Northwestern wins its 1st, but it was a head-scratcher
At Northwestern, the party goes on.
At Vanderbilt, there is only one question: What was he thinking?
Northwestern’s first-ever NCAA Tournament victory, 68-66 over Vanderbilt in Salt Lake City, came after Commodores guard Matthew FisherDavis inexplicably grabbed Bryant McIntosh of the Wildcats on purpose, sending McIntosh to the free-throw line for the tying and go-ahead points with 14.6 seconds left.
“I actually thought we were down one,” Fisher-Davis explained after Thursday’s heartbreaker in the West Region. “Coach ... pointed at him, but he was just telling me that was my matchup. I took it as (I should) foul.”
And though Fisher-Davis scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half to help ninth-seeded Vandy (19-16) rally from 15 points down, his mistake was the main takeaway from this game — maybe not as bad as Chris Webber calling a timeout that Michigan didn’t have or Georgetown’s Fred Brown throwing the pass to James Worthy of North Carolina in the final, but certainly not one for the “One Shining Moment” video, either.
“An honest mistake,” Northwestern head coach Chris Collins called it. “You feel bad for players. He was tremendous today. Certainly, I was surprised.” The sequence was set up after Riley LaChance made a layup with 17.8 seconds remaining to put the Commodores up by one.
But seconds after the inbounds pass, Fisher-Davis reached out and grabbed McIntosh around the waist while the Northwestern guard was dribbling in the backcourt. That put eighth-seeded Northwestern in the double bonus, and McIntosh went to the line and swished the free throws with 14.6 seconds left for a 67-66 lead.
“When he grabbed me, I had thought we were down one, and I’m thinking maybe I made a mistake,” he said. “I had to put my mind on making the free throws at the end.”
Northwestern forced LaChance to miss a three on the next possession and the Wildcats (24-11) added another free throw. Fisher-Davis heaved a desperation shot at the buzzer, but it missed, and he sunk his head and reached down to his shoes in despair before heading to the sideline, where his teammates hugged him.