N’western closes on NCAA with wild win
EVANSTON, Ill. — Moments like this were exactly what coach Chris Collins envisioned for Northwestern and what he sold his players on when 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), led by Vic Law’s 18 points, set a program record for wins and moved closer to that ever-elusive NCAA 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. (team-high 15 points) 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 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. “Anything good in life involves handling pressure — and succeeding under pressure.”