Northwestern Tops Rutgers to Match School-Record Win Total

2/18/2017 6:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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McIntosh leads Wildcats with 18 points, 6 assists

By: Jasper Scherer

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Bryant McIntosh scored 18 points and Northwestern came up with a series of big shots at the end of the game as the Wildcats pulled out a gutsy 69-65 victory over Rutgers on Saturday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Fourteen of McIntosh's points came in the second half, while the 'Cats held Rutgers to 11-of-31 shooting after the break. Dererk Pardon added 12 points and eight rebounds in the game.

Northwestern improves to 9-5 in the Big Ten and matches a school record with its 20th win of the season. In front of a sold-out crowd, the 'Cats improved to 13-3 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

The 'Cats started cold from long range, missing their first seven 3-point attempts. But Pardon's strong play — eight points and seven rebounds in the first six minutes — made up for the slow shooting start and kept the score close.

After five lead changes in the first eight minutes, Rutgers went ahead 17-14. The 'Cats responded by rattling off a 9-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game. Barret Benson, subbed in for Pardon, scored on back-to-back possessions, and Nathan Taphorn connected on Northwestern's first 3-pointer of the night to cap the run.

The trey was the first of four straight makes for the 'Cats. In between 3-pointers from Taphorn, Vic Law and Scottie Lindsey following the timeout, McIntosh found Law on an alley-oop from just inside half court.

Northwestern's lead expanded to 36-29, and the 'Cats rolled into halftime with a 39-36 edge.

NU shot 53 percent in the first half, but started 2-of-10 from the floor after the break. The 'Cats held the Scarlet Knights to a 6-of-17 start, but Rutgers dominated on the glass and forced three early NU turnovers to take a 47-43 lead with 13:16 to go.

The 'Cats trailed 52-47 at the under-eight media timeout, but Gavin Skelly ignited the offense with a 3-pointer, Northwestern's first of the half. Pardon cut the deficit to one point, 56-55, with two huge free throws.

Rutgers point guard Nigel Johnson swished a deep 3-pointer on the next possession, extending the lead back to four. But the 'Cats clawed back, with another Skelly 3-pointer cutting NU's deficit to a point, 63-62, with two minutes left.

After a missed Rutgers 3-pointer, Isiah Brown scooped up an offensive rebound off a missed shot by Law, and McIntosh put the 'Cats ahead with a clutch 3-pointer just past the one-minute mark.

NU continued to play lockdown defense in the final minute, with Law coming up with a huge steal with under 10 seconds remaining to prevent Rutgers from getting off a potential tying shot. Law made one free throw before Brown sealed the game with two from the charity stripe, and the 'Cats walked away with the win.

The 'Cats return to action on Tuesday against Illinois in Champaign. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

Northwestern Notes vs. Rutgers
Feb. 18, 2017
• Northwestern improves to 7-1 all-time against Rutgers, including 3-0 in games played at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
• The win is Northwestern's 20^th of the season matching the overall school record as well as the record for wins in a regular season. The Wildcats also won 20 regular-season games last season, as well as posting 20 victories in both 2009-10 and 2010-11 which included postseason victories.
• Northwestern won its ninth Big Ten game of the season. It's the first time NU has won nine league games since going 10-2 in 1932-33 when it won the Big Ten championship.
• Bryant McIntosh came into the game leading the Big Ten with an average of 5.6 assists per game. He recorded 6 assists on Saturday, raising his career total 515. The mark trails only Michael Thompson (528; 2008-11) in school history.
• Dererk Pardon entered the game with a team-leading .587 field goal percentage and connected on five of seven field goal attempts Saturday to raise that mark to .595 (69-116). Pardon is shooting .602 in Big Ten play (50-83).
• Scottie Lindsey – Northwestern's leading scorer – returned to the lineup Saturday after missing the previous four games due to illness. Lindsey got the start and recorded 6 points and 4 assists in 24 minutes of action.
• Sanjay Lumpkin started the 117^th game of his career, matching him with Jitim Young (2001-04) for fourth place in school history. Lumpkin also played in the 128^th game of his career, tying him with Alex Marcotullio (2010-13) for fifth place all-time at NU.
• With 3 rebounds Saturday, Lumpkin matched Willie Jones (1958-60) for 15^th place in school history.