#B1GCats Comeback Falls Short Against Buckeyes

1/17/2018 9:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Highlights OSU 71, NU 65 Coach Collins Postgame Skelly Postgame

Law leads five Northwestern players in double figures with 14 points

By: Zach Wingrove

ROSEMONT, Ill. — Despite a solid first half effort and a late second-half comeback, Northwestern was unable to overcome a strong offensive performance by Ohio State on Wednesday night, falling, 71-65, at Allstate Arena.

With 7:23 remaining in the game, the Wildcats trailed 62-49 before mounting a 16-6 run in the game's final minutes to give the conference leaders all they could handle.

Five Wildcat players finished in double figures, with Vic Law leading the way with 14 points to go along with five rebounds and two assists. Scottie Lindsey finished with 13 points, while Gavin Skelly totaled 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

After struggling in the first half, both Bryant McIntosh and Anthony Gaines came alive in the second half, with McIntosh scoring 10 points and Gaines scoring nine in the final 20 minutes to help fuel the Wildcats' comeback efforts.

With his 10 points today, McIntosh moved into sixth place in school history with 1,586 career points, passing Vedran Vukusic and Jim Stack.

Ohio State improved to 15-4 on the season and a perfect 7-0 in the Big Ten. Micah Potter led the Buckeyes with 13 points. As a team, Ohio State shot 47.3-percent (26-of-55) on the night.

Skelly entered the game shooting a blistering 51.4-percent from behind the arc and kept his strong play going as he started the scoring off for both teams with a three-pointer on the Wildcats' opening possession. Vic Law followed that up with a triple of his own to give NU an early, 6-0, lead.

Back-to-back buckets by Skelly helped the Wildcats extend their lead to 12-6 with 14:14 remaining in the first half, but Ohio State pushed its way out front to close out the half and entered the locker room with a 33-25 lead.

As a team, Northwestern converted on 10-of-27 field goals in the first half, while the Buckeyes shot 12-of-29 from the field. Ball movement was key for the Wildcats in the first half as they assisted on nine of their 10 made field goals.

After a slow first half offensively for Pardon, the junior center picked it up in the second half with two electrifying dunks in the first opening five minutes of the half.

However, the Buckeyes caught fire midway through the second half, converting on 5-of-5 field goals to open their lead up to 51-36 with 13:00 left in the game.

A jumper by Skelly, followed by a McIntosh three-pointer on the ensuing possession, cut the Wildcats' deficit to single digits with 6:37 remaining in the game.

Northwestern continued to put pressure on Ohio State, cutting the Buckeyes' lead to as little as three points in the final minute of the game thanks to back-to-back triples from Law and Lindsey, but that is as close as the Wildcats would come.

Northwestern will be back in action this Saturday, Jan. 20 when they play host to Penn State at Allstate Arena. Tip time is 1 p.m. and tickets are on sale at NUsports.com or by calling 888-GO-PURPLE.

Northwestern Notes vs. Ohio State – Jan. 17, 2018
• Northwestern had five players score in double figures for the fifth time this season.
• With 10 points in the game, Bryant McIntosh moved past both Vedran Vukusic and Jim Stack into sixth place on Northwestern's all-time scoring list. McIntosh now has 1,586 career points, 103 behind Michael Thompson for fifth place.
• Ohio native Dererk Pardon (Cleveland) recorded a game-high 10 rebounds, giving him his fourth double-figure rebounding game of the season and the 12^th of his career.
• Ohio native Gavin Skelly (Westlake) got the start and scored 11 points for his sixth double-figure scoring game of the season.
• McIntosh started the 117^th game of his career, tying him with Jitim Young for fifth place in school history.
• Pardon recorded a game-high 4 blocked shots and surpassed 100 for his career in the process. He currently has 101 career blocks as he moved past Drew Crawford while tying Tavaras Hardy for fifth place all-time at Northwestern.