Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Michigan
Wildcats Fall To Wolverines, 63-56
3/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 6, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - Daniel Horton had 16 points and Lester Abram scored 14, including four key free throws down the stretch that helped Michigan hold off Northwestern 63-56 on Saturday.
Northwestern (13-14, 8-8) finishes Big Ten play with a .500 record for the first time since 1968, but the Wildcats will need to win at least two games in next week's conference tournament to finish at .500 and qualify for the NIT. With Iowa's 63-62 victory at Purdue Saturday afternoon, the Wildcats will be the No. 6 seed in this week's Big Ten Tournament and play Penn State in the final game Thursday afternoon in Indianapolis. The Nittany Lions dropped to the 11th seed after a 78-62 loss at Minnesota Saturday night.
Jitim Young scored 20 points in his final home game at Northwestern, and the senior's three-point play with 21 seconds left gave the Wildcats one last chance. But Northwestern couldn't overcome Michigan's 37-23 rebounding edge, and it shot a season-low 35 percent.
Bernard Robinson Jr., who leads Michigan in assists and rebounding and is second in scoring, played just 16 minutes because of foul trouble. But he hit a huge 3-pointer with 3:50 left that gave Michigan a 53-46 lead and appeared to put the Wolverines in control. Northwestern, which had sped up the tempo early in the game, looked spent and had several players in foul trouble.
The Wildcats weren't quite done, though. After Michigan had back-to-back turnovers, T.J. Parker drove through heavy traffic and flipped in a reverse, drawing a foul from Courtney Sims in the process. Parker made the free throw, pulling Northwestern within 53-51 with 2:29 to play.
Abram scored on a driving layup, but Young answered with a pair of free throws.
The Wildcats were forced to foul with less than a minute to play, and Abram kept them in control, going 4-for-4 from the line. But with 21 seconds left, Young tipped in a Parker miss and was fouled by Horton.
Young made the shot, pulling Northwestern within 61-56. But the Wildcats got lost on the inbounds play and allowed four costly seconds to elapse before Robinson was fouled. Robinson made both shots, all but sealing the game.
Young, who started his school-record 115th game, got a long, loud ovation when he was introduced before his last home game, and the Wildcats seemed to feed off the enthusiasm. Young scored the Wildcats' first seven points, and his breakaway layup off a midcourt steal gave Northwestern a 14-7 lead with 12:14 left in the first half.
Michigan couldn't keep up with Northwestern's fast pace, and the Wolverines looked disorganized early on. But after Parker picked up his second foul with 12:03 left in the first half, Northwestern was forced to dial it down.
The Wildcats had only two field goals in the next nine-plus minutes while Michigan regained its rhythm. Horton scored on a layup, the first of three straight baskets by the sophomore, to spark a 14-2 run that gave Michigan a 21-16 lead with 7:52 to play.
Vedran Vukusic made back-to-back 3s, giving Northwestern a 31-29 lead with 1:38 to play. But Horton hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left to give Michigan a 32-31 halftime lead.
