Wildcats move on with help of ill-timed foul
SALT LAKE CITY — 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, came after Commodores guard Matthew Fisher-Davis inexplicably grabbed Bryant McIntosh of the Wildcats on purpose, sending McIntosh to the free throw line for the go-ahead points with 15 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. It was just a dumb-ass foul."
And though Fisher-Davis scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half to help ninthseeded Vanderbilt (19-16) rally from 15 points down, his gaffe was the main takeaway from this game.
"An honest mistake," Northwestern 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 18 seconds remaining to put the Commodores up 66-65.
But seconds after the inbounds pass, FisherDavis reached out and grabbed McIntosh around the waist while the Northwestern guard was dribbling up the court.
That put Northwestern in the double bonus, and McIntosh went
to the line and calmly swished the free throws 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- pointer on the next possession and the Wildcats ( 24- 11) sank 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. The Wildcats doused Collins with water to celebrate a win that extends the program's first trip to March Madness by at least one more game. The eighth-seeded Wildcats will play top-seeded Gonzaga in the second round on Saturday.
Meanwhile, there were red eyes in the Vanderbilt locker room. But FisherDavis' teammates had his back.
"He's the type of person ( who's going to) feel some blame," forward Luke Kornet said. "But in the second half, we have no chance if he
doesn't make the shots that he made. We're with him no matter what."
Fisher-Davis hit two three-pointers during a 12-0 run that kept Vanderbilt in it after falling behind by 15 with 13 minutes left. He also had back-to-back baskets and made all three free throws after being fouled on a threepointer to pull the Commodores within 59-58 at the 2:40 mark.
Coach Bryce Drew said his message in the aftermath was simple: "From Day 1 we teach our guys that we're a team, and one play at the end ... doesn't win or lose the game."