Chase Audige’s 3-pointer put Northwestern ahead to stay in overtime and the Wildcats held on for a 79-78 Big Ten victory over Rutgers on Tuesday in Evanston, Ill., despite blowing a 24-point second-half lead.
Rutgers’ Ron Harper Jr. front-rimmed an 18-foot pull-up jumper with two seconds left that could have won the game.
Audige’s 3 gave the Wildcats (10-10, 3-8) a 73-72 lead with 4:25 left in overtime, and teammate Boo Buie hit a 3 to make it 77-72 with 2:01 to go. Audige missed two foul shots with 1 second left, but all Rutgers had time for was a desperation heave that was off the mark.
Rutgers (12-9, 6-5) twice cut the deficit to one point, the last time on a bank shot by Paul Mulcahy with 11 seconds left. Mulcahy, a junior guard, had a career-high 31 points and also had seven assists and seven rebounds.
Rutgers had the ball, trailing 77-76, with 30 seconds left and a chance to hold for the final shot, but Geo Baker’s pass to Harper was off the mark for a turnover.
Buie scored 18 points and Audige added 15 for Northwestern, which led 52-28 with 2:53 elapsed in the second half and broke a four-game losing streak against Rutgers.
Cliff Omoruyi, a sophomore center, had a career-high 22 points for the Scarlet Knights. Harper added 16. Baker, who averages 12.3, was held scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting.
Mulcahy was fouled while trying a 3-pointer with 3:01 left, and he made all three foul shots to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 66-63. Buie made two foul shots to extend Northwestern’s advantage to 68-63, but Mulcahy made one of two free throws and hit a trey with 2:01 left to trim the Wildcats’ lead to 68-67.
With 51 seconds left in regulation, Ryan Greer weaved his way through Rutgers’ defense for a layup and a 70-67 lead. But Mulcahy split a pair of foul shots with 42 seconds left and, after a Northwestern shot-clock violation, fed Omoruyi for the game-tying dunk with 2.1 seconds to go.
Northwestern led by 24 early in the second half and still led 55-35 after Buie drained a trey with 14:57 to go.
The Scarlet Knights rallied with an 18-5 run that included six points and two assists from Mulcahy. That cut Rutgers’ deficit to 60-53 with 7:04 to go.
But Northwestern quickly regained the momentum, thanks to Ryan Young. First, he sank two foul shots. Then he put back a miss of a wide-open 3 by Julian Roper II to give the Wildcats a 64-53 lead with 6:05 left.
–Field Level Media
