Wildcats beat another ranked team, this time Indiana
Boo Buie scored the tiebreaking basket with two seconds remaining and Northwestern followed up its first win over a top-ranked team by beating No. 14 Indiana 64-62 on Wednesday night in Evanston.
After defeating Purdue on Sunday for the program's first victory over an opponent ranked No. 1 in the AP poll, the Wildcats (19-7, 10-5 Big Ten) came away with another big win after the Hoosiers (18-8, 9-6) rallied from 19 down at halftime to tie it in the final minute.
Northwestern took sole possession of second place in the conference standings with its program-record fourth victory over a ranked opponent this season. Northwestern hadn't beaten Top 25 teams in consecutive games since January 2009. And this one sure wasn't easy in the end.
The Wildcats led 62-58 with 44 seconds remaining after Buie drove for a layup off a turnover. But Indiana wasn't finished.
Former Wildcat Miller Kopp stole a pass by Robbie Beran, leading to a tying layup by Trayce Jackson-Davis with 28 seconds left. Buie then scored on a hook shot with two seconds left, and Jalen Hood-Schifino's attempt hit the rim as time expired.
Buie had 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Chase Audige scored 14, and Northwestern augmented its case for a second NCAA Tournament berth with its fourth straight win and seventh in nine games.
Jackson-Davis led Indiana with 23 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. But the Hoosiers came up short after winning eight of nine.
Hood-Schifino and Race Thompson each scored 13.
Audige and Buie scored 11 apiece in the first half, and Northwestern led by 21 before heading to the locker room up 39-20.
Audige nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Wildcats a 17-12 lead and spark a 17-1 run that delighted rowdy student sections behind each basket.
Indiana's bench and Mike Woodson got called for technical fouls as the coach argued that Buie should have been whistled for traveling, leading to four free throws for the Wildcats' guard. And Northwestern continued to pour it on from there.
Buie capped the run when he nailed a 3 to make it 28-13 with just over seven minutes remaining in the half.
Brooks Barnhizer made it 39-18 with 2 free throws in the closing minute. Jackson-Davis made 2 for the Hoosiers in the closing seconds, and Woodson had more heated words for the officials before heading to the locker room with his team trailing by 19.