Quick Reaction: Northwestern completes a heartbreaking 70-66 win over No. 19 Illinois

Quick Reaction: Northwestern completes a heartbreaking 70-66 win over No. 19 Illinois

How is everyone’s blood pressure?

In a game that went into overtime, Northwestern (7-3, 1-1 B1G) edged No. 1 70-66. 19 Illinois (6-2, 0-1 B1G) by. After trailing by 10 with 10 minutes left in the second half, the Cats turned on their offense when it mattered most.

For Northwestern, Nick Martinelli led the way with 27 points, while Brooks Barnhizer added 17 points and had three steals. Jalen Leach also scored 16 points, creating his own look in the midfield.

For Illinois, Kasparas Jakucionis was deadly with 20 points, including six three-pointers. Tomislav Ivisic sniffed out a triple-double with 15 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.

Illinois won the tip, but Ivisic couldn’t beat Matthew Nicholson. After a miss from Martinelli from mid-range, Ivisic found Tre White and secured Illinois’ first points of the game. After an easy layup from Kylan Boswell, Leach hit a mid-range shot from his elbow to put the ‘Cats on the court. Illinois scored its first four shots and took an 8-4 lead after just under four minutes.

With 16 minutes left in the first half, Barnhizer recovered the ball and converted from the free throw line to bring NU within two goals before a bad pass from Jakucionis triggered the first media timeout.

After the timeout, both teams were 0-6 overall until Barnhizer hit a three-pointer and the Cats took a 9-8 lead. Ivisic quickly followed up with a three-pointer. NU had three good looks at the rim with 10:30 left, but neither Barnhizer nor Leach were able to convert. Luke Hunger closed the gap on the next possession, converting a diving right elbow to tie the game at 11-11.

After a layup by Will Riley, Justin Mullins sank his first three-pointer of the evening to make it 14:13. With 7:27 left, White beat the shot clock with an elbow jump to put Illinois ahead by four. Martinelli responded with a nifty spin and layup at the other end. After Morez Johnson Jr. put Barnhizer on the hardwood, the Illinois center was fouled again and ended up on the bench. Barnhizer responded with a fadeaway jumper to give NU an 18-17 lead.

There was no denying the Fighting Illini as Ivisic came right back with another three-pointer. After missing both free throws, Martinelli sank a one-handed push shot on the next possession to make it 20-20. With 3:30 left, Ivisic made a pass behind his back to set up Riley for an easy layup. After a Martinelli miss, Ivisic found Riley again and put Illinois up by four points when Collins called a timeout with 2:51 left.

Illinois struck first after the timeout when Boswell found Riley at the rim for the fourth time of the night. On the other hand, Leach shot back with a mid-range jumper and brought the “Cats” back to four points. With just under a minute left before halftime, Riley got in touch and separated a pair from the line, giving the Illini a 27-22 lead. The Cats got the final possession of the half, which Leach took the length of the court and scored at the rim, cutting NU’s deficit to three as he entered the locker room.

The Cats struggled to score in the first half, converting just 31.4% of their field goal attempts. Leach led the way with eight points, while Barnhizer and Martinelli were a combined 5-for-19 from the field. For the Fighting Illini, Riley scored 11 points and Ivisic eight, plus three rebounds and three assists.

Martinelli started the second half with a silky fadeaway from the elbow. After missing on the next possession, Boswell showcased his breakaway speed as he raced past NU’s defense and made an easy layup. Barnhizer answered with a layup, but Ivisic came back with one of his own. On the other hand, Martinelli sank his first three-pointer of the evening and tied the game at 31:31.

With 17 minutes left, Ivisic took advantage of an easy equalizer against Barnhizer and completed an easy shot at the basket. After a push from Boswell, Barnhizer rose at the free throw line and fired home a jump shot, giving NU a 34-33 lead heading into the U16 timeout.

With 14:56 left, Johnson Jr. got a loose ball and hit a layup to give Illinois a score. After Barnhizer lost the ball, Ivisic found Johnson Jr. for a hoop-and-harm, but he couldn’t hit the free throw. At the other end, Hunger fired a three-pointer wide of the net and Jakucionis hit a stepback three-pointer to put the Fighting Illini up 40-34.

After the timeout, Ty Berry rose for a baseline attack but was blocked by Jakucionis. On the other hand, Johnson Jr. took advantage of Hunger’s poor post defense and hit an easy layup to put Illinois within eight in the U12.

