10 men (only one of which didn’t record nine or more minutes). And stepping up off the bench was Max Green, who has shown his microwave ability since the season’s start. In just 11 minutes, Green recorded 13 points on ridiculous 5-of-6 shooting and was exactly what the Wildcats’ offense needed to get going again in the second half.
And that’s not even to mention the options Northwestern has on both sides of the ball in the waning moments of the game. After having really only Martinelli to truly rely on down the stretch toward the end of last season, NU looks much more multi-dimensional this year. That was best displayed by Page taking that final shot — not only does Collins trust in all of his guys, but the team trusts in each other to get the job done.
But let’s not act like this victory was all sunshine and rainbows. Northwestern held a seven-point lead in the second half against Virginia, but it faltered down the stretch and made costly mistakes to lose a very winnable game. Those errors weren’t exactly corrected against South Carolina.
When you’ve got your foot on the other team’s neck, any good coach knows to go for the kill. But after ballooning their lead out to double digits, the Wildcats did anything but that. Instead, they got comfortable.
They got lazy on the boards, allowing the Gamecocks to stay in the game with second-chance opportunities while NU was out of position on defense. South Carolina ended with 17 second chance points to Northwestern’s four. And that apathy leaked onto the offensive side, where Reid’s aforementioned back-to-back turnovers gifted the Gamecocks another shot at winning when the contest shouldn’t have been that close to begin with.
With their backs against the wall and South Carolina suddenly on the attack, Northwestern became static on offense, afraid to make any more mistakes and failing to punch back. It was painfully obvious that NU wasn’t playing to win, but rather not to lose.
That is, until the final possession.
So, how are we supposed to feel about all of this? In all honesty, it took me a while to process all of this to begin with, given how many emotions I went through in those final five minutes. Call me glass-half-full, but I’ve decided to remain cautiously optimistic.
It was not perfect, nor was it pretty. But I think it’s important than we remember how early we are in the season.
Mistakes will be made. Scores will not necessarily indicate how good a team is or, more importantly, is capable of being. But as NU nears its Big Ten stretch of play, winning in moments like these is what makes the difference in not just building momentum, but ultimately whether an invite is extended to the Big Dance come March.
As I see all too often on my Twitter (not calling it X) feed, I quote from the college basketball great Jon Rothstein: “This is ONLY November.”
