If Northwestern’s Big Ten opener had been just two-tenths of a second shorter, then the Wildcats would have pulled off a huge road win and felt that much better going into Friday’s home clash with No. 19 Illinois.
Iowa’s Josh Dix released his game-winning 27-footer with 0:00.1 showing on the clock on Tuesday night, delivering a dagger to the Wildcats.
“Just a very difficult way to lose,” said Northwestern coach Chris Collins. “The game can be rewarding in a lot of ways — and the game can rip your heart out. We’ve got to rebound. We can’t let one loss deter us and get to two.”
While Northwestern (6-3, 0-1 Big Ten) left Iowa City feeling rotten about the final result, Collins felt good about how his team rallied. The Wildcats trailed by 17 in the first half and 11 at the break yet owned a six-point lead with the ball with two minutes to go.
“Our guys have a lot of heart,” Collins said. “We have guys who have winners’ spirits. There’s a lot of winning in our locker room. Even if they get down, they believe they’re going to come back and win.”
The Wildcats are 5-0 at home this season against a relatively light schedule. But last year, while earning their second straight NCAA Tournament berth, they went 9-1 at home in Big Ten play. That included a 96-91 overtime win over Illinois, ranked No. 9 at the time.
While the Wildcats retain four key players from that squad, the Illini (6-1, 0-0) retain none. But according to this week’s NBA Draft Big Board story by The Athletic, the Illini boast four players in the Top 100: freshman point guard Kasparas Jakucionis (No. 5), freshman wing Will Riley (No. 31), sophomore center Tomislav Ivisic (No. 50) and fifth-year stretch four Ben Humrichous (No. 94).
Illinois’ last outing was a 90-77 thrashing of No. 19 Arkansas on Thanksgiving Day. Ivisic racked up 21 points and 10 rebounds while Jakucionis finished with a career-high 23 points to go with six rebounds and four assists. With Arkansas still hanging around within 10 points with eight minutes left, the 18-year-old from Lithuania reeled off 14 straight points to keep the Razorbacks at bay.
“You don’t coach that,” said Illinois coach Brad Underwood. “It’s not like we were drawing up plays for him. That’s why next-level people love him: Because he has the ability to step back and make a 3. He has the ability to get fouled. He knows what the game needs.
“I would love to take credit for all that — and I can take credit for none. He’s got a gift.”
But Friday’s game in Evanston, Ill., will be the first true college road game for Jakucionis, Riley and Ivisic. Northwestern hopes its sellout crowd and veteran-laden rotation can make the difference.
It will help if fifth-year senior Ty Berry enjoys another good game. He entered the Iowa game shooting just 31 percent from 3-point range and averaging 6.2 points per game, but Berry drilled 5-of-9 3-pointers for a season-high 20 points.
“It was his best game of the year,” Collins said. “We need him. There’s so much attention on Brooks (Barnhizer) and Nick (Martinelli) and Jalen (Leach). We need Ty to be able to give us that fourth scorer.”
