At the Buzzer: Northwestern 79, Indiana 70

Quick thoughts on a 79-70 loss to Northwestern:

How it happened

It was an ugly first half in Evanston Wednesday night. The Wildcats struck first, building a 23-13 lead after 11 straight points from Ty Berry. But Northwestern went cold the rest of the half as Indiana closed on an 18-2 run to claim a 31-25 advantage at the break. The Wildcats missed 16 of their final 18 shots. The shooting numbers were rough for both teams in the opening 20 minutes. Northwestern shot 30.8 percent and Indiana shot 35.7 percent. Turnovers were also an issue, as the Hoosiers committed eight and the Wildcats had seven. However, Indiana won the points off of turnovers battle 11-4 in the first half, a big reason for their six-point lead. Trey Galloway led IU with seven points and Mackenzie Mgbako added six points on 3-for-6 shooting.

Indiana’s six-point halftime evaporated by the first media timeout of the second half. The Wildcats took an 8-0 run into that break to lead 39-37. Berry, who had 11 first-half points, was hot again after intermission. He hit three triples in the first 8:08 of the second half to push the Northwestern lead to five at 47-42. After a Jalen Leach bucket put the Wildcats up 49-42, a Luke Goode 3-pointer and a Myles Rice steal and layup drew the Hoosiers within two at 49-47, forcing Chris Collins to use a timeout. The Hoosiers scored the next five out of the break to grab a 52-49 lead before the Wildcats answered with a Brooks Barnhizer bucket and another Berry 3-pointer to claim a 54-52 advantage at the under-eight media timeout.

Northwestern scored the next eight points out of the timeout to stretch its run to 13-0 and grab a 62-52 advantage. As the Wildcats continued their barrage from the perimeter, the lead ballooned to 14 points at 70-56 by the final media timeout. By that point, Northwestern was 9-for-14 on 3s in the second half. Six straight points from Mackenzie Mgbako cut the Northwestern lead to eight at 70-62 with 1:56 remaining. A Luke Goode 3-pointer with 1:06 left got Indiana within seven and after a missed Barnhizer free throw, Mgbako’s 3-pointer cut the Northwestern lead to 72-68. Northwestern’s Jalen Leach pushed the Northwestern lead to six with a pair of free throws with 43.6 seconds left and IU would get no closer in dropping their sixth game of the season.

Standout performer

Oumar Ballo had a terrific all-around game, finishing with 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in 37 minutes. Mgbako broke out of his shooting slump and went 8-for-14 from the field to lead IU with 20 points.

Statistics that stand out

Northwestern shot 62.5 percent from the field in the second half and went 9-for-14 on 3s. The Wildcats scored 54 points and put up 1.688 points per possession in the second half.

Final IU individual statistics

Final tempo-free statistics

Assembly Call postgame show

(Photo credit: IU Athletics)

Category: Commentary

Filed to: Northwestern Wildcats