Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
10-7, 1-3B1G
Illinois
12-6, 2-3B1G
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 37 | 35 | 72 |
| Northwestern | 33 | 34 | 67 |
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Northwestern Clipped by Illinois, 72-67
1/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
EVANSTON, Ill. -- A late rally and Alex Olah's fourth double-double of the season weren't quite enough as Northwestern dropped a close 72-67 decision to visiting Illinois on Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Olah made his presence felt on both ends of the court, grabbing 12 rebounds -- including four offensively -- along with three blocks and 14 points. Bryant McIntosh scored a team-high 16 of his own and the Wildcats held Illinois to 41.9 percent shooting, but Northwestern's turnover troubles were too much to overcome in the loss.
"I though he played well. We'll take that out of Alex every night," said head coach Chris Collins. "I thought he was more aggressive. Alex proved tonight what he can be. I thought it was a good performance from him."
McIntosh and Illinois' Kendrick Nunn exchanged a pair of 3-pointers to start the game, and Sanjay Lumpkin fed a wide-open Olah inside with a beautiful pass a few plays later.
On Northwestern's following possession, Olah snagged an offensive board and found Tre Demps alone on the perimeter. The redshirt junior swished the three, extending the Wildcat lead to 13-8.
Illinois responded with a 12-2 run, courtesy of four three-pointers, three of which came from guard Aaron Cosby. Northwestern struggled to contain the Illini on defense in the first half, especially beyond the perimeter, where Illinois hit seven of their first 12 field goals.
But Northwestern battled to close out the first half. Lumpkin converted on a tough layup to break a 7-0 run, drawing a foul on the shot to make it a three-point play. Moments later, trailing 32-22, Olah fed McIntosh inside after the freshman eluded his man and found himself alone under the basket for an easy score.
"The kid's a great player," Collins said of McIntosh. "I don't know why he isn't getting mentioned as one of the best freshmen in our league. He's delivering, he's a winner -- obviously he's going to make some mistakes, he's a young kid, but I feel good with him running my team."
After a defensive stop, Olah came up with another offensive rebound on the other end and converted on the put-back. JerShon Cobb followed up with a corner three to put the Wildcats within three, and they ultimately headed into the break with a four-point deficit, trailing 37-33.
Coming out of the break, Illinois grabbed the first two points of the second half, but Lumpkin followed with an alert offensive board and put-back layup on the other end.
Northwestern's perimeter defense stepped up after the early troubles, forcing 10 straight Illinois misses from beyond the arc, but the Illini gained separation after Lumpkin's score. Back-to-back dunks, punctuated by Nunn's alley-oop slam on the fastbreak, put the Wildcats in a 43-35 hole -- a gap they had trouble closing.
That is, until senior guard Dave Sobolewski's back-to-back three-pointers put Northwestern back within seven points. McIntosh then closed the gap with a contested runner to put him in double digits for the night and, more importantly, making the score 60-55.
"Dave did a great job. He was playing well so I left him in there. I thought for a little bit in the second half, Bryant got a little sped up, and I thought Dave playing with him kind of calmed Bryant down," Collins said, mentioning Sobolewski's veteran presence. "And then Bryant really played well down the stretch, and part of that was playing with Dave."
The teams traded scores from there until two free throws from Cobb put Northwestern within three points. Illinois' Cosby then missed his first one-and-one free throw after the ensuing intentional foul, at which point Tre Demps did what Tre Demps does. Off the inbounds pass, he drove into the lane, spun and threw up a contested, running layup to make it 66-65 in favor of the Illini.
From there, the teams exchanged free throws before Demps fouled Nunn. The sophomore sank both free throws, putting Illinois up 70-67 to seal the game.
"It's not about finding ways to come close," Collins said. "It's about finding ways to win, and that's the next step for us as a team."
Northwestern returns to action at 7:15 p.m. Central time Saturday when it takes on Michigan in Ann Arbor.
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