Northwestern keeps season alive with 75-65 win over Minnesota
INDIANAPOLIS — It didn't occur until 45 minutes after Northwestern's first-round win over Minnesota, but trainer Lanny Bradford finally achieved what the Gophers couldn't.
He cooled off Michael “Juice” Thompson.
Bradford taped a giant baggie of ice on such a tender part of Thompson's left foot, NU's senior point guard hid his face in his shirt and yelped in pain.
Top-ranked Ohio State might want to remember that move during Friday's first Big Ten tournament quarterfinal.
Thompson led the Wildcats to that matchup as he poured in a Big Ten tournament single-game record 35 points during NU's 75-65 win Thursday afternoon at Conseco Fieldhouse.
“Mike has been playing at an extremely high level,” said Northwestern coach Bill Carmody. “Not just the last couple games, but for 7 or 8 games he's playing so hard.
“We had a talk maybe three-and-a-half weeks ago and just said, ‘It doesn't look good unless we win the (Big Ten) tournament for the NCAAs.
“ ‘But you've got to play. You're a senior and you play the way you know how and the way you've been taught and the way you've been brought up. And let that show on the court.”
But Thompson saved his career-high scoring effort for a day when the eighth-seeded Wildcats had just eight healthy scholarship players.
Ninth-seeded Minnesota (17-14) led 40-38 with 14 minutes to play when Thompson went berserk.
In less than four minutes, Thompson hit a 12-foot pullup and a driving layup where he got knocked to the floor with no call.
Then he drove and kicked to rarely used junior Nick Fruendt for a 3-pointer. Then he canned a 10-foot pullup that forced the Gophers to call timeout.
When everyone returned to the court, Thompson drilled a 3-pointer from the corner to put Northwestern up 53-45 with 10:16 left. Minnesota never got closer.
After almost every basket during that spree, the usually calm Thompson glanced over to Northwestern's family and friends section near the court and appeared more emotional for a longer stretch than any of his previous 124 NU games.
“That's definitely fair to say,” Thompson said. “I know my college career is coming to an end. I'm just trying to make it last as long as possible.
“Each moment while I'm out there, I'm just trying to embrace that moment and just play with emotion. I think my team feeds off that.”
Northwestern (18-12), which had been on the verge of being strong-armed out of the tournament by Minnesota's Trevor Mbakwe (19 points, 11 rebounds), looked virtually unbeatable after Thompson's baskets.
Suddenly big man Luka Mirkovic and Drew Crawford (15 points) began running give-and-gos with ease and Alex Marcotullio (13 points, 6 rebounds) slashed through the Gophers with impunity during NU's 26-8 run.
After the game, almost all of NU's players joined Thompson in icing their feet — and center Davide Curletti laid on the floor with his legs flat against the wall — to accelerate the healing process.
After all, top-ranked Ohio State awaits at 11 a.m. Friday. When the Buckeyes came to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Jan. 29, the Wildcats lost 58-57.
“I think this time around,” Marcotullio said, “we're going to go about our business the same way and just control the game and try to take them out of what they do best.”