By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
The game is long over. There has been ample time to shower, and to freshen up, and to throw on some civilian clothes. The wing Scottie Lindsey proves this just minutes later when he appears for his post-game presser in neat slacks and his letterman's jacket. But that is not the case with Bryant McIntosh, the emotional point. He arrives in full uniform, that uniform he and Lindsey and Gavin Skelly designed for this Thursday night, their night, Senior Night. "I don't want to take it off," he will say when asked if he is having trouble doing just that.
There is a glint in his eye now as he continues, "I'm glad you pointed that out. Thanks for letting me think about that. No. I don't want to take it off. I don't know how many times I'll be able to wear my white uniform. This is a special one we were able to create, and I think it looks really sharp too. So it's just one you don't want to take off."
••••••••••
Wisconsin is the opponent on this Thursday night at Allstate and, just 57 seconds into their affair, McIntosh feeds Lindsey on the right wing and he puts the 'Cats up with a three. Less than a minute later McIntosh himself scores from down low with one of his familiar floaters, and six minutes after that Skelly works against the Badgers' Aaron Moesch in the blocks and gets a layup of his own.
He will take but one more shot this evening, hitting it as well, and will be limited by foul problems to just 24 minutes. But McIntosh and Lindsey, the two other seniors who were honored after this game, they were resplendent. The point, who had missed the previous two with a shoulder injury, played 38 minutes and finished with 18 points while going eight-of-17 from the field. The wing was even better, putting up 26 while going eight-of-16 from the field and playing all but this one's final 9.7 seconds.
"If you guys would have seen what Bryant has looked like— he couldn't even lift his arm up the past two weeks," Chris Collins will later say. "Basically he says to me, 'I've got to get out there, but I don't know if I can even take a shot.' It just shows his heart. Not only does he come out here. But he plays his butt off and gives us everything he could. Scotty the same. Those two guys were fantastic."
"Adrenalin is an incredible thing, isn't it?" McIntosh will say with a smile when asked about his miraculous recovery.
"I know they're not happy to see them graduate here. But I am," the Badger coach Greg Gard would say, and he wasn't smiling. "They've been a handful for four years. Those two guys have done a great job of helping Northwestern basketball become relevant. I told Bryant that in the handshake line. He's done a lot for this program."
••••••••••
Emotion suffuses any Senior Night, but on this one it was intensified for just that reason recognized by Gard. McIntosh and Lindsey, Skelly and the redshirt junior Vic Law— each bought into the plan and shared the vision of young coach in his first head job and signed on to comprise his first recruiting class. "This group is special. There's no question," Collins will say of them, and as he speaks here he is holding back tears that are on the verge of spilling.
But no matter how hard he tries, no matter his steel will, he cannot keep those tears out of his voice as he continues, "These were the guys that took a leap of faith to come play for someone who has never done it, and for a program that has never had sustained success or the perception of being an elite basketball program. So for these guys to have that faith in me, obviously there'll be a special place in my heart for those guys forever."
••••••••••
Those guys played their Senior Night without Law, who watched it with a walking boot on his damaged right ankle, and so once again the 'Cats dressed only eight scholarship players. Then, after grabbling a 3-0 lead on Lindsey's basket, they fell behind by 11 as the Badgers hit six of their first nine threes, and now they resembled a pug with wobbly knees and glazed eyes and a knockout loss in his future. "There were definitely points in the game when we made deflating turnovers, they made some huge shots," Lindsey will later say. "But none of the guys ever gave up. Everyone kept fighting."
This they did, and at halftime they were down just six, and at 15:39 of the second they finally reclaimed the lead on a McIntosh jumper. Now the Badgers counterpunched, going back up seven at 4:59, but once more the 'Cats flurried, pulling to within one at 1:01 on a baby jumper from Lindsey. Thirty seconds later, with six left on the shot clock, the Badgers had it side out at their own end. "We were in a defense where we were trying to make it hard for them to just throw the ball right into (Ethan) Happ (their star). We knew that's what they were going to try to do," Collins later said.
That defense did keep Happ from getting the ball, but quickly the Badgers swung it from the left side of the court to the right and into the hands of guard Brevin Pritzl. He is just a 35.4 percent shooter from distance on the season, but here he offered and put a dagger into this Senior Night with a three at 27.6. Seven seconds later Lindsey missed his won three, and now Badger guard Khalil Iverson dropped a pair of free throws at 17.4, and then Lindsey lost the handle and the ball out of bounds at 9.7.
Now the seniors can do no more, this game cannot be saved, and so together they exit to warm applause. Each hugs Collins, McIntosh lingering and fighting back tears and finally dropping his head on his coach's left shoulder, and then each goes down the line and shares hugs and handshakes with his teammates as the clock runs out on the Badgers' six-point win. "With each of them, first and foremost, I thanked them, just told all of 'em I loved 'em," Collins will later say when asked of this poignant tableau. "I thanked them for believing in me, and told them I loved them, and that I'll always have all their backs."
"Just how hard we fought," McIntosh will say when asked what he'll most remember about this evening. "We lost, but I can actually walk out of here— not happy that we lost, obviously. But we laid it on the line tonight. We don't have a lot of guys dressed. But we just battled tonight. We came up short. But I can be proud of how my Senior Night ended because of how hard we played."
••••••••••
The program's first NCAA tourney appearance was not the only bit of history grabbed off by the seniors. In the wake of that accomplishment the program was also ranked in the preseason for the first time ever. But the season itself, this season that followed, it devolved into a vertiginous voyage of ups-and-downs, and so now the 'Cats sit 15-15 overall and 6-11 in conference as they move on to their regular season finale Sunday at Iowa and then their conference tourney at New York's famed Madison Square Garden.
That is why, the day before their night, their coach talked to them. "I told them," Chris Collins will finally say, "there's disappointment we all feel (since) we aren't where we want to be as a team this year. But I want those guys to know that that doesn't shape their legacy. Their legacy is very strong here. For them to come here and spearhead a team that goes to the NCAA Tournament; to have back-to-back 20 win seasons; to win a game in the tournament; to go to a Big Ten (tourney) semifinal— there's so many things those guys did that were a first in this program.
"That to me is what their legacy is going to me. i wanted them to know that. They're not judged by this season. They're judged by a four-year body of work, and their four-year body of work was pretty damn good."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
The game is long over. There has been ample time to shower, and to freshen up, and to throw on some civilian clothes. The wing Scottie Lindsey proves this just minutes later when he appears for his post-game presser in neat slacks and his letterman's jacket. But that is not the case with Bryant McIntosh, the emotional point. He arrives in full uniform, that uniform he and Lindsey and Gavin Skelly designed for this Thursday night, their night, Senior Night. "I don't want to take it off," he will say when asked if he is having trouble doing just that.
There is a glint in his eye now as he continues, "I'm glad you pointed that out. Thanks for letting me think about that. No. I don't want to take it off. I don't know how many times I'll be able to wear my white uniform. This is a special one we were able to create, and I think it looks really sharp too. So it's just one you don't want to take off."
••••••••••
Wisconsin is the opponent on this Thursday night at Allstate and, just 57 seconds into their affair, McIntosh feeds Lindsey on the right wing and he puts the 'Cats up with a three. Less than a minute later McIntosh himself scores from down low with one of his familiar floaters, and six minutes after that Skelly works against the Badgers' Aaron Moesch in the blocks and gets a layup of his own.
He will take but one more shot this evening, hitting it as well, and will be limited by foul problems to just 24 minutes. But McIntosh and Lindsey, the two other seniors who were honored after this game, they were resplendent. The point, who had missed the previous two with a shoulder injury, played 38 minutes and finished with 18 points while going eight-of-17 from the field. The wing was even better, putting up 26 while going eight-of-16 from the field and playing all but this one's final 9.7 seconds.
"If you guys would have seen what Bryant has looked like— he couldn't even lift his arm up the past two weeks," Chris Collins will later say. "Basically he says to me, 'I've got to get out there, but I don't know if I can even take a shot.' It just shows his heart. Not only does he come out here. But he plays his butt off and gives us everything he could. Scotty the same. Those two guys were fantastic."
"Adrenalin is an incredible thing, isn't it?" McIntosh will say with a smile when asked about his miraculous recovery.
"I know they're not happy to see them graduate here. But I am," the Badger coach Greg Gard would say, and he wasn't smiling. "They've been a handful for four years. Those two guys have done a great job of helping Northwestern basketball become relevant. I told Bryant that in the handshake line. He's done a lot for this program."
••••••••••
Emotion suffuses any Senior Night, but on this one it was intensified for just that reason recognized by Gard. McIntosh and Lindsey, Skelly and the redshirt junior Vic Law— each bought into the plan and shared the vision of young coach in his first head job and signed on to comprise his first recruiting class. "This group is special. There's no question," Collins will say of them, and as he speaks here he is holding back tears that are on the verge of spilling.
But no matter how hard he tries, no matter his steel will, he cannot keep those tears out of his voice as he continues, "These were the guys that took a leap of faith to come play for someone who has never done it, and for a program that has never had sustained success or the perception of being an elite basketball program. So for these guys to have that faith in me, obviously there'll be a special place in my heart for those guys forever."
••••••••••
Those guys played their Senior Night without Law, who watched it with a walking boot on his damaged right ankle, and so once again the 'Cats dressed only eight scholarship players. Then, after grabbling a 3-0 lead on Lindsey's basket, they fell behind by 11 as the Badgers hit six of their first nine threes, and now they resembled a pug with wobbly knees and glazed eyes and a knockout loss in his future. "There were definitely points in the game when we made deflating turnovers, they made some huge shots," Lindsey will later say. "But none of the guys ever gave up. Everyone kept fighting."
This they did, and at halftime they were down just six, and at 15:39 of the second they finally reclaimed the lead on a McIntosh jumper. Now the Badgers counterpunched, going back up seven at 4:59, but once more the 'Cats flurried, pulling to within one at 1:01 on a baby jumper from Lindsey. Thirty seconds later, with six left on the shot clock, the Badgers had it side out at their own end. "We were in a defense where we were trying to make it hard for them to just throw the ball right into (Ethan) Happ (their star). We knew that's what they were going to try to do," Collins later said.
That defense did keep Happ from getting the ball, but quickly the Badgers swung it from the left side of the court to the right and into the hands of guard Brevin Pritzl. He is just a 35.4 percent shooter from distance on the season, but here he offered and put a dagger into this Senior Night with a three at 27.6. Seven seconds later Lindsey missed his won three, and now Badger guard Khalil Iverson dropped a pair of free throws at 17.4, and then Lindsey lost the handle and the ball out of bounds at 9.7.
Now the seniors can do no more, this game cannot be saved, and so together they exit to warm applause. Each hugs Collins, McIntosh lingering and fighting back tears and finally dropping his head on his coach's left shoulder, and then each goes down the line and shares hugs and handshakes with his teammates as the clock runs out on the Badgers' six-point win. "With each of them, first and foremost, I thanked them, just told all of 'em I loved 'em," Collins will later say when asked of this poignant tableau. "I thanked them for believing in me, and told them I loved them, and that I'll always have all their backs."
"Just how hard we fought," McIntosh will say when asked what he'll most remember about this evening. "We lost, but I can actually walk out of here— not happy that we lost, obviously. But we laid it on the line tonight. We don't have a lot of guys dressed. But we just battled tonight. We came up short. But I can be proud of how my Senior Night ended because of how hard we played."
••••••••••
The program's first NCAA tourney appearance was not the only bit of history grabbed off by the seniors. In the wake of that accomplishment the program was also ranked in the preseason for the first time ever. But the season itself, this season that followed, it devolved into a vertiginous voyage of ups-and-downs, and so now the 'Cats sit 15-15 overall and 6-11 in conference as they move on to their regular season finale Sunday at Iowa and then their conference tourney at New York's famed Madison Square Garden.
That is why, the day before their night, their coach talked to them. "I told them," Chris Collins will finally say, "there's disappointment we all feel (since) we aren't where we want to be as a team this year. But I want those guys to know that that doesn't shape their legacy. Their legacy is very strong here. For them to come here and spearhead a team that goes to the NCAA Tournament; to have back-to-back 20 win seasons; to win a game in the tournament; to go to a Big Ten (tourney) semifinal— there's so many things those guys did that were a first in this program.
"That to me is what their legacy is going to me. i wanted them to know that. They're not judged by this season. They're judged by a four-year body of work, and their four-year body of work was pretty damn good."