Thompson, Wildcats top Gophers

There wasn't any pressure on Michael “Juice” Thompson on Wednesday night.

Except for the part where it was Senior Night, which drew his parents, sisters, brother, cousin and several of his grammar and high school teachers to Welsh-Ryan Arena.

And the part where Northwestern gave away purple “JUICE 22” T-shirts to the band and the students.

And the part where the Big Ten Network followed him and his family around all day for the “The Journey” episode Sunday night.

“I definitely let my emotions get the best of me in the first half,” Thompson said.

Then the senior point guard and his teammates got the best of Minnesota in the second half.

Eventually.

Thompson, who “got a little weepy” while walking arm-in-arm with his parents during the pregame ceremony, sparked the rally that earned a 68-57 Big Ten victory in Northwestern's regular-season finale.

In the opening 27 minutes, the school's No. 5 all-time scorer managed just 3 points on 1-for-10 shooting as the Gophers built a 41-31 lead.

Then Thompson drilled a 3-pointer from the wing in front of the NU bench with 12:56 to go.

That set off an 11-point flurry from backcourt mate Alex Marcotullio and set up a pair of 3-pointers from John Shurna as the Wildcats seized the lead.

By the time Thompson left to a standing ovation with 28.8 seconds to go, he owned 18 points and a career-high-tying 7 rebounds.

“Mike Thompson, toward the end of the first half, we run a little play where either he or Shurna is gonna get a shot,” said Northwestern coach Bill Carmody. “He's wide open and he missed it by ... I never saw him miss a shot like that. An airball. Really an airball.

“I've seen this kind of stuff happen before (on Senior Night). A lot of guys have bad halves. It takes special guys to have a bad half and then come back with a second half that he had.”

Marcotullio recovered from two bad games to pile up a career-high 18 points. In last week's losses to Penn State and Wisconsin, NU's sixth man went scoreless and committed several turnovers.

On Wednesday, he added 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block to round out his finest game.

“I hadn't played well the last two games,” Marcotullio said. “I just wanted to come out and play looser, trying to get my hands on balls and make energy plays.”

Backup center Davide Curletti built on his 18-point effort at Wisconsin with 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks.

Thompson and the Wildcats could get another game at Welsh-Ryan Arena in the NIT, but they need to win more at the Big Ten tournament.

The Wildcats (17-12, 7-11) and Gophers (17-12, 6-11) wrapped up the Nos. 8 and 9 seeds Wednesday and hold their rematch March 10.

And if the Wildcats don't get another home game?

“I'm just happy that I came here,” Thompson said. “And it was a great four years.”