Pardon Buzzer-Beater Bests Michigan for #B1GCats, 67-65

3/1/2017 7:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Highlights Taphorn/Law/Pardon Postgame Coach Collins Postgame Box Score (PDF)

Wildcats win school-record 21st game of the season

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) -- Moments like this were exactly what coach Chris Collins envisioned for Northwestern and just what he sold his players on when he was making his recruiting pitch.

A packed crowd roaring from the opening tip. A raucous celebration after a spectacular, buzzer-beating play. And another big step toward an NCAA Tournament for a program still trying to get there.

Dererk Pardon scored on a layup at the buzzer off a long inbound pass from Nathan Taphorn to give Northwestern a 67-65 victory over Michigan on Wednesday night.

The Wildcats (21-9, 10-7 Big Ten) set a program record for wins and moved closer to that ever-elusive tournament bid thanks to one spectacular finish.

The ball got knocked out of bounds after the Wolverines' Zak Irvin missed a 3-pointer in the closing seconds, and what transpired from there was nothing short of wild.

Both teams called timeouts. Collins decided to go for the win rather than head to overtime, and with 1.7 seconds left, Taphorn unleashed a pass that might have caught the eyes of some NFL general managers.

The 6-foot-8 Pardon — with guard Derrick Walton Jr. on him after a switch — hauled it in with both hands on the right block and put up the winner with his left just in time. He then got mobbed and dragged to the court by teammates, and delirious fans poured out of the stands.

"That was a play I'll always remember," said Taphorn, a senior.

"I saw the ball, I thought it was long," Pardon said. "As I caught it, I'm like the rim is right there."

Michigan coach John Beilein thought the 6-1 Walton did all he could to break up the pass.

"He's a pretty good jumper," Beilein said. "You do everything you can, but it was perfect, a perfect throw."

The win was just what Northwestern — the school the school that hosted the first Final Four — needed. The Wildcats had dropped five of seven and maybe were feeling some pressure, something their coach urged them to embrace after losing to Indiana on Saturday.

"I came in and I challenged them and I told them there was pressure for the first time," said Collins, in his fourth year. "I said, 'Guys, there is pressure.' Anything good in life involves handling pressure — and succeeding under pressure."

Vic Law scored 18 for Northwestern. Bryant McIntosh added 13 points and five assists, and the Wildcats matched their highest conference win total since the 1932-33 team tied for the Big Ten championship.

Walton shook off a slow start to score 15 for Michigan (19-11, 9-8). He hit 4 of 8 3-pointers. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman finished with 13 points. Irvin scored 12 and Moritz Wagner grabbed 10 rebounds. But the Wolverines took the loss after winning five of six.

Walton had just been called for a lane violation as Wagner attempted the front end of a one-and-one when McIntosh whipped a pass to Sanjay Lumpkin to give Northwestern a 65-63 lead with 1:47 remaining.

Northwestern Notes vs. Michigan
March 1, 2017
• Northwestern set a school record by winning its 21^st game of the season. The Wildcats won 20 games on four occasions, including winning 20 games during the regular season for the first time a year ago.
• The win was the Wildcats' 10^th in Big Ten play. It's the first time NU has reached double-figure conference wins since the 1932-33 season.
• Dererk Pardon's basket was Northwestern's first game-winner with no time remaining at Welsh-Ryan Arena since Michael Jenkins hit a 3-pointer to defeat Iowa 75-74 in overtime Jan. 26 2005.
• Bryant McIntosh dished out 5 assists on Wednesday to increase his career total to 525, just three shy of the school record held by Michael Thompson (2008-11).
• McIntosh's 162 assists this season are the second-highest single-season mark in school history, trailing only the 213 assists he recorded last season. McIntosh holds three of the top five single-season assist totals in school history. He also dished out 150 assists as a freshman in 2014-15.
• Northwestern's .529 field goal percentage (27-51) is its second highest of the season, trailing only a .597 mark against Iowa Jan. 15.