What the Games Teach Us...
Men’s Basketball:
Wildcats top Michigan as Welsh-Ryan Arena goes berserk
Tim Balk, Managing Editor
...Senior forward Nathan Taphorn had just tossed a picture-perfect full-court inbound pass with 1.7 seconds remaining to (Dererk) Pardon, who laid in a bucket as time expired. The score broke a tie and gave the Northwestern Wildcats (21-9, 10-7 Big Ten) a 67-65 win over Michigan (19-11, 9-8) on Wednesday night.
After the dust settled and the pandemonium subsided, NU was left to bask in a crucial victory that could deliver the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament bid.
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Following the team’s latest loss, a 63-62 last-second heartbreaker at Indiana on Saturday, (Coach Chris) Collins said he altered his message to his team.
“I came in, and I challenged them,” Collins said. “It was the first time I said, guys, there is pressure. And anything good in life involves handling pressure and succeeding under pressure. … We’ve got to go out and win if we want to do something great.”
The Cats responded...
“This is why we all came here,” (sophomore forward Vic) Law said. “We knew coming in that if we wanted to be different, then this was the game that we needed to take.”
It wasn’t easy, but NU found a way earn its program-record 21st win. Collins said throughout the game his players kept telling each other “we’re not losing tonight.”
With the critical victory under their belt, Pardon said the pressure is finally off as a battle with conference-leading Purdue looms Sunday.
“We have the monkey off our back,” the sophomore center said. “We can just play free. Just play basketball like we played all year.”VIDEO: Respect is Earned.
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