In search of its first win in conference play, Northwestern came up just short tonight against in-state rival Illinois at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The 'Cats fell 79-68 in a game where they showed heart, but didn't quite have enough in the tank to knock off the No. 13 team in the country.
This was, by far, the most electric Northwestern game of the season so far at home. The stadium was packed -- with a lot of Illini fans, sure, but also NU students -- and the crowd was into the game from the opening tip.
NU head coach Chris Collins made a surprising lineup choice tonight, starting freshman guard Jake West over Jayden Reid, who struggled in the previous game vs. Rutgers. Otherwise, it was a pretty typical starting group with Jordan Clayton, Nick Martinelli, Tre Singleton and Arrinten Page rounding it out.
Martinelli, as per usual, was solid for the Wildcats. He finished with 20 points on 5-of-12 shooting and four rebounds. Reid was the star of the show, though, delivering on a bounce-back performance coming off the bench. He finished with 28 points and three assists, dropping 20 of those points in the second half to keep NU in the game.
The first half was competitive basketball from the tip. The Illini sprinted to a 6-0 lead, but the 'Cats came storming back quickly, and it was back-and-forth from there.
Northwestern produced a few crowd pops in the half, the first of which came when West drilled an early three off the dribble to make it 6-5. In his first start, the freshman wasn't perfect, but he looked comfortable and confident running the offense.
Reid, who checked into the game after the first media timeout and played with West often throughout the evening, also riled up the NU crowd early in the game. He converted a four-point play from the right wing to give the 'Cats a 14-11 lead.
Towards the end of the half, though, the loudest explosion from the student section was a Martinelli triple to tie it at 25. The Wildcat captain let out an impassioned yell after the make -- it had been a bit of a tough half for his standards up to that point. Martinelli finished the first with a ho-hum 11 points. Meh.
After the under-four, Illinois made two threes in as many possessions, including a bank from David Mirkovic. It was the first real separation between the two teams since the very beginning of the game. By the end of the half, the Illini held a 38-33 lead.
The rebounding battle was already going poorly. Northwestern entered the locker room trailing 22-17 on the glass in general and 10-6 on the offensive boards. But there weren't any other major discrepancies favoring Illinois. Heading into the second, it felt like if Chris Collins could help get Martinelli more space, and if the bigs could hold their own on the glass, the game was in reach.
The 'Cats actually did do better in the rebounding battle in the second, as it finished 33-30 in Illinois' favor. But as soon as the second half began, Illinois looked like a team that had upped its level of play.
The Illini came out firing, making two quick triples to extend the lead. By the time Martinelli briefly shut the Illini crowd up with an emphatic slam off a nice feed from Page, the 'Cats trailed 48-40.
Northwestern hung around, settling in at around a 6-10 point deficit for a while, and then things got more dicey. Illinois opened up a 15-point lead at around the 11-minute mark, and the Illini crowd was going crazy.
Then, Jayden Reid happened. Northwestern's guard officially stamped this one as a statement game during the next stretch when he scored eight straight points. All of the sudden, the 'Cats trailed 66-59 at the under-8 media timeout.
The deficit stayed around there until Tomislav Ivisic drilled a three in Page's face with under three minutes remaining to make it 72-63. From there, the 'Cats couldn't quite get back in it, and the game ended in another tight, hard-fought loss.