With 11:39 left, Riley came into contact at the rim but was only able to hit one of his foul shots. At the other end, Barnhizer set up a layup for Martinelli, giving the Cats a nearly five-minute goal loss. With just over 10 minutes left, Jakucionis sank another tough three-pointer, this time from the left wing, to give Illinois a 46-36 lead.

To get the Cats going again, Martinelli drove to the rim and finished off contact with a difficult layup. After a push from Riley, Martinelli made a spin move for an easy look at the rim to put NU within six. As the next media timeout approached, Nicholson pumped up the crowd and walked to the bench with a bleeding arm.

With 7:44 minutes left, Leach separated from his man and sank a jumper from mid-range to make it 46:42. Barnhizer grabbed the ball on the other end but couldn’t get it past a Fighting Illini defender. On the next possession, he got another steal and a foul at the rim, hitting one of his two free throws to bring the Cats within three points.

After an NU fast break, Barnhizer found Nicholson in the post, who made contact and hit a free throw to make it 46:44. On the next possession, Barnhizer grabbed another defensive rebound but was unable to connect with the three from the wing. With 5:47 left, Jakucionis hit a three-pointer from the corner to bring Illinois back within five. On the other side, Martinelli was attacked and he hit both foul shots to bring NU within three points.

With 5:11 left, Ben Humrichous drained a three-pointer from the wing to extend Illinois’ lead to 52-46. Less than a minute later, Martinelli used his reliable rotation to finish at the rim. On the next possession, Barnhizer blasted home a fadeaway jumper from the free throw line to cut the Fighting Illini’s lead to two and went into the U-4 timeout.

With 3:03 left, Jakucionis hit another stepback dagger over Nicholson to put Illinois up 55-50. On the next possession, Ivisic gave his team new life with a crucial offensive rebound against Mullins as Brad Underwood called a timeout. A few plays later, Martinelli rose for a layup but was blocked by Humrichous. Boswell failed to hit a layup for Illinois as Mullins raced the floor for a fastbreak layup, bringing the Cats within one point with less than a minute to play.

With 56.8 seconds left, Ivisic drew a foul but was only able to make one free throw to give the Fighting Illini a 56-54 lead. At the other end, Barnhizer converted a throw from mid-range to shorten the score and force Underwood to take another timeout.

After the timeout, Jakucionis shot a three-pointer but couldn’t convert it. Barnhizer grabbed the defensive rebound and tried to hit a three-pointer from the left wing, but he couldn’t sink it as the clock reached zero at 56:56.

Nicholson won the tip-off in overtime, and the Cats tied for first when Martinelli fired a shot into the goal to make it 58-56. At the other end, Jakucionis fired back with a three-pointer to put the Fighting Illini ahead by one. After Barnhizer missed a mid-range jumper, Nicholson grabbed the offensive rebound and put NU ahead 60-59 under the basket.

With 2:58 left, Martinelli raced to the rim at full speed and double-clutched the rim to increase Northwestern’s lead by three. The Fighting Illini lived up to their namesake, however, as Boswell immediately responded with a layup to cut their deficit to one.

As Martinelli came out of Illinois’ timeout, he hit a three-pointer on the right wing that gave the ‘Cats a 65-61 lead. But Jakucionis was not deterred as he found his favorite spot on the wing and hit another three. On the other side, Leach drove to the cup and sank the layup while making contact. After missing the game-winning free throw, NU still led 67-64.

With 1:17 left, Humrichous missed a three-pointer, but Martinelli was called for a foul on the rebound to award Illinois free throws. Ivisic hit both shots at the charity stripe to bring the Fighting Illini within one goal. On the other hand, Barnhizer attempted a hard floater at the rim but couldn’t convert it. Luckily, Nicholson was there on defense and blocked Jakucionis’ layup attempt on the other side. With 25 seconds left, Leach hit two free throws to give the Cats a 69-66 lead before Collins called a timeout.

After the break, Jakucionis went for a three-pointer, but failed when his shot went out of bounds. With 8.8 seconds left, the Fighting Illini intentionally fouled Barnhizer, who made a free throw to increase the Cats’ lead to 70-66. After a desperate attack from Riley, time ran out and NU pulled out a four-point win.

Northwestern will take a week off before traveling to Milwaukee to face Georgia Tech in the MKE Tip-Off on December 15th at 2:30 p.m. CST.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *