EVANSTON, Ill. -- Tre Demps' cold-blooded game-winner and a pair of clutch 3-pointers by freshman guard Bryant McIntosh led Northwestern to a hard-fought 69-67 win over North Florida in a Cancun Challenge matchup Thursday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The victory gave the Wildcats their fourth 3-0 start in the last five seasons.
"With the ball in my hands, I knew the shot I wanted to shoot," Demps said. "You've got to thank your teammates that they trust you with that opportunity. When you have guys who believe in you, it gives you the confidence to do it yourself."
Northwestern overcame a seven-point deficit with four minutes left in the game, chipping away at the Ospreys' lead before McIntosh and Demps combined for the Wildcats' final 12 points. McIntosh nailed all four of his 3-point attempts in the game, scoring a team-high 16 points, and Demps had 15 of his own--including two big ones with 2.5 seconds left on the clock. Sanjay Lumpkin added 11 first-half points, and Vic Law collected eight rebounds and four assists.
"We thought we had a pretty good matchup and we gave him space. Tre just did what he does," Collins said, referring to Demps' game-winner. "Tre wants it so badly, he has a tendency at times to put a lot of pressure on himself to play well. I thought he hung in there in this game, and in the last two minutes he made some big buckets."
After Alex Olah won the game's opening tip, Lumpkin took over during the first several minutes. The redshirt sophomore knocked down a midrange jumper on the first shot of the game, then went on to score six of Northwestern's first eight points, capped off by a steal and a breakaway dunk.
The Wildcats started efficiently on offense, but so did the Ospreys, as both sides missed only two of their first eight shots. North Florida played the Wildcats tight on defense, aggressively double-teaming the ball handler during the first half, but McIntosh saved a pair of Northwestern possessions with two last-second three-pointers from well beyond the arc along the wing.
After a layup from Demps put Northwestern up 23-17 with 11:29 left in the half, neither team converted on a field goal for the next four minutes. North Florida went on a 10-1 run to take a 27-24 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the half, but a finger-roll floater by Demps set up Lumpkin's go-ahead 3-pointer, giving the Wildcats a 29-27 lead.
Northwestern entered the half with a narrow 31-29 lead, thanks in large part to Lumpkin's 11 points (on just five shots) and a 7-3 edge in the offensive rebounding department. The Wildcats also forced nine Osprey turnovers in the half, though they committed seven of their own.
Out of the break, both sides traded scores until freshman forward Gavin Skelly gave Northwestern a spark with his scrappy play, registering a steal, offensive rebound and assist in just two minutes on the floor. Senior guard Dave Sobolewski then hit a 3-pointer on his first shot of the night, giving the Wildcats a 44-38 lead, the largest advantage for either side since Northwestern led 16-9 early in the first half.
"To start the second half, I thought Skelly's energy was huge for us," Collins said.
The Ospreys responded with a pair of three-pointers to tie the score once again, the start of a 14-2 run that would test Northwestern's resilience. Trailing 54-48, Olah converted on an and-one layup off an assist from McIntosh, then fired a long pass from the top of the key to find Demps in the corner for a 3-pointer to bring the Wildcats to within one point.
North Florida's Dallas Moore followed up with a clutch trey of his own, giving him 16 points in the game. The sophomore guard came into the game shooting 70 percent on threes, and he finished 7-of-11 from the floor overall.
The three-point barrage continued when JerShon Cobb and McIntosh knocked down huge shots from beyond the arc on back-to-back possessions. The latter guard hit his third three of the game, then drove in for a tough contact layup to make it 65-62 in favor of North Florida with 2:28 remaining.
"You can't be nervous to make a mistake. You've gotta be assertive and aggressive and just look for your reads," McIntosh said. "It can be a tough situation, but a lot of guys who work really hard find a way to make the right play at the end of games."
McIntosh wasn't done. He received a pass from Demps, dribbled once to evade an Osprey defender and nailed another three--his fourth in as many attempts. After the teams traded layups, Demps took the ball in isolation from the top of the key and swished a step-back jumper, sealing the game for Northwestern.
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