Northwestern exits March, but it’s geared to create more memories soon

Northwestern could not get anything cooking on offense before halftime. Collins asked. “Yes, I believe we had a great chance to win if the correct call was made”.

“The cornerstone of our program is never quitting”, said Law.

Instead, play was allowed to continue on, and Northwestern head coach Chris Collins ran onto the court furious about the no-call.

The Wildcats were the victims of a bad non-call Saturday by officials who missed an obvious goaltending violation on a shot by center Dererk Pardon. This kid that was shown on CBS during the Northwestern-Gonzaga game is all of us.

“Do me in my heart think if (the official) gets that call and we cut it to three, we have a great chance to win?” A young Northwestern fan perfectly encapsulated that, by showing an unbelievable amount of emotion as he reacted to a foul call against his beloved team midway through the second half.

Allonzo Trier added 14 points – all in the second half – for the Wildcats.

Nigel Williams-Goss had 14 of his team-high 20 points in the first half, and Zach Collins scored 12 of his 14 points after the break to help the top-seeded Bulldogs to a 79-73 win over Northwestern Saturday afternoon at Vivint Arena for their third-straight Sweet 16 berth.

That said, there’s only so much ink I can devote to the Wildcats from the North, because my Big Blue Cats from Kentucky take on in-state rival Northern Kentucky tonight in Indianapolis. “That led to the big deficit and we regrouped at half, we rallied together, and the performance that our guys put in the second half was some of the best basketball I’ve seen us play all season long”. I don’t necessarily think when you get into the NCAA tournament and have one day of prep you switch everything you’re doing.

“It’s a very easy call, in my opinion”, Collins said of the goaltending.

Gonzaga eventually extended its lead to 69-59 on a Collins’ jumper with 3:00 left. “But it’s an honest mistake”. He made at least half his shots in 15 of the team’s 36 games this season, but he also had 11 games in which he shot 25 percent or lower. “I’m always talking to that guy about it”, Few said, as he pointed toward Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth. Referees are human beings, they’re here for a reason, because they’re outstanding officials.

“Coach Few has done that (shown confidence in him) all year, not even just in games but he’s on me in practice to always post up and ask for the ball”, Collins said. I feel like this is just a building block.

Gonzaga dominated the first half 38-20, but NU played inspired basketball over the final 20 minutes, outscoring Gonzaga 53-41 and almost getting within striking distance of the lead before faltering late. Said senior Sanjay Lumpkin, “The way we played [in the second half] is who we are”. Vic Law’s rebound and dunk dialed up the volume and cut Gonzaga’s lead to five.

For me, though the is something about this Xavier team that I really like they have a spark and that’s why I have to pick them to make it to the sweet 16.

Gonzaga will face West Virginia in the semis of the West Region in San Jose on March 24.