Even though they didn’t add to the Ducks’ five game skid, the Wildcats may have found a future star.
Northwestern basketball has become synonymous with close finishes.
The Wildcats (13-12, 4-10 B1G) couldn’t capture their first road victory in Eugene, falling to Oregon (17-8, 6-8 B1G) 81-75 as the Ducks weathered a late run put an end to their five game skid.
For Northwestern, K.J. Windham stole the show. He had 20 points off the bench — 15 coming in the second half — on 8-for-14 shooting and 4-for-7 from three. Ty Berry led the way in scoring with 23 points on 8-for-10 overall and 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. Nick Martinelli came alive late as well, finishing with 16 on 7-for-18 from the field.
The Ducks were led by Jackson Shelstad. He set a new career-high with 26 points, shooting 8-for-11 from the field, 4-for-6 from three and 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Keeshawn Barthelemy had 19 on 5-for-10 overall, 4-for-6 from deep and 5-for-6 from the stripe, and Nate Bittle had 14 on 5-for-12 shooting to go alongside 7 rebounds.
Oregon won the tip and scored on its first possession thanks to a layup from Shelstad. Bittle, the other “top guy” for the Ducks, quickly got the lead up to four. Jordan Clayton hit the back-of-net first for the Wildcats, which was followed by a Matthew Nicholson put-back to tie the game at four. Oregon answered with a 7-0 run, and at the first media timeout, Northwestern was down 11-4 with Oregon shooting 4-for-7 in the first five minutes.
Out of the break it was Martinelli’s signature paint flip shot to end Oregon’s run. Berry then drilled a three pointer to solidify his spot as fifth all time in threes made for a Northwestern player. Martinelli worked his shifty magic again to tie the game at 11 off a good pass from Windham. TJ Bamba ended the ‘Cats scoring run with a lay in, but Windham answered with a pull-up three to give Northwestern its first lead.
Shelstad wasn’t a fan and hit his own pull-up three, followed by a triple from Barthelemy to give Oregon a 19-14 lead as Chris Collins was forced to call a timeout.
Windham had a fire under him tonight as he scored first out of the stoppage. Angelo Ciaravino followed that up with a tough shot inside the paint, complementing fellow his fellow first-year. Shelstad stopped the freshman party with a three over Nicholson. Over the next minute, neither team was able to get one to fall, ultimately ending in a media break after an Oregon foul. The Ducks led 24-18 with under eight minutes to go.
The offenses stayed sluggish after the timeout, with Bittle eventually slamming it down a minute later. Keenan Fitzmorris responded with a jam of his own off a smart play from Justin Mullins. Brandon Angel then made two baskets in a row to give the Ducks a double-digit lead. A pair of Martinelli free throws was all that followed until another media timeout, this time Northwestern was down 30-22.
Out of the break, two free throws and the first points for Ra’heim Moss gave the Ducks a 12 point lead. The ‘Cats couldn’t find net as the offense went ice cold. Dana Altman called a quick 30-second timeout and he was rewarded with a layup from Barthelemy. To add insult to injury, he drilled a three pointer to give Oregon its largest lead in any Big Ten game this season at 17 points. Berry quickly responded with a three of his own to silence the crowd. Those were the last points of the first half as Oregon went into halftime with a 39-25 lead. For the Wildcats, Martinelli and Berry each had six, and Windham had five. For the Ducks, Shelstad led all scorers with 13, while Bittle and Barthelemy each had eight. Oregon was shooting 50% from the field and 41.7% from three compared to Northwestern’s 38.5% and 30% respectively.
Mullins opened the second half with layup and was answered by a Bittle elbow jumper. Clayton made a pull-up jumper of his own but Shelstad wanted to introduce himself to the second half. The offensive barrage continued with a beautiful pass from Nicholson to Martinelli, then followed by a Bittle post hook. Berry made his third three of the night, but Barthelemy answered right back. Martinelli couldn’t continue Northwestern’s hot streak but Bamba went coast-to-coast to lay it in and give Oregon a 16 point lead. Berry showed the crowd he wasn’t just going to shoot threes as he hit a tough long-range two. Windham then scored on the next possession for the ‘Cats and was set to shoot a free throw, but not before the first media timeout of the second half. Northwestern was down 50-38 after a scoring party from both teams.
Oregon continued to fire on all cylinders, finally missing its first shot of the second half after going 6-for-6. After the Ducks first miss, Windham made his fourth shot of the game. Berry made another deep two to get him up to 13 on the night and to cut the Oregon lead to 10. Shelstad got trapped in the corner thanks to good defense from Berry and the Ducks were forced to call a timeout. Northwestern trailed 52-42 with just over 13 minutes to go.
Shelstad continued his dominance with a pair of free throws. Berry then hit a little step-back two, but Shelstad made a three on the other end to get to 20 points on the night. Martinelli continued fighting for the ‘Cats with a tough and-one finish on a second chance opportunity. Oregon led 57-46 with a lot of basketball to still be played.
Martinelli couldn’t complete the and-one out of the break, but Clayton would make a tough layup on the ensuing possession to cut Oregon’s lead to just 10. Two more made foul shots put Northwestern in a 12-point hole. The free throw success continued for Altman’s squad as they were shooting 11-12 from the stripe with nine minutes to go in the game. The ‘Cats continued to try and claw at the Ducks’ lead as the next media timeout hit with Oregon up 64-51 and just under eight minutes to go.
Windham got into double-digits after the timeout with a three pointer and Berry hit the 20-point mark. Shelstad got up to 22 points with a lay up, but Windham hit his third three of the night to get the ‘Cats to within seven. Windham then did it again to get the game to two-possessions, forcing Altman to call a timeout.
Barthelemy responded a huge three before the buzzer to try to end the fire from the Wildcats. However, Windham found Nicholson in the paint for an easy lay in. Thanks to Windham’s 13 second half points, Northwestern was only down 70-64 with just under four minutes to go.
KJ Windham.
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Martinelli made a tough basket to cut the Ducks’ lead to five, but Northwestern continued to put Oregon on the line. Shelstad continued to dominate from all spots of the court, hitting two free throws to get the lead back to seven for the Ducks. Martinelli answered though with a two of his own and was followed by a Collins timeout. Oregon continued getting sent to the foul line and continued to shoot lights out from that spot. Berry hit a late three with 11 seconds to go, cutting the lead to six, but it wasn’t enough as Oregon held on for the victory.
Northwestern will be back in action on Sunday at home against Nebraska after five days off to recover from the West Coast road trip.