With 24 seconds left in regulation, senior guard Al Durham took one hard dribble before he drove down the left wing, looking to attack the basket. Suddenly, the senior guard stopped as he pulled up to release the game-tying floater to force overtime. Two overtimes later, the Hoosiers would go on to win 79-76 in Evanston, Illinois, for the first time since 2014.
The Hoosiers trailed for all but 14 seconds in regulation Wednesday night, but a late rally sparked by Durham and sophomore guard Armaan Franklin helped IU overcome its worst first half of the season.
The Hoosiers opened the game by missing their first nine shots and scored just 20 points in the first half while shooting 24% from the field. IU couldn’t even make up for its offensive shortcoming from the free-throw line, starting the game 0-for-6 and only making two in the first half.
“It’s a game you look back on and say, ‘I don’t really know how we figured a way out to get a win in this one,’” IU head coach Archie Miller said at a post-game press conference. “Really played poorly offensively shooting the ball. Northwestern did a lot of packing of the pain just made it hard on us and I give our guys credit, we kind of fought our way through it the whole time defensively.”
While the Hoosiers struggled offensively, its defense always kept them within striking distance of the Wildcats. IU held Northwestern to 42.6% shooting from the field in the game, 33% shooting on 3-pointers while forcing 13 turnovers.
The Hoosiers’ defense kept them in the game just long enough until its guards found their scoring touch and took over late in the game.
In the final two minutes, Durham single-handedly carried the Hoosiers to overtime. The lone senior went on a 6-0 run by himself to force overtime.
“We needed this win very much,” Durham said after the game. “I felt like this win was very important to us because we haven’t been able to put two together. We haven’t been able to string two together so I felt like we needed it.”
In the first overtime, IU found itself in a similar situation to the final minutes of regulation, down 2 points with the ball.
Franklin took the ball up the court before being trapped on the right wing. Franklin spun to deliver the pass to a curling Durham. After taking one dribble, Durham rose up to save the Hoosiers once again as he drained the long jumper to tie the game at 66 and force a second overtime.
“I tried to pump-fake and step back but I missed the line,” Durham said. “I knew the shot was good if that counts for anything. I tried to step back for the three, but I didn’t make it and hit the two. It is what it is.”
In double overtime, it was IU’s free throw shooting that sealed the win. Despite struggling from the free-throw line all night, the Hoosiers didn’t miss any free throws in the second overtime, scoring 8 of their 11 points from the charity stripe.
With this win, IU moves to 11-9 on the season and 6-6 in the Big Ten.
“To be able to put it to the first overtime was incredible, to be able to put it to the second was probably even more,” Miller said. “We had a lot of guys step up and make some good plays. The way we started from the foul-line to the way we finished, that was a drastic difference.”
