The most effective coaches know when to prod their players and when to back off and simply let them play.
Northwestern coach Bill Carmody came to that realization with about six minutes remaining in Wednesday night’s physical Big Ten game against Minnesota at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
“I think we were coaching a little too much and not letting the guys play,” Carmody said. “They were on too tight a string. It’s an emotional game. It’s not chess.”
The Wildcats responded to their coach’s leniency with an 58-56 upset victory over the Golden Gophers in front of 3,613 fans.
Jitim Young came through with a three-point basket from the corner for a 56-55 Northwestern lead with 24 seconds left. Then Winston Blake stole the ball from former Hillcrest High School star Kerwin Fleming with six seconds remaining and converted two free throws after he was fouled.
Aaron Jennings then forced the short baseline shot attempt by Minnesota’s Michael Bauer at 00.7 to fall short.
Northwestern (14-9, 5-6 Big Ten) entered the game ranked fourth in the nation in scoring defense (58.5 points per game). The key statistic Wednesday was the 17 offensive rebounds against a taller Minnesota squad.
“I thought they were more physical than we were,” said Minnesota coach Dan Monson, whose team had its four-game winning streak snapped. “The 17 offensive rebounds showed they were more aggressive than we were.”
Minnesota (14-8, 7-4) led 29-28 at the half, then outscored the Wildcats 12-5 at the start of the second half to take a 41-28 lead.
But Northwestern roared back with a 12-0 run, capped by a Young three-pointer, to make it 41-40 Minnesota with 8:23 left. A three-point basket by Tavaras Hardy tied the game 43-43 with 6:35 to go.
Freshman Rick Rickert led all scorers with 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. He also blocked three shots and had two steals. Rychart finished with 16 points–14 in the second half.
Northwestern was led by Blake with 14 points, Hardy with 13 and Young 12. Hardy also grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Assured of at least a .500 season, Northwestern could gain at least an NIT bid with another victory Saturday at Penn State.
